My hair was way overdue for a haircut, just about shoulder length. I have thick hair, which is a pain to deal with, and I figured that I’ve only got about a year left of college to do ridiculous things like this. So, with the help of a friend who has clippers for her own similarly-short hair, I shaved mine down to about 5/8 of an inch.
My assessment so far: really weird and different; makes me look somewhat like a prepubescent boy. But my current bottle of shampoo will last for a lot longer, and I can go ahead and chop at least ten minutes off my morning routine.
Also, according to several friends, it makes me look like a Nazi*, a French model, and really really butch.
*Not really, but that came from a prior conversation during which a friend’s retort to an argument was to call me a nazi.
Do it. I figured that if I didn’t like it - well, I can wear hats or bandanas, and it’ll grow back.
Before (I just look stoned, I wasn’t really) after (Sorry for the crappy lighting; the only light I currently have in my dorm is my desk lamp [don’t ask])
That’s awesome. I wish I had your guts. I’ve always been tempted, especially in the summer, but in the end the thought of regretting it the next morning always stopped me.
Wow, you know, you really do have the cheekbones for that sort of style, sinead o’connoresque. Yay!
Now, do you tend to dress androgynously, or with a feminine edge? With a haircut like that, you might need to wear earrings or a scarf or something slightly more often in order to balance out the starkness of the hair.
The dressing thing is my big concern - I’m definitely a jeans-and-t-shirt type and don’t have pierced ears. I might end up buying some casual-ish necklaces (I currently have a grand total of one non-fancy one, which is a peace sign on a chain that I wear constantly). I also - in anticipation of this - picked up a couple bandanas with colorful prints today. So I’ll see how it goes, and if I decide I look too butch, I’ll just grow it out.
I had my head shaved once. They needed shave part of it for a surgery, and I just had the rest shaved too. It felt LIBERATING. The growing out? That’s another story.
It’s interesting how the shorter hair changes your whole appearance. I normally don’t care much for shorter hair on women, but I have to agree that the buzz cut looks good on you.
Welcome to the world of short hair! I shaved mine a few years ago, and kept it short until about six months before my wedding. Isn’t it awesome?
Let me repeat the previous consensus: you definitely have the bone structure and head shape for super-short hair. Not everyone does. It does give you a very butch look overall, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
Don’t Forget Sunblock! You’ve just opened up a whole new part of your head to the direct rays of burny death, so make sure you’re wearing sunblock. You can use the good non-greasy facial kind on your scalp through hair that length without a problem. Sometimes, even through a bandanna, the UV will just fry skin that’s completely unused to it.
Speaking of bandannas - they’re generally between 18" and 22" square. What that means is that generally you can get prettier ones for cheaper by going to a fabric store, getting 1/2 to 3/4 yard of cloth, and cutting square(s) out of that. If you want to get really fancy and finish the edges, you can, but it’s by no means necessary. Silk or polyester lining fabric is particularly good for giving you a range of cheap colors that will drape nicely and put a soft line back on your neck where your hair used to be. The softer the fabric, the more likely you’ll end up with slipping over the course of the day, but with a natural fiber (silk, cotton, linen, etc) you’ll get better staying power.
Oh, and one last thing: if you take it all the way down to the skin (or within 1/8th inch or so), get somebody to lick your head. It sounds fucked up, and it is, but it’s truly an experience worth having.
