For the majority of my twenties, long hair has been my thing. In fact my hair was kind of my pride and joy. You see long hair comes with a lot of extra benefits, like the fact you never have to worry about the top part of your outfit, or the dreaded lunchtime food stain (the peril of a leftover spag bol lunch), because your mane quite literally has you covered. But the main reason I loved my hair so much, is that it made me feel attractive.
I hate to admit it, but being a ‘curvy girl’ I can’t always wear the clothes I want, but I could always rely on my hair to give me an instant confidence boost. If I didn’t like what I was wearing, or had one of those ‘I have nothing to wear days’ I could do a Willow Smith and use my hair to flip away those insecure feelings.
But for all its pros, long hair also comes with a lot of baggage. There’s the constant tangles, the hairy bedroom carpet that your bald uncle would be envious of, the countless lost styling hours, not to mention the unbearable heat that comes with having hair so long you have to clear your shower drain once a week.
Which is why, after getting my hair caught in my rucksack strap one too many times, I decided I might just be ready to cut my hair. And six months later, I finally did just that.
Six months might seem like a long time, but you have to understand how attached I was to the follicles coming out of my scalp. After years of growing them to lower back length, I just couldn’t give up on them that easily and to be honest, I don’t know if I ever would have done, had it not been for the people over at ghd giving me the push (or should that be snip) that I needed.
The Little Princess Trust is a charity that supply real hair wigs, free of charge, to children across the UK and Ireland who have lost their own hair though cancer treatment and other illnesses. Ghd have partnered with the charity, for their Chop To Your Chin campaign, and are encouraging people to do exactly that – donate a minimum of seven inches of their own hair.
The campaign was the final push I needed and with some gentle pressure from ghd, I soon found myself in the chair of Celebrity Hair Stylist Adam Reed.
Now, whilst I was prepared to go for the chop, I wasn’t quite prepared to go for the #choptoyourchin option. But after Adam told me I would regret it if I didn’t fully commit, I nervously waived my 7 inch stipulation and agreed to skip the lob club and go straight to the bob club.
Before I had time to change my mind, Adam sectioned my hair into 4 mini ponytails and unceremoniously chopped each one off. My first realisation that I was an official member of the bob club was the breeze I instantly felt on the back of my neck.
After all those years of attachment, I was kind of surprised how unemotional I felt looking at my shorn off mane. Maybe it was the fact I had built up to this moment for six months, but there was no crying, no regret, just a short haired woman looking back at me in the mirror with her 11 inches of hair lying on the side.
Although I liked my new hair, I was terrified to walk into the office that morning for the big reveal. Turns out though that a drastic hair change turns you into a minor celeb, because I have never had so many people come up to me and pay me a compliment. My favourite one by far was from my Digital Beauty Editor, who said I now looked “cool” (something I’ve aspired to be my entire life tbh). Honestly I’m considering a buzzcut just for the ego boost alone.
I’ve now had a month to get used to my new hair and I have zero regrets. I’ve always been pretty lazy with my hair, but now that really doesn’t matter because short messy hair = instant cool girl. Plus when I do want to style it, it takes a fraction of the time it did before.
It’s weird to say, but I actually feel kind of relieved that I’ve finally broken my attachment to long hair. It had become an albatross around my neck, a constant pain in the arse to maintain but something I was terrified to get rid of. Now it’s gone I feel like I’m no longer defined by my hair and that’s a pretty empowering feeling.
If you’ve been itching to go for the chop, you can take part in ghd’s campaign and donate 7 inches of your hair to the Little Princess Trust. To take part just follow the guidelines on ghd’s website here.
My short hair must haves
After a bit of trial and error, I’ve finally found the products that work for my new ‘do.
Ouai Texturising Hair Spray, Dhs120, sephora.aeÂ
There is no rhyme or reason to how or where I apply this, I just spray it randomly all over my hair and give it a zhuzh.
Wet Brush Pop Fold, Dhs72, desertcart.ae
I am obsessed with the Wet Brush but now my hair is shorter it’s less tangly, so this fold up version is perfect to chuck in my handbag.
ghd Classic Wave Wand, Dhs1,282, shop.blowoutandgo.com
Curling my hair when it was long required some serious time (and arm strength), but now I can just put a few bends in with this wand for some effortless texture.
Ouai Memory Mist, Dhs102, ouai.com
When my hair was long I used so many products, but now if I’m in a rush all I need to do is spray a bit of this in wet hair and it gives my hair just the right amount of cool girl texture.
With thanks to King of the Booth.
H/T Cosmo UKÂ