My New Haircut!

For about a month, I've been dreaming of a haircut ... a drastic haircut. My hair has been rebelling against me this summer, and I decided it was time to show it who is boss.

Normally, my mom just trims the ends of my hair. Before vacation, we didn't have time to get together for a trimming session, so I ran by Great Clips to get a tiny trim. Well, they trimmed in a few weirdo bangs, too. And, I totally hate them. They hit at a very strange place and go against my natural part, so they're constantly flipping in front of my nose. So, I've been clipping them back in a bobby pin (in a style affectionately named by some as "The Egg" ... not too flattering) since late June. Also, all that layering made the bottom of my already-thin hair very thin.

Besides the bad cut, it was just time for a change anyway. It takes a lot of time and fussing to fix it. The ends are dry to the point where they won't hold a curl. They are really to the point of feeling crunchy when you touch them. It gets so stringy and flat at the end of the day. It has no real style to it - just lank and lifeless. After a long day at work, it looks very rough, and I don't have the kind of job where I can touch it up throughout the day.

So, with all that in mind, I decided about the time school started that I wanted a big cut. I took a few weeks to think about it and make sure, and I was still sick of my current hair, so I went for it today!

My "Before" Shot, taken this morning before work...
This is what's sad... this is what I think my hair looks like all the time because this is how it looks when I leave for work. Full & fresh, volume & shine.

Unfortunately, it does not. Saunders took the above picture this morning at about 6:30 am, and I asked him how it looked. Then he said, "Um, it looks really good. But, you may not want to use it as your before picture." When I asked him why not, he answered, "Because people will wonder why you're getting your hair cut when it looks good. You should take a picture of it when you get off work, when it looks really bad. That's really why you're getting it cut." Ouch. The truth hurts.

So, here's the "accurate" before picture...
I asked my parapro to take this one after the kids left. All the volume is gone. No curl left. Ends dry and stringy. Slicked behind my ears. Weak with a capital W.

And now, for the new 'do ... after seven inches were chopped off!
I really like it! Smooth, shiny, perky! I think it looks a lot healthier and fuller. I also think it makes me look a lot younger - maybe because I had a similar haircut my freshman year of high school. It is a BIG change, but it exactly what I was thinking of when I went in. I am very happy with it, but I still double take in the mirror because I've had the long hair for years and years. Laurie at Laurie's Day Spa cut it for me, and she used to cut my hair for years and years when I was in middle and high school. So, she knows my hair and knows what I'm looking for - faux thickness. She made plumping it up (and fixing those goofy bangs) her goal, and I think she achieved it!

And, of course, because we all know it will wind up behind my ears at work, here's a behind-the-ears shot:

So, leave me some comments and tell me what you think about it!