lilin
April 8th, 2015, 05:32 AM
So I decided, for reasons partly practically but more emotional than I cared to admit at the time, that I was going to cut off 27 inches of hair and start from scratch. All the way to skin.
After having a really traumatic and grief-stricken reaction to bleachig and dying my hair, a couple people asked me to post about my experience. All those things are in this thread:
http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=127798
I shaved my head December 6th, after arriving in London and basically rebooting my life. It was kind of a scene; I had a couple beers in me, a cigarette in my mouth, and a struggling, hard-suffering beard trimmer to my head while my best friend peaked at me from around the corner. I wasn't in any mood to hide that I was hurting, and this was catharsis to me.
By that point, my hair was a disaster. It had reacted terribly to the bleach, and clenched its way practically into dreads every day despite my best efforts. It was fried -- impossible to comb, several inches shorter just due to the amount of it that was tangled into itself and refused to be un-matted, even when I combed it and immediately put it up.
My feelings as my hair came off in tangled clumps were very different from the feelings I'd had when I first rinsed the bleach and dye out of my hair. That time, I had almost started crying in the shower with immediate regret. This time... this time felt good.
In fact, it felt better and better the closer to skin I got, because the damage was going with it. When all the sickly yellow and pink was gone and there was nothing but a fine mist of my natural dark brunette, it was a sigh of relief. There wasn't much on my head, but at least what there was, was healthy.
Once one side of my head was pretty much de-haired, my friend commented that I had a nice head shape. I took a moment to actually look at myself. Hey, I did, didn't I? I had been a little worried I'd look horrible with a shaved head and just wind up wearing hats until I had something a little less weird. But actually, I thought I looked pretty good. I genuinely liked what I saw.
I went down to about 1mm with an electric razor. I am prone to ingrown hairs, so I didn't want to shave it with a safety razor and risk getting bumps. It's bad enough when it happens on my legs!
When I put down the razor, I felt lighter. Part of me missed my long hair. But part of me was enjoying all that history off my head, and how much of a focal point my eyes were with my mane gone. I felt slightly self-conscious -- a bald woman stands out, let's be honest. But not so much that I dwelled on it for more than a moment when I went outside.
I had grown about 2.5 inches of hair since then. And I have quit smoking. And I'd repaired my relationship. I'd done a lot since that "reboot." And a couple days ago, I had a cute and slightly tossled pixie.
Since I bleached my hair, my scalp had been in revolt, and I've spent the last several months battling dandruff so bad I had to get prescription products (which finally appears to be settling down). I had decided I was eventually going to cut off this couple inches, which has been covered in all kinds of fun corrosive things in my attempts to deal with my scalp.
But that cut came a little earlier than expected. I attempted to shape my 'do into something else, and it turned out... well, I nicknamed myself "Bieber fever" during the 12 hours I took to think about whether to just deal with it while it grows out. In the end, I wound up going back to a buzz cut -- that was the only way to fix it. So now my hair is a little under a centimeter long again.
This time, I felt a little sadder re-buzzing it, even though I only had a couple inches in the first place. I guess just because, this time, I was hoping to grow it out. But once again, I liked what I saw in the mirror and I've been enjoying rockin' it in the warmer weather. I actually think it looks better without a hat than with one, so it's nice for it to be warm enough for that.
I am now back to growing out, and my goal is waist. That is going to take a good several years to accomplish, but I have kept every one of my hair toys in preparation to reach my goal!
I hope everyone's been well, and that this was interesting to someone.
After having a really traumatic and grief-stricken reaction to bleachig and dying my hair, a couple people asked me to post about my experience. All those things are in this thread:
http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=127798
I shaved my head December 6th, after arriving in London and basically rebooting my life. It was kind of a scene; I had a couple beers in me, a cigarette in my mouth, and a struggling, hard-suffering beard trimmer to my head while my best friend peaked at me from around the corner. I wasn't in any mood to hide that I was hurting, and this was catharsis to me.
By that point, my hair was a disaster. It had reacted terribly to the bleach, and clenched its way practically into dreads every day despite my best efforts. It was fried -- impossible to comb, several inches shorter just due to the amount of it that was tangled into itself and refused to be un-matted, even when I combed it and immediately put it up.
My feelings as my hair came off in tangled clumps were very different from the feelings I'd had when I first rinsed the bleach and dye out of my hair. That time, I had almost started crying in the shower with immediate regret. This time... this time felt good.
In fact, it felt better and better the closer to skin I got, because the damage was going with it. When all the sickly yellow and pink was gone and there was nothing but a fine mist of my natural dark brunette, it was a sigh of relief. There wasn't much on my head, but at least what there was, was healthy.
Once one side of my head was pretty much de-haired, my friend commented that I had a nice head shape. I took a moment to actually look at myself. Hey, I did, didn't I? I had been a little worried I'd look horrible with a shaved head and just wind up wearing hats until I had something a little less weird. But actually, I thought I looked pretty good. I genuinely liked what I saw.
I went down to about 1mm with an electric razor. I am prone to ingrown hairs, so I didn't want to shave it with a safety razor and risk getting bumps. It's bad enough when it happens on my legs!
When I put down the razor, I felt lighter. Part of me missed my long hair. But part of me was enjoying all that history off my head, and how much of a focal point my eyes were with my mane gone. I felt slightly self-conscious -- a bald woman stands out, let's be honest. But not so much that I dwelled on it for more than a moment when I went outside.
I had grown about 2.5 inches of hair since then. And I have quit smoking. And I'd repaired my relationship. I'd done a lot since that "reboot." And a couple days ago, I had a cute and slightly tossled pixie.
Since I bleached my hair, my scalp had been in revolt, and I've spent the last several months battling dandruff so bad I had to get prescription products (which finally appears to be settling down). I had decided I was eventually going to cut off this couple inches, which has been covered in all kinds of fun corrosive things in my attempts to deal with my scalp.
But that cut came a little earlier than expected. I attempted to shape my 'do into something else, and it turned out... well, I nicknamed myself "Bieber fever" during the 12 hours I took to think about whether to just deal with it while it grows out. In the end, I wound up going back to a buzz cut -- that was the only way to fix it. So now my hair is a little under a centimeter long again.
This time, I felt a little sadder re-buzzing it, even though I only had a couple inches in the first place. I guess just because, this time, I was hoping to grow it out. But once again, I liked what I saw in the mirror and I've been enjoying rockin' it in the warmer weather. I actually think it looks better without a hat than with one, so it's nice for it to be warm enough for that.
I am now back to growing out, and my goal is waist. That is going to take a good several years to accomplish, but I have kept every one of my hair toys in preparation to reach my goal!
I hope everyone's been well, and that this was interesting to someone.