A woman’s hair is the crown she wears daily; whether it be braids, twists, locs, relaxed, natural, or even bald. For some women, hair is what makes them most confident. But what if one day, you wake up and decide to change your hair? There’s always the ‘what ifs’ that live in the back of your mind, making you think if whether or not this is a good idea. Do yourself a favor — just do it and never look back. Cutting my hair was something I wanted to do since high school. During that time, however, I was always told that having short hair was very high maintenance. In theory, I just wanted something that minimized that amount of time it took to style my hair for the day. It wasn’t until a few years later, I decided to once and for all cut it off. At first, I was very skeptical about cutting my hair as my afro had finally gotten to where I wanted it to be. But there were quite a few things about my beloved ‘fro that needed to be taken care of. I had split ends, damaged hair in some areas from straightening the front end of my hair — it was a mess all around. To top it all off, I never realized that my hair wasn’t as healthy as I thought it was until I went to my hairstylist after months of doing D-I-Y haircare. I told her that I wanted to cut my hair, and she showed my styles that were natural hair-friendly, and my eyes were set on a tapered cut. A tapered cut is one where the hair around the haircut (sideburns, edges, etc.) is gradually shorter than the haircut itself.So the day finally comes to cut my hair, and I’m not even the least bit anxious. I was finally excited that I was doing something I’ve always wanted to do for years. I even took a series of pictures documenting the process. When it was done, I was so surprised it looked good; as I was also told that not everyone can pull off short hair (which is false — you just have to know the perfect style for your facial shape). After some months went by, I realized that I wanted to cut my hair even shorter. My hair was healthier and growing like wildfire, so I needed a style that was easy to manage. My hairstylist had even asked me if I was sure that I wanted to do such a drastic cut. I said “f*** it, it’s just hair.” The point I’m trying to make here is, if there’s a hairstyle or color you’ve always wanted to do — DO IT. You only live one life, and who knows? It may even look great. But if it doesn’t, there’s no shame in using wigs until your hair grows back. As long as you consult with a hair stylist that actually knows what they’re doing, then there’s no harm in that. And if you’re worried about the repercussions of doing so, relax — it’s just hair.
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Albany chapter.