Those weird things we all do before we get a major haircut

Having a hair crush can be a somewhat stressful ordeal. And, with all these famous lobs taking over our Instagram feeds at every turn, it comes as no surprise that so many of us are hungry for a new ‘do. The newfound obsession to chop off all of your locks comes with a certain amount of excitement next to a slight amount of anxiety. We all say “it’s just hair,” but let’s be honest, ladies—a bad hairdo is a bit of a deal breaker for everyone involved.

So, we prep. . . and prep. . . and prep some more, until we reach the point of no return and fall so fast into the abyss that not even your stylist will know what to do with you. I may just be adding a slight flair of the dramatic to this vision, but it still goes without saying that getting yourself ready to change your look is both fun and dreadful. There are so many silly things we do over and over again that in preparation, that it’s almost as if we have the whole thing down to a science.

I am guilty of all of these things and I am hoping that by sharing my odd pre-major-haircut behaviors it will either help me to actually take the plunge, or at the very least allow me to finally take comfort in the fact that I may not be the only crazy hair lady out there in the world.

We fall WAY, WAY down the Pinterest hairstyle rabbit-hole

What did people do before Pinterest? No, I mean really—what in the heck were we doing before the Internet made room for all the inspiration we could ever want or need at a few clicks away? Having the urge to get a statement haircut makes Pinterest your prime target for visual pleasure. Entire boards can be dedicated to all of the haircuts you ever dreamed of on people who look nothing like you. We scroll, pin, and drool over all the gorgeous ‘dos we think we want, but are too afraid to ask for. Then, before you know it, the clock is flashing midnight and you are dragging your butt to bed trying to get to sleep when all you can really do is think about searching for more hairspiration. Pinterest becomes your biggest vice and you’re kind of okay with that.

We approximate the style we want with, like, 5,000 bobby pins, and end up looking like someone with 5,000 bobby pins in their hair 

Once you’re bored with Pinterest (it IS possible, I swear), you must take matters into your own hands; and that means trying to create a short haircut with hair accessories. Standing in front of a mirror with a million bobby pins in tow is nothing short of ordinary when you just need to know how a short cut would look. It takes a great amount of patience to secure all your strands with pins and even more imagination to really envision what it could look like, but it’s the only way to get what you want without having to encounter the scissors.

We suddenly need to find every throwback selfie we’ve ever taken. RESEARCH!

At some point or another you must have embraced a short haircut, and so the hunt for photos of your former self begins and, oh, what a ride that one is. Not only do you get to actually imagine how this dream haircut would look IRL, you will also get to look back on some things you’d rather not remember. Like that baby doll tee or the wide leg raver pants you had nearly forgotten about. It’s a bizarre form of nostalgia, but there ain’t nothing like the real thing, so finding those forgotten gems of a time when your hair was happy as a pixie cut is a win in itself.

We survey EVERYONE we know for a consensus on our impending haircut, because we’ve come to believe other people care about this topic as much as we do 

Another form of warming up to the idea of chopping it all off is surveying your friends and family. Sure, most of them are going to be biased because they love you, but you may find among your travels a sordid few that will offer up their best advice or maybe just a blatant “NOPE!” It’s hard not to ask your loved ones what they think, because their opinions truly are of value. However, it is super important to remember that at the end of the day, it’s your heart and your head of hair, so do with it what you see fit regardless of whether someone else thinks it is “cool” or not.

Despite all of the silly things we do to get our head in the right state of mind before we dial-up our stylist, what it really comes down to is the bravery to try something new without overthinking it. Plus, even though overthinking it can sometimes help us muster up the courage to actually do it, there is still a chance you will never fully commit to the real thing. Living in a dream hair world can seem more glamorous than actually loving your new ‘do, but not experiencing something real is far worse than hoping for a change.

(Images via here)

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