I’m growing my hair out. It’s been many different levels of short for a few years now. I’ll let it grow to a bob and then whack it all off to a pixie. It was relatively long in front and I stood the back up like a raging emo boy (My favorite style EVER that reignited my deep love for concrete hairspray). I have somehow quickly gotten back to the chin length bob with a few short bang bits and it’s smooth sailing from this point on. The ultimate goal is to get back to having super long hair – only this time black! I miss what it feels and looks like. Here I am at 20 and 21 years of age. (I have no idea what was going on with the rose in my hair… but whatever. This was about a decade ago.)
I have been thinking for a while that it has been both good and bad to grow my hair out at this particular time. I have saved a lot of money by not maintaining my short and temperamental style but I can’t even imagine what my stylist is going through right now.
Right when I decided to grow my hair out, I heard a lot of other women say they were doing the same thing. I don’t think the economy had anything to do with our decisions though. It was just time for a change and the timing was pretty terrible for anyone in the salon industry. When I had my shorter hair, there was no way I could go to a cheap salon to get a trim. They would’ve completely butchered the style (and used a razor after I told the woman 5 times not to). I am at a state of growing out limbo right now and still don’t know what I’m going to do and where I’m going to go when it’s time to shape it up.
This article from June of this year seems a bit counter-intuitive. It states that during bad financial periods, people tend towards shorter more graphic hairstyles to essentially give their lives some visual stimulation… that during fat times, people are so busy consuming that that they don’t have time for high maintenance styles. Seriously? I think that’s a crock. Why would you purposefully give yourself a demanding hair style when you could just get creative with what you already have, for next to nothing?
The “hemline” index has also been referenced for the millionth time – that women’s skirts get shorter in better times. I have never known a period in recent fashion history where every hemline wasn’t simultaneously popular with some designer and you couldn’t readily get the length you want anywhere. I think we have reached a point in fashion where anyone can pull off anything if they have the right attitude. Avoiding certain hem lengths at certain times just isn’t relevant anymore. So, yeah, I’m calling B.S. on that economic predictor now because I just don’t think it carries any more weight these days. Just because there’s a correlation doesn’t mean there’s causation.
I have also heard that women spend more money on lipstickduring a recession since it’s the little luxuries that perk us all up. How long does it take you to go through a tube of lipstick, even if you wear it every day? A long time. How many tubes of lipstick and gloss do you have? I am embarrassed to say. While I have been seeing lots of money saving tips online about beauty products and whatnot – I have so much make-up that I have collected, I don’t think I will ever need to buy another eyeshadow for 4 years. We all have way too much product in our homes so, instead of thinking of ways to scrimp to make an unnecessary purchase, why not just use what you already have!? I’m currently using every last drop of lotion in my home (at leat 5 more half-used bottles to go) before I buy another damn thing (paraben free). This isn’t just being recession conscious. It’s not being a senseless pig.
This articlefrom July of this year quotes a barber as saying that even for inexpensive cuts, twice as many people had been placing the charge on their credit cards. Now isn’t this how we’ve gotten ourselves into this mess in the first place? There are some things people will never scrimp on. You may decide to cut back on other things so as not to have to sacrifice what is really important to you – like a trip to your favorite salon. It’s all about your personal priorites. It’s okay to shift them around once in a while but you’re not fooling yourself with 4 $25 items to satisfy shopping urges, as oposed to one $100 purchase. I have been very guilty of that little game too many times to count.
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{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
If you need moral support during your growing-out-ness, I’m here! You’ll hit another awkward point when it starts hitting your shoulders and flipping outward and weird. Rather than going in for “trims” go in to get weight taken out of it… texturizing is a world of difference than having a weird blunt heavy line that you will just want to hack off in no time. It took me years of attempts to get it past my shoulders. Every time it hit, I’d lop it all off again up to my chin or ears.
I call the same bluff you do on all those predictors. However, I’m not quite sure why it is that I’ve developed this new routine of self-manicures every week with cuticle cream, nippers, filers, clear polish. I never paid much attention to my hands but it’s become kind of a meditative ritual of some sort. Hrm.
I like the long hair on you. Not that I don’t like the short either, you can really pull off anything. :)
I’m definitely going to have to go see Vildan after New Years. I have my friend Sarah going to her now and she just chopped off a foot! It looks awesome. She said Envy was moving to Stony Point! They must be doing pretty damn well if they can make that kind of move from the fan. I need to send her a message and see what’s up and make an appointment. My hair is soooo fine though… I’m scared to weed it out too much… I won’t have anything left! I want those short layers you had on top once I get some real length. That made such a world of difference to body and height… love some hair height.
Yeah, my expert cutting of the moolay has left me with this annoying bluntness that doesn’t suit one bit. I can weather any hair storm though. I know I won’t get frustrated and cut it all off again if I’ve made it this far. I’ll save that kind of drastic measure for some night I get my heart broken and run to Vildan the next day!
I have only had one real manicure ever. (Pure heaven.) So I hear you on giving yourself the pampering treatment. Clear polish is the best. Everything else makes it seem like a waste of time as soon as you get that first chip the next day.
I feel like I’ve had every style of short. I want a new ‘do but I can’t think of anything that doesn’t make me have a flashback to some previous era.
I love your hair! it’s about 3 inches longer than mine right now… same shape, etc. Hmmm… yeah, I’ve had just about every style short of a mohawk (which I have told myself repeatedly I was going to do for my 30th b-day but… I think I’m chickening out on that). What about a new color? You could always go back to dark if it wasn’t your thing! A wild streak of color?
I agree with you about the economic times. The only commentary I found was mainly in regards to men. The statement was that we cut our hair shorter to allow more time in between cuts. With some workplace concerns, we’re not allowed to have hair that’s too long.
As for women….well. Haircuts/styling for you all is super expensive so I can understand the concern. Granted, I’m bald now, but when I did get haircuts or my friends did, it usually wasn’t more than $20 bucks. For women it seems that’s the tip for getting theirs done.
I can totally see that for men. Makes complete sense and when I had my hair super short, I would do the same thing to milk as much time in between cuts as possible. Women are so much more high maintenace than men, for the most part.