· Hair Cut! ·

Well, this post has been 3 months in the writing, but it's finally here. ;-)

I got my hair cut!!!

I've been toying with the idea of getting a vintage cut for almost 2 years now, and through the influence of my mom, my sister, and Call the Midwife, I finally made the plunge!  It's been almost 3 months since I did it, and I'm still thrilled that I finally worked up the courage to do this!

Before and after on the day of the cut!

I've had long hair for over 15 years, and in the last 8, I've worn it "up" almost exclusively.  This was my first time getting my hair layered, and I used a vintage cutting diagram for a "middy plus"- getting it cut just like the diagram with the exception of making the layers 6" long.  Let me tell you- it's sooooo much different!  Actually, it's kind of funny to think back to how different it felt, because it already seems so normal. ;-)

Since this was my first time doing a drastic haircut like this, I really wasn't sure what I wanted so we just went with the straight-up diagram.  Now that I've lived with it for a while, I think I might do it a bit differently next time.  It's just sooooo layered in the back!  The top layers seem too short to me, so I think I'll do those longer next time.  Also, 6 inches seems so long for the front!  It doesn't help that I started at about 18" before, but I do think it's a bit limiting.  That's the benefit to hair growth though, it only gets longer! ;-)

One of my reasons for putting this off so long was because I wasn't sure I'd really be able to commit to pin-curling my hair every night.  I knew I wanted it short enough that I wasn't tempted to do my typical rolled hairstyle as an easier fall-back, so with the exception of a handful of times, I've pin-curled it every single night.  And it's a lot less arduous than I was fearing. ;-)  I've got it down to 15 minutes, and the muscle memory has kicked in and helps immensely!!

Over the last 3 months, I've been able to figure out what works and what doesn't, so now I know that my hair holds curl *really* well after pin-curling, but ONLY in dry weather.  The humidity of September was rather discouraging, but I'm loving November and December!!  I start with dry hair and slightly dampen with setting lotion on the first night, and all subsequent nights just use water for dampening.  I haven't played around with many setting patterns yet, but I feel like I've finally almost conquered this set.

Back in the humidity when the curl didn't hold as well as I'd like, I took to wearing an invisible hairnet.  It worked really well, and I loved it!  But these pictures mark a momentous occasion- my first week to successfully not wear the hairnet!  I have some OCD tendencies at times, and I've been trying to break myself of some of the odder ones.  Like wearing sandals- I do.not. like the feel of anything on my bare feet except for socks.  It takes great effort to not wear socks year-round, but I felt like that was something I needed to let go.  So too, wearing my hair down.  Ugh, I really hate not having every hair *just so*.  I don't like the unpredictability that comes with wind, grabbing babies, rain, bad hair days, etc.  And the feel of hair on my neck/shoulders/face....!  AGH!  But I also really hate being limited by this silly obsession.  Enter: Hair cut.  I'll just force myself to get over it. ;-D  The hairnet was also a great transition step, since it was technically down, but also completely contained and mostly impervious to messing up.  The hairnet still works well for bad hair days, but as long as this dry weather lasts and good hair days allow, I'll be stretching my comfort zone. ;-)

One of the things I've been most excited about is finally being able to wear all of our vintage hats!  My previous style worked well for most of them, but there were several (this furry confection included!) that just didn't work before.  Problem solved. :-)

All in all, I'm so glad I finally did this!  I still have so far to go, but I'm excited to be on the way to reaching my goals!

· Photos by Kathryn! ·