Hair Today Gone Tomorrow

Everyone has a comfort zone. For some that comfort zone is tiny and even the smallest movement outside of it is too much to bear. Others have huge comfort zones and are constantly kicking down their walls and making their zones even bigger. Where do I fall in all of this? I feel that my comfort zone is on the larger side and I strive to make it bigger each day. To aid in my quest, a few years ago I made a bucket list and made sure to cross things off of it regularly. Recently I decided to revisit my list and I made a bunch of changes by adding new things, crossing off things already accomplished, and deleting things that no longer mattered to me. One thing that I added was “Get a short hairstyle.”

Now some may say, “That’s not a big deal.” But many other long-haired aficionados (myself included) view this as a super huge big deal indeed. Most of my life I have had shoulder-length or longer hair and I’m quite used to it. But lately I have begun to see that I have been holding onto my long hair as a security blanket. It doesn’t help that my husband once jokingly said, “If you ever cut your hair short, I’ll divorce you.” or the fact that the only two women he likes with short hair are Halle Berry and Charlize Theron. (Like I could live up to them with short hair! *sigh*)

After using a program to “try on” short hair styles, and even putting said photos on facebook so my friends could vote, then going on the net with Tim to pick out some styles we both liked I decided to take the plunge. The fact that my hair is quite damaged due to colouring it and styling it so often also helped me make my decision.

Armed with four different styles I thought would look good on me, I went for my hair appointment. To say I was nervous would be an understatement. As Tim and I drove to the salon my stomach was doing back flips. I do love my hairdresser and view him as completely competent in his line of work, but none of this mattered. I was going to lose over a foot of my hair! What if it looked dumb? What if people think I looka lika man? And most importantly – what if I hated it? I’m not rich enough to afford hair extensions until my hair grows out! What am I doing?!?!? (At this point I should’ve either slapped myself or drunk copious amounts of red wine.)

Walking up the stairs to the salon I thought, “Hey I can just opt for a trim. No one would be the wiser as I didn’t tell the receptionist when I booked I was getting a drastic change. I can just go home afterwards and pretend this was all a bad dream.” But a small voice inside of me said, “You can do this Joelle. Hair grows back. This is nothing compared to the stuff you’ve been through the past few years. Think of this as a symbol of you letting go of all the things you’ve let go of. Let go of your hair. Plus it’s on your list!”

So after talking to Dean (my stylist), we both decided that I shouldn’t go super short, but instead go for an above the shoulder cut and then if I still want to go shorter later then to do it. I agreed and the cutting began. As the cut was happening I started to feel lighter both literally and figuratively. In a half hour it was done.

After Dean styled it I looked at it and I was in love! I looked more chic and put together and as hip as the fox that donned my sweater. I can’t wait to try all the different things I can do with this versatile cut. Wavy, straight, or curly my hair looks super healthy and shiny – so much so that after he was done it looked like it had been freshly coloured as well.

If you are think about a new style for fall – do it! You’ll feel refreshed, younger, more stylish, and overall happier. I have always hated my cuts and colour from salons my whole life until I started going to The Beauty Parlour here in Edmonton. I am a very picky person and I will no longer see anyone other than Dean for styling and Kat for my colour. So for all of you in Edmonton, head to The Beauty Parlour. Everyone else wanting a change, then get yourself to your favourite salon and fall in love with a new hairstyle.

Here are my before photos:

(Notice my brand new hipster fox sweater.)

And drumroll please! These are the after photos:

As you can see I didn’t go as short as Halle or Charlize, my husband loves it, and there will be no divorce as he was just kidding. This was a big enough change for me – for now. So what do you think?