When it comes to the topic of beauty, I mostly discuss nails (which by the way, be looking out for an extra special manicure today on Instagram), skincare and sometimes makeup…but rarely do I venture into the world of hair (except this one time). There’s something about the subject that us girls take way too personally so today we’re just going to get personal.
I came up with today’s topic of discussion because I was at a bridal shower over the weekend and one of my friends was talking about how she thinks her hair is short, when it goes at least two inches below her boobs. Then I told her she was crazy and she proceeded to tell me she thinks she has hair dysmorphic disorder (of course, not a serious or real disorder, but one I think many women “suffer” from). I too used to experience this when I was trying to grow my hair out (which seemed to be for 25 years of my life…I’m now 26). Right before college, I overestimated how much “four inches off” was and my hair was much shorter than I wanted it to be (and that was before the long bob was popular, like it is now). At the time, I could only remember having really long hair (what I like to call “boob length”) when I was in elementary school and that’s pretty much it. I tried to grow it longer in college but due to my poor eating habits and a relationship wit Papa John’s I’d define as “it’s complicated,” I don’t think my body was really healthy enough for my hair to grow. Of course I didn’t realize it until after I graduated and starting eating food with nutritional value, then my hair got to this (see below) and at the time, I thought it wasn’t long enough!
Now when I look back, I think it’s so damn long (I could even say too long) but when it was actually that length, all I wanted was for it to be longer. So greedy of me, right? And that seems to be a common theme for us ladies…we always want longer hair. We take pills, use special shampoos but why do we want all that extra length (which comes with extra responsibility by the way?)
Pinterest and Instagram are great places to find inspiration but they can also be spectacular resources to make us feel bad about ourselves. “Why can’t I be that skinny?” “Why doesn’t my hair look like that?” “Why can’t I buy the clothes she has?” Hopefully no one is going into a great depression over the length of their hair but like I said, it’s something we take very personally. Think about it — why are we so afraid of hair cuts? A lot of girls I know might get one or two a year, with the fear they’ll lose their precious locks. Even getting a trim to some is like you’re ruining their lives forever. So why do we feel this way over HAIR? Our hair is like a shield — we can hide behind it and let it cover our imperfections (unless it’s 95 degrees with 100% humidity then you better have a hair tie around your wrist ready to go). But the shorter you cut it, the more confidence you’ll have to have to rock the look. A self-conscious person cannot pull off a short style like Jennifer Lawrence or Shailene Woodley. There’s absolutely nothing to “hide” behind. I consider myself to be a fairly confient person and there’s no way I would ever cut my hair that short (mostly because I often like to dress boyish so with a pixie cut I might actually look like a boy). It took a lot for me to get to here, and that’s as good as it’s going to get for now. Other reasons for fearing those scissors — having long hair usually makes us feel prettier, there’s more you can do with it (if I try and braid my hair at this point, it looks like a woven nub) and it’s overall more girly and glamorous. I get it. But the point being is that I WAS that long hair don’t care girl, who hated getting hair cuts, wanted my hair to be as long as possible, didn’t even realize how long it actually was at the time (like, who am I?) and I have to say I’ve never felt more myself than I do with the length I have now. Yes, it might be a trendy “lob” but it’s a lob that feels right and I’m quite satisfied with my current hair situation (minus the grays…thank you genetics!)
There are some people who can have their hair at any length and it will always look good. If I’m ever looking for hair inspiration to show my girl Sarah at Salon 1800 (which is who you need to go to and you live in Chicago and you want awesome hair), Jessica Alba and Olivia Palermo are my go-tos. Whether it’s cut, color or style they are always killin’ it.
But then there’s always the hair god whose locks any man or woman aspire to have…
Aren’t they marvelous?
So that about wraps it up for today. This is one where I really need your thoughts (I always want them but today I need them) — what’s your hair situation? Do you prefer long or short? More importantly, WHY? And do you think I’m crazy overanalyzing the whole hair dysmorphic thing? (the struggle is real!)
Images via Pinterest
I’ve had shoulder length hair for last year…I go in between a bob and shoulder length when I get frustrated that I can’t get it past my shoulders. I’ve honestly in my 29 years of life have never had hair down to my boobs…and I want it so bad…not because I hide behind my hair (its up 90% of the time, thanks humidity and frizzy curls) but because the length (and texture) doesn’t allow me to do what I want with it…I’ve committed to getting regular haircuts; first in 10 years and am working on my diet to hopefully boost the growth. If I can get it to my boobs by the time I get engaged/married (in the next two years) I’ll be the happiest girl around!
Im going into my junior year of high school in about a month and i just decided to cut my hair into the long bob you were talking about. Before I did that though my hair was past my boob and everyone adored it. For some reason though, I just decided to cut it. I guess I just did it because I saw all the celebrities doing it, but when you’re in high school you do what every other girl in your school is doing and everyone was growing out their hair and trying to get it as long as possible. I must admit I was a little nervous to cut it because I thought I might look like a boy or the girls at my school wouldn’t like it. The first week I had the “Oh boy why did I do this” voice constantly in my head but its been about a month now and I gotta say I absolutely love it! I figured out how to style it, and found different looks I can now pull off that I maybe couldn’t with my long hair. Its so easy to manage now and it takes me half the time to shower than it did before! So I say if anyone’s thinking about cutting there hair, go for it! Besides, hair grows back doesn’t it?
Hey, I love your blog!! I hope you have a chance to check out my new blog at lindseyraquelfashion.blogspot.com !! XOXO