What makes you cut your hair drastically shorter?

[kidari]

For me it's usually boredom, because I saw tons of people including celebrities cut their hair in really cute short styles that look amazing on them, huge traumatizing life changes, or I woke up one day and realized my hair was fried and damaged beyond repair and even worse because of an atrocious haircut.

Generally I want to know what keeps you motivated or what you avoid that can cause you to decide to do a drastic cut. Every time I get close to a major milestone I decide my ends are trashed and cut 2 inches off I don't know why. Also, anytime I see a celebrity or someone I know with the most amazing trendy style I want to cut my hair exactly like that with unrealistic hopes that I would suddenly become as pretty as them hahaha. I try to learn tons of new heat-free non-damaging ways to wear my hair and keep looking at inspirational long hairs to keep me going. At this point I've become so attached to my hair that I would be devastated if all of a sudden I decided to get all over highlights or cut to shoulder or something when normally it would never have bothered me if I cut to chin on a whim.

[Kumiko033]

Well my hair is still short..2,5 inches away from shoulder. But what keeps me going it slight changes like dying it with semi-permanent colours, I have had a sidecut in the meanwhile which is also almost gone within 2 to 4 months? I do henna and I am a conditioner junkie..I looooove trying them so whenever I am tempted to cut, I buy myself some nice new conditioner, or oils or other experimental thing's to keep myself bussy and still enjoying my hair.

Celebs, girl. They have to heat style the cr@p out of their hair to make it look good. None of them is natural. It might even take hours to look good! Plus the loads of make-up and the expensive jewels/clothing help as well.
I also love looking at celebs their hair and often want their bangs and such but I'll resist cause I know the work I'd have to do!

I hate heat styling, it's too foggy here anyway :P ...
It's no use, it would frizz up in seconds.

and why I cut my hair shorter in the first place? I had to because of a black-dye mistake [DONT EVER BUY NUTRATINT] It made my hair stringy and all my curls vanished within days. So I went pixie. Also before I'd cut my inbetween BSL/Waist hair off because my boyfriend [Now ex] hates long hair so at that time I already had a Bob like Ramona Flowers from Scott Pilgrim VS. the world.

Just all I can say it, short hair is upkeep, it isn't as easy as long hair, NO WAY. People who say that are liars. There is nothing easier then a dang ponytail. When it's just cut it looks good, after a few weeks it's already a disaster, it's an expensive upkeep. Plus I am allergic to most make-up which was kinda awfull with short hair. The only thing that helped me were earrings.

Plus I couldn't wear the girly clothes I used to cause it just looked forced and plain stupid.

I'll never EVER cut it again!

[Aladria]

I love my hair in a pixie, and I love it really long, so I've alternated between the two. I tried in between lengths as well (obviously I had no choice when growing out, but I also cut from waistish to shoulderish in high school,) and I have never really been happy with it except super short and past about BSL.

This spring I will be shaving it before restarting the growing out process because it's on my bucket list.

[Jing]

I've only cut my hair drastically shorter three times since I was 8 and only half in charge of what was done to my hair: once at 16 (from waist to shoulder), once at 17 (from shoulder to pixie), and once at 21 (against from shoulder to pixie). Since then I've kept it between ear-length and pixie, until this year. Every time I cut to a pixie (except the first time, of course), it was because I knew I felt a lot more like myself with a pixie cut. When I had that first one, every time I caught my own reflection, I was startled by how intense the feeling of recognition was. "Holy crud, that's ME!" It wasn't until this summer that I felt that I would be able to feel like myself with long hair, too.

[Katze]

Avoid having a baby. That made me lose more than half of my hair.

Avoid having thin or fine hair - your ends (length!) will look wispy and damaged, causing you to be likely to get dissatisfied with them and to cut.

Best of all, avoid having any parents or grandparents with fine hair either. That way, you will only inherit good hair genes and thus have good hair.

And never use any bleach or dye containing bleach or any kind of heat whatsoever.

No, seriously. Some of us just don't like what our hair does naturally. If I had never cut, I bet my hair would reach the floor right now. And it would look ratty and unhealthy, even if it wasn't. My hair is messy no matter what I do (even without the new growth) because it is fine and wavy. So I'm just trying to maximize what I have while enjoying it at the same time. Counting inches and wearing unflattering buns just isn't my thing, sorry. Life's too short. ;)

I just cut from somewhere near BSL to shoulder. This is the second drastic cut in 2 years. While I do wish I had long hair, I know that MY hair does not seem to look good long. I will keep treating it nicely, but have given up hope of it ever really being LONG, at least by LHC standards - my old goal of waist probably isn't going to happen, not with a hemline I'm happy showing in pubilc, anyway.

It is what it is! :)

[DancingQueen]

For me, it is the fact that my hair is impossible to style at shoulder length and shorter. It is a horrible mess, too short to put op and the only thing you can do is straighten it. If you straighten it and it starts raining, BOOM, you have a stack of hay that is impossible to overlook. That is my motivation anyways. I guess I am just too lazy :)

[Octopus]

When I was little my hair were so damaged that looked like a bush in the dessert/jungle. Sun, the sea, the salt, I don't know what happened, but they looked horrible and before I knew it my mother forced me to go with her at the hair salon and told the hairdresser to cut my hair like a BOY (-_-) ..and not to tell me. I cried soooooo hard afterwards. Cute people look good in boyish hair, but I wasn't ready for them. That was the only time that I had my hair that short, and now it's the first time I want them really long! The next thing that will probably make me cut my hair this short is my nerves.. haha

[thunderlilies]

What makes me feel like cutting? Wanting a change, the carefree/light feeling that comes with shorter hair. What keeps me FROM cutting? My husband :-) And the fact that I don't want to look like EVERYbody else out there... lol.

And I just have to say, not everbody loses hair after having a baby. I have never experienced any kind of noticeable shed after any of my four children. Some people do, some don't.

[XcaliburGirl]

Both times I cut my hair drastically was because my long hair was annoying me and because I wanted to try something I had never tried before. (a bob, then a pixie.)

Thing I am going to avoid this time to try to keep from being tempted by short hair:
1. Wear my hair down more often.
2. Try bangs or face-framing layers to avoid severe updos everyday.
3. Keep my routine simple so I don't get tired of it.
4. If I get the urge to chop, try an intermediate length first.

[cooklaezo13]

For me what made me cut my hair from waist to shoulder, and then from shoulder to ear, was wanting to get rid of my hennaed hair and start over with virgin hair.

[Heartwillfollow]

Damage has always been the reason for cutting.

[andrea1982]

I cut from waist to shoulder to get rid of henna, and post partum shedding was grossing me out. Also started admiring short hair cuts in magazines.
In order to avoid cutting again in the future I'm going to remind myself that when my hair is short it really doesn't lay right unless I heat style and use lots of product. (which I hate doing) Wash and go on me needs to be at least APL.

[ravenreed]

Needing a change.

[Amber_Maiden]

How heavy my hair is makes me want to cut it- and wanting to get rid of old dye!

[oktobergoud]

Avoid having a baby. That made me lose more than half of my hair.

Avoid having thin or fine hair - your ends (length!) will look wispy and damaged, causing you to be likely to get dissatisfied with them and to cut.

And never use any bleach or dye containing bleach or any kind of heat whatsoever.

No, seriously. Some of us just don't like what our hair does naturally. If I had never cut, I bet my hair would reach the floor right now. And it would look ratty and unhealthy, even if it wasn't. My hair is messy no matter what I do (even without the new growth) because it is fine and wavy.

This so much! I had a lot of different reasons, and most of all I loved having a pixie.. but now I'm growing it longer again I realize how awful my ends look, ALL THE TIME. I have fine hair as well and suspected that that would be the reason why, so I'm glad someone else has the same experience (well.. glad, maybe not but at least it's not only me :P). I just want to get them cut and cut and every time it looks good after a cut.. but a week later it looks like the same crap again! While I don't have a single split end!

I even have had platinum hair a few times and I always had a pixie! And I had to cut a lot this year (while I was trying to grow it out) to get rid of all that bleach damage!

[RedBlue]

Boredom. Need a change. I cut my hair shorter than usual in June, because the weather was EXTREMELY hot! I usually cut it to shoulder, but this time, I got a bob-looking thingy.

[Smile4Kiki]

I actually just generally like how i look with short hair. I think my features are more pronounced when my hair is short. I also like experimenting with different cuts and being able to heat style without worrying about damage (since it has to be trimmed more often) but at the same time i haven't had true long hair in so long that I think i might like it just as much. I hope to stick it out this time around.

[spidermom]

My best friend getting a very short hair cut and bragging it up.

A bad perm.

Having babies. I don't remember losing a lot of hair after my pregnancies, but I do remember babies grabbing my hair with grubby little fingers. Very short was much easier.

I've been growing my hair long for about 11 years now, and although I get annoyed with it from time to time and contemplate cutting it, I can honestly say that I'm not tempted by the hair cuts of other people. Been there/done that/like it long.

[jojo]

The only thing that makes my hair drastically shorter is letting it dry with out touching as it goes more wavy then :D other than that Inever get the urge no more to cut it shorter its took way too many years to get this far, been there done that; never again!

I don't suit short hair anyway, so if I was to get a whim id just look at old photos of me with short hair!

[jojo]

My best friend getting a very short hair cut and bragging it up.

A bad perm.

Having babies. I don't remember losing a lot of hair after my pregnancies, but I do remember babies grabbing my hair with grubby little fingers. Very short was much easier.

I've been growing my hair long for about 11 years now, and although I get annoyed with it from time to time and contemplate cutting it, I can honestly say that I'm not tempted by the hair cuts of other people. Been there/done that/like it long.

great minds think alike, we where both writing at the same time there!:cool:

[Xandergrammy]

I haven't had the urge to cut in a long time, but if I did, I'd come here and look at some pictures and be over it really soon. :gabigrin:

[jojo]

I haven't had the urge to cut in a long time, but if I did, I'd come here and look at some pictures and be over it really soon. :gabigrin:

Glad to hear it, I think id actually cry if you ever did; it would be such a waste of a killer braid!:)

[ladylowtide]

As a younger teenager, I cut my hair off repeatedly. I think that every time I cut my hair it was like I was cutting away some old anger and sadness. Now that I feel like my heart is healed, I have a burning desire to grow my hair.

[HintOfMint]

There are times when I've cut my hair short because I've always liked more unconventional, kind of punk, styles. Also, it fit my stature since I'm petite.

However, it is high maintenance in so many ways. I would like to get a pixie, but every time I think of getting it done, I think of, not only having constant trims, but having to wear makeup and earrings and feminine clothing every damn day. When someone is groomed to a T, then a pixie looks nice, but heaven forbid you have a lazy day. Then it goes from Audrey Hepburn to dumpy or prepubescent boy with a quickness.

I also like androgynous clothing as a style, and having long hair really helps me pull it off. Otherwise, instead of a style, it turns into a political statement about gender or sexual identity, which I totally respect, but it's not what I'm trying to do.

[psychobilly5]

For me it was just wanting something different. I wanted to have all sorts of fun hair colors which required to bleach my hair. When it was short it wasn't as damaged looking until I grew it out and continued to lighten my hair. The thing though is that short styles do NOT look good on me. Or at least I haven't found a short style that works with my round 1/2 asian facial structure. Now I really miss having my pretty long tresses and want to get back into growing it out. I've had fun with funny colors and all sorts of hair styles but now it's time for long hair again!

[Ravenwind]

Lately I've been cutting my hair to get rid of damage. But usually I'll get urges to cut my hair short because I want something new or I'm tired of the way my hair feels. I haven't had really long hair because of that :(

[kristib123]

The last time I did a drastic cut (to chin from almost waist) was about 4 yrs ago. I think I simply just wanted a change since my hair had been long for over 10 yrs. I also had people "suggesting" that due to my age it should be shorter. I have now learned not to listen to people who think just because your not 18 yrs old that you need to cut your hair short.

[Tigermama]

I did this after a divorce. I thought it would help me move on, being that all that old energy was caught up in the hair. Although it seemed like a great idea at the time, it has taken me six years to get back to the length I had before. I was really shocked when I saw the stylist sweeping up all my hair on the floor. I recommend waiting to make ANY drastic changes during such a life transition.

[Kira94]

For me when I cut my hair a couple years ago, it was because I had never had short hair before (at least waist length my whole childhood), I wanted to see how I looked with short hair, and the cut looked cute.

I enjoyed it while it lasted, but the upkeep was annoying since I had to straighten it nearly everyday. I grew it out because it got to be to annoying to take care of.
Then I got into a vintage (40's 50's) phase and my hair stayed between just past APL and just above shoulder. It worked nicely because I pincurled my hair every night, I really like how my hair looked at that stage. And it was in fairly good condition since I didn't heat style at all and didn't even use hairspray for my pincurls.

Then I started to want to go a little more natural, discovered the Curly Girl method from YLCF (http://ylcf.org/) then found LHC, and well, I guess the rest is history. We'll see what happens from here. :)

Sometimes I want to try my hair short again just to see how it would look now that I know I have wurls. Maybe I'll see someday, but at this point I'm really wanting to have long hair, and coming here or looking through my long hair inspiration folder always cures me. ;)

I'll see if I can dig up some pictures of each hair phase later. ;)

[jacqueline101]

What made me cut mine was boredom and the fact I went through a bad relationship. I decided to make a change.

[Kelikea]

An overzealous hairdresser is usually the reason for my drastic cuts! I usually just go for a trim-3 in max :)

[clairenewcastle]

The need to get rid of damage has always been the reason why I cut my hair. As soon as my ends get wispy they have to go!

[blondie9912]

I cut from BSL/waist to a bit shorter than APL last year (before LHC) because my ends felt soo fine and damaged. The cut really thickened up my hemline, to the point where I thought my hair looked too bouncy (like a 50s TV star :p) honestly, if you feel your ends need it, just go for the cut. Your hair will grow back looking better than ever

[MissManda]

My most recent "drastic" cut of six inches was the result of my frustration with growing out layers. Although I had dramatically thickened up my hemline by microtrimming and had gotten rid of a lot of layers, I still had some on my canopy that were not growing at all because of chemical damage. I didn't want to deal with any more layers by having someone cut/trim them for me; I knew it would just make me despise them even more.

So off they went.

My hair is much happier for it, even if the shorter length annoys me at times. I'll admit that seeing so much hair coming off was a bit traumatizing despite the fact that I cut it myself. It made me want to cry my eyes out for a month afterward, but I'm steadily regaining length while the last tiny bit of damage is disappearing, so I'm totally happy with that decision now.

[ludwig20]

I'm always tempted to chop most of my hair off because of its thickness. My ponytail is about 5 inches and my hair always seems to stick out... This time I'm hoping that around waist-length, my hair will settle and maybe I'll get rid of the triangle-shape.

[battles]

I always used to chop because of seeing a cute short cut. No other reason, except maybe my hair getting a little too long for my own taste at the time.

Those cute short cuts still tempt me. :nono:

[CaityBear]

Since I've been growing it out the most I've cut off at once is 2 inches just because I took a length picture and the ends look so thin...lol otherwise I've never even had the urge to cut it drastically short.

I think this coming year some time though I'm going to cut it all off...well, just to chin length (I'm about tailbone length now) just because I want to go back to chin length (I was once and LOVED it, just hate everything else between chin and hip...), also to grow out my henna and go back to natural hair colour and then I plan on growing it out again ... and taking care of it from the beginning.

[alyanna]

I love cute little short bobs. Mostly un-layered or with just a couple of layers at the very bottom. No bangs. Just past chin.

One of the prettiest, most versatile, stylish and easy to care for hair styles ever! It used to take me 3 minutes to dry, I could color my hair all I wanted because I always got it trimmed once every 4-6 weeks. I always looked very polished, very easily. And I just love the feel of having no hair "hanging" anywhere.

Bobs will be the main challenge to keeping my hair long. I've especially always wanted to try platinum-blonde hair with a short bob. Having gotten around to that yet, but I've gotta do it someday :)

[Katleen]

The last time I went from BSL to short (not really pixie but almost) was after the birth of my second child. Didn't know what to do with my hair (didn't know my hair type) and thought that short hair would be easier.
Not true...
To make it worse, my hairdresser colored it in a very warm reddish tone, which clashed completely with my pinkish cool skintone, and made me look sick all the time...
To grow this color out, I went for a very short pixie. Not a good idea, because I feel you need a very fine frame for a pixie, which I have not.

Since then, I'm growing again, with a few trims along the way, and at the moment I'm between shoulder and APL. This time I found LHC and know how to treat my hair better, so I'm not planning on cutting it again in the near future...

[Snippety]

I get urges to shave my hair off because I worry that people see me as some kind of hippy earth mother. There's nothing wrong with being one but it's as far from my character as you could imagine. I'm a really masculine type of woman, I wear mainly male or unisex clothes and have tonnes of piercings, yet I still get comments that show people have made wrong assumptions. The other day for instance and acquaintance said "I'm really surprised you have a monile phone, Snippety !" which enraged me. I told her "I have two mobile phones, an i-shuffle, an i-pad, a lap top, an X-Box and a pc !! I love tech !!" . I have gone off on a ranty tangent there, but it annoys me as you can see ! So yes, image problems.

Last year I got the urge to cut and lots of people suggested maybe just cutting a little off, so I could "do more" with it. I never do anything with my hair so I don't know why I was persuaded, but I ended up cutting back from almost knee to waist. I have bitterly regretted it ever since. Next time I was recommended to look here, and got loads of help about long hair, image and gender on my first post. I'm not cutting again *ever* :D

[Lianna]

All three times I made a "drastic" cut was because all I did was to wear my hair in a damp bun/claw clip all the time, and I mean all the time because I wash everyday. Now I at least rock some half-ups which dry during the day.

[jasper]

One time I did it, it was because the long shed hairs were driving me crazy. Also, I wanted to donate the length to Locks of Love (please don't shout at me.) Another time, I cut 6 inches because it was getting caught on chairs and stuff and I felt it would look better at a shorter length. If I hadn't started wearing my hair up, I would have cut for similar reasons by now.

[andreamuse]

I cut off about 10 inches last year from APLish to a pixie mostly because I was feeling very depressed about my life and I wanted a drastic change. Plus, I had never had a pixie before in my whole life, so I felt like being brave about something. I absolutely loved it. I loved how little I had to mess with my hair, I loved all the compliments, etc. But in September, after my last trim (which was really really short), I realized that I was bored with it and that I wanted to grow it again. I've no regrets about cutting my hair that short. My hair was dyed and damaged anyway, so this was like a fresh start. :)

[AuburnTresses]

Boredom.
Movie and Cute Hair on others
Going longer than right above BSL (it drives me crazy :) )

And right now I'm considering growing it another 3 inches and then donating 8 in to Patene Beautiful Lengths. It's something I've always wanted to do, but will see if I can stand it with it much longer than it is now. It seems I always give into cutting it... (but I wont go much higher than APL)

[Loviatar]

I've just cut from collarbone to pixie because I'm dealing with life issues that I can't control. I already have an ED and am a recovering self harmer, so taking my upset and anger out on my hair was better than taking it out on my body. I consider that if I had been still seeing my psychologist weekly I wouldn't have done it. As it is I lost my job in Sept and havent seen him since because I can't afford to. I wish I had not done it but at least all my old bleach damage and henna has been cut out now.

[citadel]

Sometimes, I do it because I get worried that I'm too attached to my hair. I don't want to let it define me or "control" me, in that it becomes a huge concern. When I realize I'm at a stage in life where I would be terrified or really upset to cut my hair, I force myself to do it, just to prove that it's just hair and I'll be perfectly fine if it's short.

I tend to let it grow to a little below BSL and then cut it to around chin or above shoulder length. My husband, as much as he loves seeing my long hair, admits that he misses the days when it was short and spunky. We started dating seven years ago when my hair was in a pixie.

[jujube]

The first time I did it was when I took my dreads out, and there was little healthy hair material to work with. The second time was when my mother went through chemotherapy and I wanted to show her my support. The third time was because I missed how well short hair suited me. I still miss it, but I'm sure long hair will suit me well too.

[galahad]

I thought I would look more confident and masculine.

[Mesmerise]

I usually cut to get rid of damage! Unfortunately, in the past I've never been able to STOP damaging!

Other times I've cut it's because I've somehow convinced myself I'll look better with shorter hair. Yup. And each time I've realised I don't.

At the moment I'm worried I'll have to cut it off because I've been shedding more than usual. This wouldn't be too bad, but I'm still recovering from massive shedding 18 months ago. Too much shedding and my hair will be too thin to maintain any length at all :( I'm annoyed as my circumference was going up nicely. I haven't measured it since the new shed started... as I just don't want to know. I've already cut off sooo much hair. If it wasn't for the last shed, I'd be comfortably past waist by now (which would have been the longest my hair's ever been) so I'm pretty sad about it.

Even if I get in control of the current shed, I've got probably 2" more I have to cut off before my hair will be okay (by then the longest of the regrown hairs will have reached the length of the trimmed hair (of course the shortest of the regrown hairs, those from the top of my head, have much further to go).

So fingers crossed I don't need a big chop!

[eicamawa]

I love my hair, and I've never had it shorter than APL. Now it's a little longer than waist. Also, I've wanted my hair really long for many years, but I also wanted it shorter. I cut it shorter at that time because it was easier, and i don't regret it, but now I really want that long hair, and it's no way I'm gonna cut it before I reach my goal and get my dreamhair.