I Chopped All My Hair off, And Completely Regretted It

As I was looking over old photos from back when I had a pixie hair cut, I can remember that day when I got the life changing cut. While I was smiling and loved my hair in those pictures it took a long time to get to that point because at first I thought I had made a huge mistake.

It was my sophomore year in college and I was going through a lot of changes. Officially over a bad relationship and wanted something to represent my “starting over”. I had recently gotten my first tattoo and a bob cut months before, but it just wasn’t enough. I wanted something more bold!

One night when watching that reality show Harlem Heights on BET (I think it only lasted a season), I saw a character whose cut I loved. After doing some research I realized it was called a pixie and I immediately went to the stylist who does my mother’s hair to get my hair chopped all the way off. And that’s just what she did….

The back was cut so short that she had to use one of those tiny barrel curling irons*, the kind that is only in the salon that you set on the hot plate.

Don’t get me wrong the style was cute, but it looked NOTHING like the photo I had brought into the shop. I also knew that it wouldn’t make it past day one. When I tied it down at night how would I get those curls back?

To no surprise I woke up the next morning crying because I was trying to fit my large 1in flat iron* through my hair to try to get it to look presentable for church.

I resorted in just washing it and slicking it down which I wore for about the first two weeks. What else was I supposed to do?

When I returned to school I received a lot of “oh you cut your hair?” comments. So awkward.

After the first two weeks I found a 1/2in flat iron* at Sally’s and taught myself how to style my own hair. It grew out a bit and it was more manageable. It took me a couple of months to finally get to the length I desired and I was able to learn to cut and style my own hair the way I liked. A true pixie!

My experience has taught me to definitely do my research before doing such a drastic change. That includes maintenance of the style, as well as a stylist who can actually execute the look.

The greatest takeaway was that it forced me to become confident within myself and teach myself how to style, cut, and color my own hair so I wouldn’t need to depend on anyone else. Although I completely regretted it at first, it’s the ultimate push that has led to my love and obsession with hair and hair care today.