Short Hair Don't Care

There was a time when I NEVER EVER in a million years thought I would cut my hair... but then summer of 2013 I did it! Renovating my life means stripping away the old and replacing it with the new.

Not just a little trim but a ginormous chop! Super short, lighter color. Who is this girl? I said I'd never cut my hair. It's been down to my butt for the last 15 years, and I've always loved it. But there I was, in July 2013 in Beverly Hills, sitting in the chair of uber fantastic celebrity stylist, Marcia Hamilton. I was braving a new frontier. Short hair don't care.

Then I let it grow out. I have a real fear of going to a new stylist. When I was available, Marcia was not. When Marcia was available, I was not. We toyed with scheduling appointments for the better part of a year. So I finally bit the bullet of my fear and gave Justin Leavitt, at Kelly Cardenas Salon in Las Vegas a try.

(for those of you who don't know, I split my time between Los Angeles and Las Vegas since my business expanded to the Las Vegas market)

So why did I do it?  Something big had been shifting in my spirit over these past few weeks, and well... I was craving a dramatic external change to mirror that internal shift. Nothing gives you a true rebirth more than a drastic hairstyle change. I walked into Marcia's salon that summer feeling very nervous to say goodbye to my long hair ... but I also was excited and ready for a new look.

I made the conscious decision to love my "soon to be" haircut, while in transit to the salon, well before I even made it into her chair. Yes, it was going to look different. Yes, it might take some getting used to. But who cares? I needed this. Not just that I wanted it... but I needed an external reflection of the internal rebirth I was experiencing.

Can I tell you a secret? I was giddy and practically smiled through the whole thing. I was loving it and was surprised that I didn't have an emotional reaction as my long hair floated to the floor... or when I saw myself with ultra short hair. It was so easy to live with. During my visit, Marcia suggested that when I come back again, I should consider going platinum. GAH! It was too much change for me to wrap my mind around. So she lightened my hair slightly to a lighter brown and agreed that it may benefit me to get used to short hair and a lighter shade before deciding to go as drastic as blonde.

So let's fast forward a year later.... I desperately needed to cut my hair again. It was growing like crazy and I even started to resemble Cherelle, an R&B artist from the 80's! If you follow me on Facebook, you might have seen my side by side post. I mean if you can't laugh at yourself... right?

CONFESSION: I had been coloring my own roots which I know was not ideal but it was what I did and I was never completely happy with it but it covered the grays that have started coming in.

(It's ok if you laugh... shoot, I was laughing at myself! This is just bad... all bad!)

Given the fact that I was looking like retro 1980's, I broke down and made the choice to give a new stylist a chance. I was very scared to do this. Changing stylists gives me more anxiety than the decision to chop off my long hair. But I headed in to see Justin Leavitt with a plan. I wanted to go even shorter on the sides and back but even longer to the left front. I wanted platinum blonde with a black streak. I provided Justin with a few inspiration photos during our consultation. I shared my trepidation about seeing a new stylist. He was very reassuring. Walked me through the process ahead and talked to me about what I could expect in terms of color since I had been coloring my own hair. (I knew that would come back and bite me in the butt!)

And guess what? He rocked it! I wasn't a true platinum. I had a blonde ombre thing happening, with it being more platinum at the root and more honey on the length because I had previous color in my hair. However, Justin assured me that it is a process and over time he will continue to work the color into my ends when I get a touch up and I will eventually get the look I am after.

I was afraid I would look freakish but when I glanced in the mirror, I was filled with excitement! I had the sass and edginess I was looking for and was so happy to find that I loved being a blonde.  In the couple of weeks since I've seen Justin, I've gone in once for my free cleanup and have scheduled my next color and cut. I've learned how to care for and style my new 'do. I am trying to decide whether I want to lighten my eyebrows just a bit or leave them dark to compliment the black streaks Justin gave me.

I feel sassy and I feel great! I am loving my look and have had a great time with the transition from long to short, from dark to light. So what do you think? Are you considering a drastic hair change but are afraid? What things are you doing to reinvent yourself outwardly? I'd love to hear about it!