So I finally did it! I mentioned in a few previous posts that I’d had enough of waist length and the hassle that comes along with caring for hair at that length so I decided to not just trim my hair this time round but do a real cut (for me anyway).
Ok it’s not as dramatic as it sounds. You will notice that only around 7 strands are actually 4 inches long, the great majority of hair that was chopped of was in fact just over 2 inches long but considering that those 2 inches is 6 months worth of growth for me, it’s a big deal! Here’s a closer look at the hair that was cut off (yes I took a picture of it! lol).
I generally don’t like blunt ends, they are too 12 year old schoolgirl-ish for me but honestly I didn’t feel the urge to research different cutting methods so straight across was my only option. Here’s the video of me cutting my hair.
Like I said in the video, I cut my hair a little bit while it was curly and I thought I did a pretty good job at the time, errm clearly not, I barely took any length off! Here’s a look at what my hair looked like before… on the left was at the end of 2013 and on the right was a couple of months later after my ‘cut’.
And now I’m back to BSL-ish. Well my hair is all definitely below my bra strap but I’m not sure that I can claim MBL because my bra tends to sit quite high up. Still with the distance from BSL to MBL then to WL on me being circa 4 inches, clearly I have a pretty short torso! 🙂
You can see that the henna took away the jet black color that I had previously and even though my ends are not completely straight I’m ok with how it turned out because my hair is not worn dead straight very often anyway.
Why then do I feel so naked? I thought I would be happier at BSL and finally be able to enjoy my hair without a thought of protective styling. In a few ways I am happier but, and this is a big BUT, it turns out I kind have become my hair. I have allowed it to define me these last few years and without managing to find a way to lose the weight that I wanted, hair has always been my ‘saving grace’. There has simply been no escaping it, I mean hair is now my full time job!
I’m not saying that my hair is a handicap, not at all. Just the same way that a fashionista relies on her clothes to give her the confidence to get through her day, my hair has been and is still a huge part of my life too. If my hair looks good, I feel good, I am more confident and subsequently, I am more productive.
I suppose that everyone has these minor foibles. For some people it’s their make up, for others it’s handbags, shoes or whatever and I don’t think it’s necessarily a character flaw, but a coping mechanism and you’ve got to admit in this crazy world, hair sure isn’t the worst one!
Also in a way I think I enjoy the challenge of having a defined goal for my hair. At the beginning of this year I genuinely had no interest in growing my hair any longer than waist length. Length maintenance didn’t seem much of a challenge IMO so perhaps in a way I wanted to give myself the challenge of hair growth again for another year?
Uh huh, it turns out that my goal for this year is to grow my hair back to waist length by whatever means necessary. The road will be filled with ups and downs and plenty of sideways but I relish the challenge.
I will be protective styling often and stretching out my curls as a default, no more shrinky braid n curls until I’m back to waist length. Ah well, back to the old grind then….
I love it, really I do!
