8 Reasons Why Long Hair Sucks

I have long hair, and I am proud of it. It has been a long-ish journey – just over four years, and now I am here. My hair is at the point where it lightly sweeps my waist when straightened, and just on my shoulders after a Wash and Go. I am beginning to think that I have issues because honestly, I am not happy.

But really what I am is bored. Bored as H-E- double hockey sticks. I have now figured out that getting to a length goal isn’t enough; long hair isn’t everything it is cut out to be. I have now figured that I don’t just want long hair, I want hair with attitude.

Now, don’t get me wrong, when you set a goal and you finally achieve it, it does feel great, and it’s important to check things off so that you can say, ‘I did it’. The point is, after the light comes on and the party is over, you might feel that itch to do something a little bit different, and you might realize that length might not be all that it’s cut out to be.

With that said, I compiled a list on my iPhone note app, which is my best friend when it comes to lists, and randomness. My list consists of eight reasons why I think long hair sucks:

1. It tangles 

Obviously, if you get regular trims this will reduce tangling, but to be honest, as your hair gets longer, you will notice that you will need to trim more often to keep the oldest parts of your hair from tangling.

Don’t let the stories of tangle free bliss fool you; it can get really annoying to untangle when you just detangled, or trim when you just trimmed 4 weeks ago.

2. It’s boring

The truth is, it doesn’t have to be boring when you are natural. You might find yourself seeking out ways to get some shape. By shape, we really mean attitude and sass.

You want your hair to not just be one length growing down to your butt, you also want it to have a bit of flare and drama that enhances your face, and the rest of you. Just having plain long hair without shape can be really blah; by experimenting with cute hair cuts, you can often solve that problem.

3. You are always on a mission to protect

What’s the point of having long hair, if you cannot enjoy it? The longer your hair gets, you will find yourself in a frenzy to protect it; you worry about your ends that are very old; you become slave to a bun or some braids, and enjoy a great sew in more than you do your even hair. What kind of hair life is that?

I want hair freedom; hair that blows in the wind, and without protective styles. What I find is that there is a specific length which allows that kind of freedom, and it isn’t that long. It’s the length right after medium length, just before long. It’s what I call my ‘freedom length”. Anything past that is, yup, you guessed it! For the BIRDS.

4. It’s long, now what?

If you are a typical woman, you like to switch things up. There is no real reason for this; it might be our hormones, or just how we are built. However, we like change.

Once you get to the goal, and you get settled into a mundane routine, you feel the need to color, cut, straighten – just anything to break up the monotony of hair care. You figure out that you are an obsessive compulsive feen for change, and that’s A-OK.

5. It’s just hair

Before you even say it, let me be the first to say, that of course it isn’t just hair; it is our crown and glory, our business, and all that jazz. But when it comes to making the decision on changing it, especially when deciding to cut it, then in that context, know that it is just hair, and it will grow back.

Cutting your hair becomes a temptation when things get especially bad with your long hair. A cut doesn’t have to mean a full on big chop, but it can mean bangs, tapers, layers, and pretty much anything that gives your hair some life.

6. The journey is what makes the process cool; it’s not the destination

We say this day in and day out: enjoy the process and every stage, because at every point, there are challenges, rewards, and some amazing stuff that you might miss, as you are focused on the long hair part.

To be honest, I think when women do a second big chop, the journey is completely different; they learn from the first time to enjoy the stages, even more so than they did before.

Once you get to the destination, which in our case might be a goal length, you start to miss the journey, and want to hop on it all over again. The difference is you might stay within each stage much longer than expected.

7. Long hair can start to thin

This isn’t a given, but for many of us, longer hair weighs down our curls, so that volume that we are used to diminishes. This is probably one of the biggest signs that tell you that you need a hair cut, especially if you are a girl that prefers volume over length.

8. You can have long hair in an instant if you do not have long hair

When man invented clip-ins, he invested freedom of choice. If you cut your hair to medium length, and you are having that waist length itch again, just get some clip-ins to satisfy the craving. With all of the new options we have in the hair care industry, there should be no reason not to have fun. Moreover, there should be no reason to obsess over hair length.

Don’t take this list as an excuse to walk away from your goals, even if it is waist length hair. Take it as an indicator that the hair journey is really where the fun is. The journey doesn’t end with that final length check, it is really just at a pinnacle of one of the many ups and downs you will experience.

Chase health over length, and have fun!