My hair is kind of long -not Crystal Gayle-long, but down almost to my waist in the back. It has to be braided it at night, or it ends up in a horrible snarl. I find that I use almost two bottles of conditioner to every one bottle of shampoo. I brush and brush and brush. Frankly, I’m getting kind of tired of it. I have liked how it looks, but I begin to worry the style may have outlived its attractiveness. For the most part, I let it grow and kept it long because I thought my silly husband fancied it that way, so I casually broached the subject of a haircut and was met with “Whatever. It’s your hair.” Gee, thanks for the input, darling!
I have the occasional trim to keep the ends squared and neat, but the last time I had my hair cut above my shoulders was 1991. My offhand remark to my husband about cutting it was mostly bravado. I actually think I am a little bit scared of getting it cut, but I am tired of all the hassle. I am also tired of cleaning out clumps of hair from my brush that are roughly the size of teen-aged Guinea pigs.
Suggestions? Should I just bite the bullet and cut the mess? Oh, and for reference: My Hair
I have thought about this, and I think there are some salons in Little Rock that do this, especially since Arkansas Children’s Hospital is there, too. I’m going to contact my sister-in-law about it, as I think her older sister had it done. This all depending on me mustering up the gumption to actually cut it.
I had waist-length hair from about fifth grade until I was a junior in college. I got it cut short while I was doing a summer internship in Germany and never looked back. About 2 years ago, I considered letting it grow closer to shoulder length, but when it got to be about an inch longer than normal, I couldn’t take the extra time it took to dry etc. and went back to “normal.” I have thick curly hair and had a lot of the same issues that you talk about. Can’t believe I put up with them for such a long time!
From your pictures, I can imagine that a good short haircut could be really flattering. I third the Locks of Love idea. (And as everyone said, if you hate it, it will grow back!)
I’ll third Locks of Love – it’s a cool program, and you’d make a sick little girl extremely happy.
The cool thing about short hair is it’s so easy to take care of. Forget conditioner and combing – how long does it take to dry? Mine is only somewhat below my shoulders, which is about as long as it looks good. It’s extremely thick and extremely straight, and it takes at least two hours to air-dry.
I do about a five- or six-year cycle of short-long-short, and I’m about a year into long right now. It’s nice to be able to tie it back or clip it up out of the way – but there’s something to be said about a dab of shampoo and a dab of conditioner – comb it through – and let it dry.
Well, Locks of Love has participating salons in and around Little Rock, but there are all Fantastic Sams. :dubious: Their website says I can mail in my own chopped off hair, though.
A friend has suggested that I just go to a salon for a consultation to begin with, and see what the stylist has to say about my hair before I commit to cutting.
btw-anyone here donated to Locks of Love via mail? Can you hear these chicken noises -“bawk, bawk, bawk” - I am making?
Come on chicken. It’s okay if you are. When you have had something that long (no pun intended), it’s hard to part with it. If you don’t want to have it done than don’t. You sound like you have some reservations that if you did have it done you might not be happy with your decision. I too have waivered on this decision and always come back with the same thing from the hair salon. Long hair, just a trim. If you do make the decision to have it cut off and you say yes to locks of love than your decision is not totally in vain. It will go to a good cause and will grow back with time. If you do have it done I would go to someone who knew what they were doing even if it did cost an arm and a leg.
I must admit to a personal bias. While I think some people can look good with long hair, I think most look better with short. And old ladies with long hair? Ew.
Your hair is beautiful (I want that color!), but it’s hiding your even more beautiful face. A short haircut, above your chin, would draw more attention to how pretty you are.
I had waist length hair for years that I was absolutely neurotic about. I literally went a year without having it trimmed. It was really nasty. I had to braid it at night, and when I went swimming, I had to pull it into a pony tail, braid the pony tail, and then tie the braid into a bun, or it would wrap around my arms every time I took a stroke.
I didn’t get it cut all at once, but I went from “freakishly long hair” to “ordinary long hair” to “medium length hair.” It is SO MUCH MORE FUN. When I had long hair, I had all these ideas about how I would style it and do cool stuff with it, but I never did. It was too much trouble - not to mention it was exhausting holding my arms up long enough to braid it! Now I get it cut and restyled every few months, so I always look fresher and can try new stuff. I’ll never, ever go back to long hair.
My daughter grew her hair out from, oh, about birth or so until just after her 13th birthday. Loosely braided to keep it from tangling at night, her hair was a little over 4 feet long, and a lovely golden blonde. She read about Locks of Love in the paper and went to the hairdresser the next day.
She’ll be 16 in March and is still wearing her hair only shoulder-length.
I am a male (with fairly shaggy hair, for a man) and I think your long locks are delightful. But why does the question have to be “all or nothing?” If it’s waist-length now, and that’s too much trouble to care for, why not trim it to, say, mid-back? You’d still have long hair, but taking 10 inches or so off the end would have to make it easier to deal with. A good hairdresser might also have some hair care tips. Instead of having to braid it every night, for example, could you just pin it up or wear a hair net?
If you cut it really short and hate it, there’s not much you do about it. But if you take some off the ends and like the look, you can cut it more. I always vote for the most options.
Hey, I’m just following the instructions in the thread title.
FWIW, your hair is lovely as is, but only you can know how much it’s bothering you. And it will grow back if you decide you hate it. Me, I’m growing out a pixie and struggling to keep from getting it cut, and right now it’s at the Horrible Stage -long enough to be in my eyes, but too short to pull into a clip.
Locks of Love is a great organization. We mailed in my daughter’s 16-inch ponytail a few years back.
Here’s an idea. Contact Locks of Love and find out what length they prefer or what’s the minimum they can use. Then cut your hair that far for starters. You should have enough left so that you won’t feel so weird about cutting it but it’ll be short enough to make a big differance in the care.
Oh yeah, and I’m massively envious. I can’t get mine below mid-back. it just stops on it’s own. :rolleyes:
Your hair would look gorgeous and sophisticated short. I’m not much for the “take off a few inches each time you have your hair cut until it’s short” option. In my experience, you end up with several in-between lengths that are always at an awkward length. Go for the gusto! Have you watched any of those makeover shows? The only time I’ve ever seen one of the afters with long hair is when she insisted, against the advise of the stylist, to keep it long.
I would recommend that if you dont’ have a stylist that specializes in short, curly hair, start watching for people with styles that you like and ask them who does their hair. You may have to wait a few months to get in to a stylist that’s good but they’ll be worth the wait.
I’m pretty sure the minimum is eight inches. I still say cut it all off (well, not all of it), but I do all kinds of things with my hair all the time without thinking twice about it, so maybe it’s just me. I have no emotional attachment to my hair. It grows back, or the dye fades, or (someday soon, god help me) the perm grows out. Nothing is really permanent, y’know. Well there’s death, but that has nothing to do with your hair.
You don’t have to shave your head. You don’t have to cut it at all, actually, but you might like a shorter style.
I think Locks of Love wants 12" of hair. I had hair to bottom of my butt at one point in my adult life. I struggled with the idea of donating 12" because, of course, it’s such a great gift.
After 2 years of thinking about it and not doing it, I decided to just cut about 4" off at a time. I am happy with that decision because it just worked better for me and my nerves.
My personal opinion of looking at your face and hair, I think you’d look nice with your hair about 4" or so past your shoulders.
It’s really is nice to use less shampoo/conditioner and be able to completely blow dry your hair in 15 minutes or less.
Heh, and it’s doubly nice not having a stray 20 inch long hair in your underwear. I know people with long hair know what I’m talking about.
