In which I cut off most of my hair
At Vividcon, I couldn't sleep Thursday night at all. A lot of circumstances, but by around 4:30 in the a of m, I sat up and thought, you know, I have my nail scissors, I could cut all my hair off with those. It would take a long time, but... my hair was one of many things driving me batshit, and every time I would push it all back off my neck and head, it would tumble forward again right in front of my nose so I couldn't breathe. Really, if I'd had scissors in the room, I would have hacked it all off that night. I wanted it gone for a while, but planned to get it cut afterwards, and wished fervently then that I hadn't waited.
For three and a half years I've grown it out, hoping to have one last chance at long hair before I have to descend into old lady hair. When it was long before, it was like hair commercial hair -- shiny and uniform length, falling like a long cascade of silky strands. People used to stop me on the street or come over to me on the bus to ask me about my hair. I despise my hair, but I knew it was really shiny and glossy and smooth. The thing is, it's so. thick. It's fine and limp, but so thick that you can't do anything with it. It's stick straight, and when you put it up, it just falls back down. It slides right out of an elastic. Gripper teeth lose their grip on it. Nothing works on it when it's long, either -- no amount of hair spray, creme, gel, mousse, or wax will keep it up for longer than about maybe an hour, if I'm lucky. Even though most stylists thin it, within about two weeks, it's thick again.
So today I went to the salon I've seen the most rave reviews for in Seattle, Vain (well, that has the most raves for a mid-level price). I wanted an edgy cut, something really different and modern. I called and explained my hair and they set up an appt. for me with this guy who's known for edgy cuts. Unfortunately mine did not turn out edgy. I don't know if it was the combination of running late because I have "enough hair for 8 people" and he was already really late due to a schedule snafu, and had someone waiting, or what, but it didn't quite turn out the way I'd hoped. I've seen his cuts in photos, and I know he can do this kind of angled cut, but I think he was just surprised that it turned out to be so much to cut. (Which is something that happens to me a lot. I warn people, but I don't think they ever really understand until they feel it.) It was down to my shoulders, and the last person who trimmed it did a terrible job, so there were uneven layers and such. When he was done, he said next time he wanted to go even shorter in back and more angled, so I think he knows what I'm looking for. Another thing that attracted me to this salon was that they give you a four-week complimentary trim after your cut -- so, you know, free cut, I'm there. He told them that they should always book me for at least 45 min. to an hour because my hair is so thick (just for the cutting part!). So I'll give him a second shot, but might consider someone else next time.
Unless they tell me I just can't really do a piecey style like I wanted. It's way more round and bobbed, less angled, than I'd hoped, and the front pieces are shorter than I wanted -- I wanted to have the bangs much piecier and sort of pokey-outier. It just may be something that my hair will never do. The back is really short, though, so that's good. I wish I could get a picture of the back but I can't seem to direct the camera anywhere toward the back and get an actual picture of my head, I'm so spatially impaired. I tend to get one corner of my head and the rest of the bathroom. Anyway, it's nice to have it off my neck. On the way back to the bus, the wind was kicking up and it felt so nice to have air on my neck and not have that weight on my head. It won't take an hour to dry my hair on highest heat setting, either. There was a pile of hair on their floor that was about the size of a cocker spaniel. I'm terrified of bleaching my hair, so I can't ever have one of the really cool colors I'd like, but I do like my own color for the most part.
Anyways, here's my ugly mug with the new do. You really can't see what it's like, but I'm happy to have it gone, even if it doesn't look like what I'd hoped for.
For three and a half years I've grown it out, hoping to have one last chance at long hair before I have to descend into old lady hair. When it was long before, it was like hair commercial hair -- shiny and uniform length, falling like a long cascade of silky strands. People used to stop me on the street or come over to me on the bus to ask me about my hair. I despise my hair, but I knew it was really shiny and glossy and smooth. The thing is, it's so. thick. It's fine and limp, but so thick that you can't do anything with it. It's stick straight, and when you put it up, it just falls back down. It slides right out of an elastic. Gripper teeth lose their grip on it. Nothing works on it when it's long, either -- no amount of hair spray, creme, gel, mousse, or wax will keep it up for longer than about maybe an hour, if I'm lucky. Even though most stylists thin it, within about two weeks, it's thick again.
So today I went to the salon I've seen the most rave reviews for in Seattle, Vain (well, that has the most raves for a mid-level price). I wanted an edgy cut, something really different and modern. I called and explained my hair and they set up an appt. for me with this guy who's known for edgy cuts. Unfortunately mine did not turn out edgy. I don't know if it was the combination of running late because I have "enough hair for 8 people" and he was already really late due to a schedule snafu, and had someone waiting, or what, but it didn't quite turn out the way I'd hoped. I've seen his cuts in photos, and I know he can do this kind of angled cut, but I think he was just surprised that it turned out to be so much to cut. (Which is something that happens to me a lot. I warn people, but I don't think they ever really understand until they feel it.) It was down to my shoulders, and the last person who trimmed it did a terrible job, so there were uneven layers and such. When he was done, he said next time he wanted to go even shorter in back and more angled, so I think he knows what I'm looking for. Another thing that attracted me to this salon was that they give you a four-week complimentary trim after your cut -- so, you know, free cut, I'm there. He told them that they should always book me for at least 45 min. to an hour because my hair is so thick (just for the cutting part!). So I'll give him a second shot, but might consider someone else next time.
Unless they tell me I just can't really do a piecey style like I wanted. It's way more round and bobbed, less angled, than I'd hoped, and the front pieces are shorter than I wanted -- I wanted to have the bangs much piecier and sort of pokey-outier. It just may be something that my hair will never do. The back is really short, though, so that's good. I wish I could get a picture of the back but I can't seem to direct the camera anywhere toward the back and get an actual picture of my head, I'm so spatially impaired. I tend to get one corner of my head and the rest of the bathroom. Anyway, it's nice to have it off my neck. On the way back to the bus, the wind was kicking up and it felt so nice to have air on my neck and not have that weight on my head. It won't take an hour to dry my hair on highest heat setting, either. There was a pile of hair on their floor that was about the size of a cocker spaniel. I'm terrified of bleaching my hair, so I can't ever have one of the really cool colors I'd like, but I do like my own color for the most part.
Anyways, here's my ugly mug with the new do. You really can't see what it's like, but I'm happy to have it gone, even if it doesn't look like what I'd hoped for.