Two Weeks

I’ve heard it said that the only difference between a good haircut and a bad is two weeks. In my case, however, it’s more likely to be two years!

I went in last week for a trim – a trim that I thought might involve the loss of a few inches because I wanted to get rid of the worst of the thinning that appears to be the result of low ferritin levels. I started with hair just one to two inches above tailbone and came out with hair at mid back. That is not a few inches!

I should have been warned when the stylist held up my ends and said, “You don’t need all these ends, anyway.” Says who? Those ends are what made my hair as long as it was; those ends were the tassel at the end of my braid; those ends stopped my buns falling down.

If that hadn’t set off warning bells, then seeing another stylist (who knows me well) look at the back of my head, look down at the floor, back at my hair, and then refuse to make eye contact with me certainly did. She tried to make conversation with me after that but I wasn’t fooled. Nor was I reassured when I was not shown the back of my hair with a mirror, the hair that had been cut off was all swept up before I could see it, and the stylist put my hair up in a bun so that it wasn’t until I arrived home four hours later that I got the chance to see just how short she had cut it.

And short it is. For me anyway. It’s no good someone telling me it’s still long. How can it be long when it feels so short, when my braid barely flicks over my shoulder, when I can no longer put it up in a bun with just one hair stick?

This length is not a particularly flattering length on me nor does it have any style. It just stops. The times that I have thought about cutting back to BSL I have envisioned at least a few layers around the face and have always had the personal understanding that I would keep it at that length or shorter. The grow-out between BSL and waist has always been a particularly unattractive stage for me – one that I’ve never wanted to repeat.

I’ve discovered more curls at this length – which should be a good thing – except that the majority of them look as if they have been chopped off mid-curl (curly girls will understand). I don’t know if a few more washes or a few months of growing will correct the problem, but at the moment, I’m feeling that my hair is uglier than ever.

And then there’s the fringe. I’ve never ever been happy with my fringe. I would love not to have to wear one but as my nearest and dearest have told me, I NEED a fringe. I just wish I could find a style I liked. And a stylist that wouldn’t butcher it. Why did she insist on layering it? (Insist is a gentle term considering I had no say in the matter at all – after telling me it didn’t need any length off and wasn’t ‘too bad’ – that condescending tone again – she proceeded to chop off at least half an inch making it too short and too heavy in one fell swoop).

She was right about one thing though – as much as I hate to admit it. She told me my hair would be more manageable at this length despite not one word from me about it not being manageable. DH had occasion to take me up to the hospital on Saturday night and as they did an ECG, chest x-ray, scan, blood tests, and inserted an IV line, it certainly was a lot easier to manage mid length hair that was down and loose than longer hair.

I just wish it wasn’t so SHORT!

[Note: due to my hair being wet and the way I am holding my head it looks as if I'm at natural waist. I can assure you that that is not the case. It is a lot shorter dry and when I'm standing straight. In fact, if I didn't know better, I would assume that this picture had been taken before I had my hair cut. It never looks that long in the mirror when I view it.]