Going from Long Hair to Short Hair, as a Woman

It's probably taboo to talk about, but I feel as though every woman has had the thought, "what would I look like if I shaved off all my hair?" Some women naturally rock this look. Make-up or no make-up they never lose their feminine nature and it just looks good on them. Pop-culture dictates that if you shave your head as a women you're going through your '2000s Brittany phase." And in some instances it's possible, repeating history is truly never off the table even when it comes to celebrities and their breakdowns.

I honestly don't believe that many women even give it a second thought. It's really just done to answer the question, 'what will I look like?' Do I have a lumpy head? Is my forehead to large? Will my ears look weird on my face? Women do have different reasons for choosing short hair. A new baby might make a mother want to cut her hair short because babies get to a point where they like to grab and tug at everything and they don't realize they are hurting anyone. A woman might go through a break up and decides it's time to try something she's always wanted to try. It might be summer and short hair in the summer with longer hair in the winter might just be more convenient. Some people bleach or dye their hair too much and they need to start over so that they can have healthy hair again. Some get cancer and lose their hair during treatment or start losing hair because of their age. The truth about short hair is that it's easier to maintain. The cool part too is that hair grows back. It's not permanent but there are a lot of awkward hair lengths that you have to get past.

I didn't realize it but for years I had been leading up to finally cutting all my hair off. I've had friends who chose wigs first before cutting their hair and I'd say that's a safe way to go if you're unsure about the decision. My hair has never gotten longer than just past the shoulder blade about 12-16inches maybe? And that was at it's longest but I also put my hair through a lot of damage with boxed dyes and color removers and bleach. I wanted to be a cosmetologist at one point in my life so since I didn't do that I used myself as a canvas to try out all the techniques I could learn from the internet and stuff I made up in my head to do.

I am the type of person that doesn't like when others touch my hair. If I am going to cut too much off I'd rather do it myself than get angry at a stylist who was just looking out for the health of my hair and definitely has more qualifications when it comes to what to look for in dead hair. So, because of this, I took to YouTube to find videos of how to go from long/medium length hair to a buzz cut. Below is the type of video I would watch just to prepare myself for my reaction. Some people cry, some people hate it and instantly regret it, and others love the outcome, I tried to watch as many videos as I could so I knew what to expect no matter what.

Growing my hair back has already proven that there are going to be many awkward stages in this regrowth process. I am glad I did it, even if I feel ugly as it grows back, because I do feel ugly. I don't know what to do or how to style my hair at this length and there are days when I wish I wouldn't have done it. The regret subsides though and I remember I can put a hat on, throw on some make up, and just lock myself in my room until I am ready to reemerge. We are all different and this has just been my experience with this decision. Some days you'll love the way you look and other days you'll want to hide because you can't get the new hairs to go in the same direction or lie flat. On a more economically and plant conscious note, I save time on showering and only have to shampoo my hair once maybe twice a week. I feel good knowing that I am using less water, especially in a global pandemic. And on those days when my hair doesn't want to cooperate I can just throw a hat on my head and call it a day.