Haircut. The word makes me cringe and smile all at once. To many, our hair is an expression of who we are, one of our many prides and joys. So when it is time to head on into that salon and take some scissors to our precious locks, it isn’t too hard to imagine that there are many levels of emotional distress that we all go through.. If you’re anything like me, you can relate to these five stages:
Stage 1: Realizing it is time for a haircut.
Are your ends splitting? Does you hair look not as healthy as it did a few weeks ago? Are your roots starting to show? Has your curly hair turned into a tangled, frizzy mess? If you have answered yes to any of these questions, then you know that you and your hair need some help. Do you want to chop off six inches of your long hair and go for a brand new look? Or, maybe you want to dye your hair that new color you’ve been dreaming about for ages. Cue the excitement as you scroll through Pinterest and Instagram for some inspiration.
Stage 2: Calling your hairdresser for an appointment.
I know my excitement turns into anticipation when I hit this stage. Finally figuring when I’m going to go in and what I am going to get done is such a relief! My hairdresser has been doing my hair for the past 10 years, so she knows my hair from root to tip, what works best for me, and is always honest on how my hair will look… even if I pop in with the idea of cutting off about 6 inches (which I did). So mark those planners ladies, the day to snip your strands is fast approaching!
Stage 3: Operation haircut.
The day has finally arrived: H-Day, or haircut day as I like to call it. The feeling of excitement heightens, and nerves start to show as you climb onto the chair and stare at yourself in the mirror. You start to get a brief feeling of regret when you think about all of the ways that this can go terribly, terribly wrong,, but you quickly brush it off. Get ready for a whole new “you”, girl, because your hair is about to look ~fabulous~.
Stage 4: The haircut process.
Real thoughts during this stage: please keep massaging my head under the warm water. Why are you stopping?! Right, I am here for a haircut. OW. Can you not brush my hair that hard? Wow, my hair looks so long! Wait, why am I cutting it all off? Was this really a good idea? What am I doing? Maybe I should go for a trim instead, I’ll just tell- Oh, and there goes the six inches of my hair. Six inches of my hair now GONE. What. Just. Happened. I am FREAKING out over here and you are just chopping my hair off like it’s no big deal. I will most likely look hideous after this. I can never show my face in public. BRB, going to crawl into a corner and cry for the rest of my life.
Stage 5: The aftermath.
After a roller coaster of emotions, you have made it at your final destination. After all the washing, yanking, cutting, and blow-drying, you finally look in the mirror and realize that you look ~amazing~. You love your new look. And by love, I mean you’re full on obsessed. Commence the Snapchat and Instagram picture frenzy as you text your friends the haircut emoji. You walk out of the salon feeling like Beyoncé, and strut your stuff down the sidewalk with all of that hair blowing in the wind.
Haircuts: we hate them, we love them, and we can’t live without them. It’s an exciting and nerve-wracking process to go through, but by the end of it, our hair always (well, usually) comes out looking flawless.
P.S. Make sure you thank your hairdresser, because without them, our hair wouldn’t be the same!
Featured image via Lola Russia on Pexels
