The Thing About Very Short Hair

It's been a couple of weeks (actually 16 days I think) since I cut my hair. The longest strands on the floor were probably 10 inches long, and no it didn't go to Locks of Love because it was too gray and too processed. I also decided, at least temporarily, that I'm not going to dye my hair to cover the gray anymore. That could change, though. I have a box of dye in the bathroom just in case I need it. Like an emergency pack of smokes when you're trying to quit or like keeping condoms handy even though you have no reason to believe you'll need them anytime soon. The gray is actually the bigger change for me than the length.

I've worn my hair this short in the past; in fact, it was this short for long periods of time, so I didn't have to spend a lot of time getting used to the new look. The reactions I get from people who haven't known me long enough to have seen me with hair this length are very interesting. The most common one I've gotten is, "I'd never have the guts to go that short." Yes, as a woman, it does take a certain bravado to go super short (and BTW, mine's not quite short enough yet, next time I see my stylist we're taking more off the top), but it takes some other things, too.

1. Guts/bravado/confidence, whatever you want to call it. You have to have the personality to own the look and not let the look own you.

2. You have to like your face because you'll be seeing a lot of it. Even if you currently wear your hair back most of the time, when it's long, you have the option to hide behind the hair if you want/need to. It's easier to know that your face is going to be out there all the time if you like it.

3. You should feel comfortable wearing makeup. Short hair + no makeup doesn't necessarily equal lesbian, but lots of men seem to think so. With the inherent masculine nature of short hair, the feminity of makeup makes a nice balance. Plus your face is out there all the time, some mascara is a good thing.

3a. Earrings are really important, too, for all the same reasons as makeup. Plus they're fun to shop for. In a book, the fabulous author, Nora Roberts, once said, "earrings are like orgasms; you can never have too many." She's absolutely right.

4. Product is your friend. Spray mousse, gel, wax, paste, spiking stuff; it's all really effective on short hair. Knowing how to use product will give you options, lots of them. You can make it spiky, you can slick it down, wear it straight back, tons of things. I find I have more options now that my hair's short than I did when it was long. When it was long, it could be up or it could be down. Maybe it could be curly or straight, but that's about it. Since The Cut, my hair has looked different every single day. I like that variety.

5. Finally, you may find that you need a new way to flirt, or attract attention from men. Men are simple creatures, really, and for whatever reason mostly they seem to love the long, long hair. Even women who clearly look better with their hair short (myself included) have been told by our significant (or insignificant) others that we'd look "nicer" with long hair. I don't look nicer. I look older. When your hair is short, you can't flip it to catch someone's eye. You can't hide one eye behind it and then make eye contact with the other. What you can do is smile, make double eye contact (ooh scary), you can use your lashes to flirt (which is why mascara is important), hell you can shake your ass in his face if that's what it takes. There's lots of ways to flirt.

I will say, guts and all the other stuff I've noted aside, short hair is not for everyone. It's not for the faint of heart, that's for sure. I think it works best if you have a small face, or smaller features. I'm a life-size girl with a larger than life personality (most of the time), but I have a pretty small face, complete with pointy nose and narrow mouth. That's partly why I think I'm pulling this look off without looking like an aging lesbian, even though I'm "going natural" with the color.