I’ve had a short bleached white pixie cut for over two years now. And I’ve been thinking it’s time for a change. I’ve been thinking about a dark brown chin-length bob with loose curls and bangs (maybe like this?). I’m not sure what’s motivating my urge for a new hairstyle (maybe the move to France?), but I keep thinking about it.
Here are some of the factors I’m mulling over as I consider a hair change:
-Daily maintenance
This is a big one. I don’t love a long or involved daily grooming routine. Right now, my hair takes so little time on a daily basis. It’s amazing. I don’t have to think about it. I don’t need a hairdryer, flattener, or curling iron. I don’t need a hair tie around my wrist (though I still carry them in my bag because I have four long-haired kids). And my hair is so short that hiar products (purple shampoo and shine wax) last for a loooong time, like a year.
When I wear my hair longer, it takes more daily maintenance, period. To manage it, the last time I had long hair, I would schedule a weekly blowout and then make it last for 7 days — using dry shampoo and top knots as the week progressed.
Ideally, if I go for the bob I’m imagining, I’m hoping it won’t be as much daily maintenance as when I’ve worn my hair long .
-Cut maintenance
With my pixie cut, I have a hair appointment every 4 weeks. No negotiating. With a longer hair hairstyle — even chin length — I can go much longer between cuts.
-Color maintenance
Managing color is probably what I’m thinking about the most as I consider a new hairstyle.
As I’ve discussed before, I grew up with dark brown hair, but I started going seriously grey in my twenties, and these days my natural hair color is a mix of charcoal and silver grey. I don’t really mind the color and I’ve happily worn it in it’s natural state. But when I do, it always reminds me that in our society, grey hair equals retirement-age grandmother or older. (When I wore my hair grey, I remember Flora June’s classmates asking me if I was her Grandma on a school field trip.)
I was thinking about why this is, and my theory is that a whole lot of women, even those who go grey in their late 40’s or early 50’s, cover their grey for as long as possible — for decades sometimes. And because of that, I don’t think we’re used to seeing middle-age grey-haired women, and we only associate grey hair with the 70+ age range. Just my theory.
I don’t mind being the age I am, but I do want to look my age. And I think my grey hair makes me look older than my age.
Right now, I get my hair bleached white every other month. As it grows in, the roots look dark and it adds depth that I really like. In fact, I like my current hair color best after the roots have grown in for at least 3 weeks.
When I have any-color-but-white hair, I don’t like how my roots look at all. Instead of coming in dark, they look white/grey against the dark hair and drive me nuts. I end up wanting to color my roots every couple of weeks, and since I don’t have time for that many appointments, I end up doing touchups at home, which is a pain because I’m not very good at it.
-Growing out a pixie
Have you ever grown your hair out from pixie length? It is not fun. There is like a two year awkward period. I wish I was exaggerating but I’m not. I’m thinking I’ll need to choose a wig to help me out through the worst of it.
-Settling down with one style
I really like my hair in a pixie cut. I feel stylish and modern. And I like the idea of finding your ideal hairstyle and then sticking with it — like Anna Wintour. If I have an ideal hairstyle, it’s probably a pixie cut. So I ask myself: am I crazy to change it?
But then, if I assume I’m going to live a long life, then I feel like I’m already bored thinking I won’t change my hair again for 40 years or so. So why not grow it out again? I can always return to a pixie cut if I miss it.
Anyway. That’s what’s on my mind hair-wise these days. How about you? Have you ever made a big hair change? Have you found your ideal hairstyle that you’re happy to commit to for the foreseeable future? Do you wear your hair in your natural color, or do you like to dye it/bleach it/highlight it? Has your hair gone grey? If yes do you color it or wear it natural?
For most of my life I have worn my brown hair long, because I find it easiest to take care of (just put it in a ponytail, or sometimes a bun with a claw clip, primarily after washing, because I also hate blow-drying my hair).
All my more drastic haircuts were Star Trek inspired, like wanting a B’Elanna Torres bob, or an Ezri Dax pixie cut. But I found that with shorter cuts, I had to blow-dry with a round brush, or use gel, and I just hate doing pretty much any maintenance on my hair besides washing and brushing it. So I went back to the ponytail… I guess I’m more of a Jadzia Dax.
I also tried bangs, which got in my eyes, so never again (even though they looked AMAZING, but again only if I was willing to do the styling). I also had bright red streaks for a while, which I greatly enjoyed, but I got them only from about ear level down so I wouldn’t have to maintain roots, and could just cut the streaked portion off when I got a job that required no unnatural hair colors. I was also limited to red because it was the only color that would show up over my brown without having to use bleach, which I chose to avoid.
My grandma dyed her hair all through my childhood and I didn’t realize it. I just assumed she had dark brown hair, and then she stopped and it was white all at once, and it was very surprising to me. My greys are mostly on one side, but are not too plentiful yet because I’m in my late 30s. I told my husband that when my hair goes completely grey/white someday, I will dye it all the fun rainbow colors that don’t show up over brown!
Gabby, I think I like your pixie cut the best, but perhaps because that is the style I’ve seen pictured most often. Your other pics prove you can very successfully pull off many styles, so go for what makes you feel happy. :)
I’m 42, and a lot of my friends that are the same age are embracing their grays and letting it just happen! I LOVE seeing women embrace the gray that are in their 30s and 40s. Obviously, the more we normalize it, the more we will be used to seeing women that way.
This gray conversation though reminds me… has anyone see the comments when Keanu Reeves stepped out with his love interest? She is nearly ten years his junior, but she has gray/white hair — and I read a lot of comments about her age and her looks. People were vicious, naturally, because he was dating a woman that is essentially his contemporary who is gray and quite lovely looking, I think. So ridiculous.
Anyway, my vote is embrace the gray!