There are few girls who would dare to deny this universal truth transcendent among women of all ages residing across the seemingly infinite expanse of the universe: There is no material possession in our lives rich with greater substance than our HAIR.
I don’t care if its length surpasses the curve of your waist or if it’s razor-cut and asymmetrical.
Whether it spirals into a dizzying array of curls or hangs straight like two silken curtains is irrelevant.
It doesn't matter if it’s wildly red, bleached and toned, dyed to the perfect pastel-cotton-candy pink or dark as a raven soaring through the night, our hair tells the world who we are, without us having to utter a word.
When a woman takes a moment to reflect back on the colorful story of her life, each chapter will be defined by the diverse myriad of hairstyles she rocked within each specific decade, exploded moment and passionate love affair.
“Hair holds so much more energy than most of us are aware of. Some women use it as a security blanket whose purpose is to shield and protect, while others use it as a secret weapon to tease and entice,” enthused Owen Gould, a celebrity hairstylist who has styled the tresses of everyone from Jessica Alba to Björk to Karlie Kloss to Kate Hudson, amid a mid-afternoon deep and heated dialogue with myself about the powerful connection between hair and identity.
“It can be used as a statement, an air of strength, a ‘don’t f*ck with me’ effect,” he schooled my eager ears, “and cutting it off can be incredibly liberating.
Whether it’s to signal the end of a relationship or a new promotion at work -- there is usually a direct correlation between what’s happening on our heads and what’s happening in our lives.”
Amen. The hair goddesses up above couldn’t have said it more articulately than our expert.
After all, what is a more powerful way to embark on a journey of personal transformation than to begin with the literal cutting off of the old and starting anew?
Once those ever-so-shiny silver scissors snip away at our split, broken ends, all that has been damaged and abused in our lives falls onto the salon floor, gets swept up and tossed into the garbage alongside our old hair, never to be seen again.
It’s the shedding of old skin. It’s akin to the feeling of checking heavy baggage at the airport and finally being free to run around with just your coin purse.
It’s like pushing a reset button on your life.
Because what most people neglect to realize is when a woman cuts her hair -- she’s cutting off SO MUCH MORE:
She’s cutting herself off from the societal standard of beauty.
Society has the notion of beauty all mixed up. Our eyes are endlessly force-fed heaps of servings of larger-than-life images of Victoria’s Secret models, who are forever adorned with long, flowing locks. We have been brainwashed into thinking this image is the sole definition of beauty.
If we were to close our eyes to society's message that beauty is only present in long, luxurious hair, we would see the most honest visual of sexiness is displayed in the short haircut.
Short hair exposes the most seductive part of a woman’s body: her neck. And once we get a glimpse of her neck, our eyes work their way down to her clavicle...
Short hair exposes and highlights the physique of a woman -- in a way long hair simply can’t.
She’s cutting out a toxic relationship.
The best thing a woman can do when caught up in the tethered ties of a breakup is to embark on a change of heart through the change of her HAIR.
Hair represents the intimacy of her last relationship, and keeping it in the same post-breakup not only keeps her mentally stagnant in the relationship but far more vulnerable to a relationship relapse.
Nothing will kick-start the beat of a broken heart like a new hairstyle. The best part is now she can get the hairstyle she always wanted -- not the same blonde highlights she endured year after year because it was what her ex preferred.
She's free to explore HER personal aesthetic as a fierce individual, without the shackles of outside opinion.
She’s cutting off your expectations of her.
There are few things more life-affirming than a girl proclaiming to the universe SHE is going to finally do whatever the f*ck she wants.
By fearlessly cutting her hair into the edgy style she has always dreamed of, she's ridding herself of the rigid expectations bestowed upon her by society, her partner, her friends and her family. In turn, she's creating her very own.
Liberating herself in this way unleashes a whole new side of her personality and opens her up to a world she didn't know existed.
She’s cutting off safety to find adventure.
Long hair is nestled deeply into the crux of the comfort zone.
By cutting off long hair, we are cutting ourselves off from a falsified sense of protection. Our vision is widened without the blinding veils of long hair.
With short hair, we're stepping out of the barbed-wire cage of familiarity and stepping into the broad spectrum of adventure.
She’s cutting off the damage.
Sometimes we abuse the hair on our heads. What was once luscious and unbreakable is now frail and wispy. The incessant abuse we bestowed upon our strands with the brutal weaponry of hot irons and teasing combs has wreaked severe havoc. Our hair (and our souls) are left worn and damaged.
Not even the most expensive and luxurious Kerastase treatment in the world can breathe life into hair so DEAD. Sometimes the only thing to do is get rid of it and start the f*ck over.
True for life and hair.
She’s cutting off 25 to 35 minutes of maintenance.
The very thought of even calculating the time and energy graciously poured into the styling, the combing, the washing and conditioning of long hair is painfully daunting. The hours handcuffed to the tending of hair over the course of a woman's life are uncountable.
It's as simple as it sounds: The shorter the hair, the shorter the time spent caring for it.
What if a woman invested her time into seeking adventure, reading, kissing someone new and engaging in conversation? Could she become a more fully realized woman? What could fill up those empty hours she spent tangled into the thick wires of flatirons and hairdryers?
She’s cutting off “beauty” to tap into style.
The beauty industry would like us to believe long hair is concurrent with "beauty"-- but FASHION says otherwise. Nothing exudes STYLE like a fashion-forward, short haircut.
The truly "beautiful" girls are the ones who have authentic personal style. They have creative vision that is expressed through their own definition of beauty. The girls who abandon convention, opting for originality instead.
After all, "beauty" fades; style is everlasting.
She’s cutting off fear.
When a girl finally has the courage to cut her hair, she’s finally owning who she truly is.
She's cutting herself off from everything she was, to be everything she is.
