An Evolution of Hair

Yes, this post has nothing to do with DIY and everything to do with hair.  And my mother will need to be sitting down for this one.  On Sunday my friend Briggs asked me if I was having a hair crisis.  Which got me thinking about it, and I decided that yes, I sort of am!  And I decided my hair crisis deserved a blog post.

For most of my adult life, my hair has looked like this:

        

A short bob with bangs.  Here’s some shots from 2005 [the year I went crazy with selfies] which better display what my mom and I have always referred to as “the Alison haircut”:

        

        

Here’s some even older shots, from the early 1990’s, when it was a tad longer *waves to Dad*:

        

Then, when I hit my 30’s, I discovered HAIR DYE:

There was Burgundy:

               

Black:

        

Pink:

       

and Purple:

There was an experiment in 2009 with longer length:

And an experiment with using a headband to pull my bangs back, although I was never brave enough to leave the house like that:

Late last year, my hairdresser convinced me to try the “shaved on one side” look:

       

I liked it!  It was different, kind of fun.  And, awesomely, it wasn’t my first foray into the shaved look.  Freshman year of college I had a friend buzz most of it off:

       

It was adorable!  My bro took those shots before my mom made me grow it back [heh…].

Then, earlier this year, when the shaved side started to grow in a bit, my hairdresser suggested the pixie look:

It was so cute!  I will go back to the pixie with bangs when my current “hair crisis” is over.  *nods*

From there, I went platinum:

       

Which was cool while it lasted, but the bleach burned my scalp really bad [large, raised scabs], so that’s not something I can/will do again.

Then hubby encouraged me to go even shorter, so I cropped it:

As you can see, the sides are already a bit darker as my natural hair started to grow in.  Skip ahead a couple of weeks, as more and more brown grew back in, and by Sunday morning I was sporting about an inch of brown under the blonde.  I got irritated with it, grabbed my hair clippers, and buzzed it down to an inch.  Which is when Briggs saw it and asked if I was having a hair crisis.  I didn’t take a picture, but it looked dumb – think “flat top with blond tips” *shudder*.

Monday after work I came home, looked in the mirror, and spontaneously buzzed it ALL off:

Once the shock wore off, it’s actually not that bad.  I still do a double-take when I see myself in the mirror, but I’m getting used to it.  At kick-boxing Monday night, most of the class turned and gaped at me, but Tashi Mark [my teacher] patted his own shaved head and gave me a thumbs up.

Tuesday was a Federal holiday, so today is the first day I’m at work sporting the Sinéad look.  My coworkers are mostly avoiding eye contact LOL…  One laughed really hard, but he laughs at everything, and his belly laugh made ME laugh, so I thanked him [a good laugh is always a positive thing, even if it’s at your expense *nods*].  My boss walked into my office this morning, made a “nyuhheeuhhh” sound as he jumped back, then charged in and gave my head a Buddha-belly rub 🙂  He said it reminds him of when he was at Air Force Basic Training, except his head was really lumpy, not round like mine.  Heh…

A few other coworkers have come up to me and said they really like it.  Who knows.  It’s not permanent, and it’s not like I can do anything else until it starts to grow in!  Hubby loves it, and I’m thankful to have such an awesome hubby.  Of course, it’s his fault that it’s this short, but it’s all good.

Here’s a couple of office selfies from this morning:

       

See?  Not SO bad… A little shocking, but workable… And I’m technically an artist, and artists always do wonky things with their hair, so that gives me a bit of a free pass…  right?  And my blue glasses help!

Most importantly, shaving my head has ALWAYS been at the top of my bucket list.  So I’m ecstatic that I ACTUALLY DID IT!!!  I was planning to wait until retirement, but I jumped the gun by about 13 years!  Now it can grow back into a pixie with bangs *nods*.  I think hubby would like it if I kept it like this… but I’m not sure I’m on board with that…!