What Over A Year Of Not Going To The Hairdressers Has Taught me

Before lockdown, I had the same hairstyle for several years: a simple bob with a side fringe. I remember the initial reason as to why I wanted it kept short in the first place. When I was much younger, my mum would brush my hair so long that it went down to my waist. It was a pretty style for sure, but one night, in particular, some nasty tangles prompted me to ask to get my hair cut much shorter. I did get it cut, and I really liked it, so whenever I went to the hairdressers in the future, I always got it cut to my chin.

I experimented with length sometimes, but I never went longer than just above my shoulders as I quickly discovered that the feeling of hair ends on my neck bothered me. This led me to want to cut my hair more often to avoid the prickles of my hair on my neck, subsequently costing us more in a year to go as the appointments were more frequent.

Before the lockdown was announced, my hair was on the brink of the “neck-touching” stage. I knew it wouldn’t be for a few months, but after announcing that essentially everywhere would be closing due to the pandemic, I knew I would have to deal with what irritated me the most. Not too long after March, maybe a month or so, I felt the itching around my neck. I’m sure someone is reading this just going, “Tie your hair up, then,” and that would’ve been a great idea if not for the fact that while it was long enough to irritate me, it was still too short to put up. I had to deal with it, and before I knew it, that moment of annoyance was gone. I was a little surprised at how quickly my hair grew out of that stage, and I spent the rest of the lockdown observing its length, watching it grow to the longest it had been in over a decade at this point.

With more hair comes more possibilities; I could now plait my hair like I did when I was younger or put it up in pigtails on the hotter days to stop sweat from sticking to it. Much like many other people, I did end up dying my hair, and to be honest, the results weren’t too bad. I also learned to cut my fringe, though the results are just as iffy as they were the first time I did it, even after a year and a bit.

I put so much more care into my hair washing routines. Before, when I would shower, I would pretty much slap shampoo on to wash it off instantly and similarly with conditioner, though I did try to wait a minute or two beforehand. After watching a few videos and reading a few beauty blogs for longer hair care, my routine is now a lot more thoughtful. I shampoo my hair twice, leaving it for several minutes each time. I read somewhere that the first shampoo loosens dirt while it’s the second that washes it away, and after switching to this way of doing things, I have seen a few differences when my hair dries.

Another thing I read about was that the direction you wash your hair in really matters. For longer hair, rubbing in circles causes more tangles and encourages breaking within the strands. What you’re supposed to do instead is run your fingers through your hair either horizontally or vertically (it’s a preference thing). A second thing to note is that the first shampoo-ing will not be as bubbly as the second, which I can confirm for me is true. Next is the conditioner, and I apply it like before, but I wait a lot longer because I feel no need to rush anymore. The longer you wait, and the more evenly spread across the ends, the healthier and silkier your hair will be. When you get out of the shower, you also might have to dry it a bit differently than you would with shorter hair. Instead of rubbing a towel across it, dab your hair dry. Once you finish doing that, run your fingers through your hair and apply some hair care products of your choice. I love using something called “Extraordinary Oil” specifically for colored hair, helping repair it. Finally, you use a brush as usual, and you just let it dry!

After years of not treating my hair correctly, I finally get to see it at its fullest potential. Despite hairdressers now being back open for business again, I’m not so sure if I’ll be going back for a while. Perhaps if my ends get extremely split, I’ll go for a trim, but I don’t see myself going back to short hair in the near future. I’m now in love with my hair. It has its quirks, but whose hair doesn’t? It’s time we all embrace them because our hair, and us, will be all the better for it.

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