Why didn't anyone tell me getting a haircut felt this good?!

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

Well, it’s been quite some time since I got my hair cut. I have had the occassional trim here and there, but the last time where I’ve cut it short was 4 years ago. It didn’t look too good (flat straight cut on a chubby face) so I decided to let it grow out as I usually did. Besides those occassional trims, I never cut it short since.

Recently, I grew fed up with long hair. There wasn’t much style, not much I could do with it, and I was shedding like a cat! The hair was literally getting everywhere; it’s not fun to find it in your food. Or your friend’s food. I decided that since my second semester is coming up here, and since summer changes my hair color to all sorts of fun shades, that it would be fun to start anew.

I was nervous at first. I haven’t had my hair short in a while, and I’ve had some bad experiences with hairdressers (which is why I always opted for long and nothing frilly). Toss in the fact that I would have to try to explain what I want in Japanese, and you can see why it took me a few months to muster up the courage to make an appointment.

Everything went well though. I brought in a picture beforehand of the style I would like (I was nervous because even though it looked good on the Japanese model, who knows how it would come out on me!) and I explained in Japanese that I wanted it to this length and I liked how the bangs gradually grew longer and I didn’t mind if I didn’t have curls like the pretty model did. I was also a little nervous, I admit, because it was the cheapest salon around. Granted, my teacher did recommend it, but I was not expecting miracles when it came to what the hairdresser could do.

She was very nice though and we were able to hold small conversations throughout the session (which took an hour and a half!). There was the initial panic of seeing all of my hair being cut off, that “Oh my god what did I just do- is it too late to stick that back on my head?” feeling. There were also times where my hair looked nothing like the picture, which worried me.
It came out quite well, though! They even threw in a free shampoo and rinse (probably to get the last cut bits out), styled it, and sent me on my way for just $25. I’m extremely happy with the results and the [good] “Ohmigods” from my friends. And my head feels so much lighter, I am definitely ready for summer! :smiley:

Here is a before and after picture. Sorry for the myspacy second picture, I kind of hate asking people to take my picture and this is just a small step above. :stuck_out_tongue:

Before:

After:

2

(Note: I’m a guy of the male persuasion. People tend to think my user name is feminine for some bizarre reason, even though the guy I named myself for (August Derleth) was also a man.)

I recently (within the past year) decided to shave my head. I can’t really get a “chrome dome” going because the cheapie electric razor I have isn’t good enough, but I generally like what I can do. I always enjoy having a fresh-shaved head with very short velcro-like stubble. It just feels so clean, especially compared to my previous mane of dense, untrainably wavy hair. Back when my hair was relatively long, it took ungodly amounts of time with a comb and water bottle to beat it into submission every morning. The humidity that produced allowed me to develop some really nasty cases of dandruff. I could never get my damned hair to do anything remotely resembling laying flat on my tortured scalp.

All that’s much better now. Aside from the shaving, which I do myself and save the interminable waits in the wastelands known as barber shops, I don’t maintain my hair at all. I maintain my scalp with shampoo and general cleanliness, but my hair is in a beneficial period of benign neglect. My dandruff is essentially gone and my morning routine is much less likely to result in pain and frustration. Plus, my appreciation of ska, reggae, and hardcore is improved.

3

That’s incredibly cheap. It looks good, too.

The first time I had a haircut in Japan, many moons ago, I just walked into a random barber shop. I showed them an old photo id and explained I wanted something more or less like that. I can’t complain with the job they did. However, the barber asked me if I needed a shave. I said yes. He then proceeded to shave my face… and my forehead… and my ears…

The ears, I might possibly understand, but why, why, would anyone want or need to have their forehead shaven?

For the record, I’ve been to other barber shops many times since, and that never happened to me again.

4

Heh. I’m a fan of long hair and looking at the before pictures I was scared to click the after shot thinking “Oh God, what has she done?”

But your new look is still hardly what most people would call “short” (relativity at work here), and of course you look stunning. Congrats!

5

Wow, how odd. How much did it cost you to get it cut? A student I’m tutoring recently got his hair cut, cost him around $48. Truth be told, I didn’t even notice a difference in his hairstyle. I was just surprised at the prices here and how they seem much higher than back home, especially for men. I guess I’m used to my dad getting his usual $10 army style-looking haircut.

Thank you! :slight_smile:

Heh, I do realize that it’s not what most people would call short. Pretty medium, eh? But it’s short for me! I liked my long hair, and most of my friends were against seeing it go, but they like the new hairstyle too. My hair grows out so fast, it’ll probably be back to the original length before this summer. :stuck_out_tongue:

6

うわ、美しい女性なんだなぁ。髪の毛もきれいよ。彼氏をやきもちしちゃうww。今夏また日本へ行くとき一緒に会ってなにか楽しいことをしたほうがいいと思う：）

Wow, what a pretty girl you are. The haircut looks great too. I’m jealous of your boyfriend ;). When I come to Japan again this summer, we absolutely must hang out together!

7

That sounds about right. Some places are even more expensive. I’m a guy and nowadays I keep my hair very, very short. Just an electric razor cut with no shave costs me 1200 yen (about 10$). It was several years ago, but I think my forehead shave adventure cost me around 2000 yen. For a while, I used to have slightly longer hair and would go to proper hair salons because, hey, I liked the pampering. I think it used to cost around 3500 yen, maybe even 4000.

8

Heee! You look great with your new hair :wink:

At uni, one of our student groups got up a charity drive called “Cuts for Cancer”, where people with more than (I think) a foot of hair got their locks whacked off to make wigs for cancer patients. They set their hairdressing kits up in the lobby, with desks and chairs for the salon, and got the students to sit down in front of a huge crowd.

I remember watching some people cry, and then laugh a bit hysterically, seeing their hair get chopped away, and hold onto their snipped tresses for a long while before handing them over. It’s a really emotional experience.

9

Autolycus: Is the second half of your post a translation of the first half?

10

Yes indeedy-doody :slight_smile: Sorry for not making that clear.

11

Oh, it was definitely surreal seeing all of that hair in one pile. She kept cutting and I was worried she was going overboard with these scissors that both cut and comb at the same time, but it came out well! I have thick hair too, which is probably what made the pile so huge. It was such a relief to see it gone though, I was starting to feel weird with my plain, long straight hair. I definitely feel more normal with this new haircut, at least ready for a change and ready to take on a new semester of school.

I have done “Locks of Love” a few times, myself. I wish I could have sent what I had cut yesterday, it was well over a foot, but it would have been hard to explain why I wanted my old hair :p. I tried explaining Locks of Love to the guys I tutor a while back, and they didn’t really understand it at all, so I guess it’s not available here in Japan.

ありがとう。もちろん、会ったほうがいいと思って、楽しそうね。いつ日本に来るつもりだ？私は７月１５日までいる。私は京都の御所の近くに住む。たくさん面白くて、様々な場所があって、とてもにぎやかだ。

Thanks. :slight_smile: We should hang out, it could be fun! When do you plan on coming to Japan? I’ll be here until the middle of July. I live right behind Gosho in Kyoto. There’s a lot of interesting places here, and it’s very lively. (At least compared to back home) :smiley: