How I did it: I had really dry and poofy hair, so I just decided one day I was sick of it and started looking at pixie cut haircuts.  I don't wear a lot of makeup and my face is naturally very reddish, so when I got it cut it didn't suit my face at all.  After I got it cut I also realized that my hair had been trying to tell me the whole time that it was curly, and instead of feeling obligated to straighten my hair every day BEFORE I cut it, I now HAD to straighten it in order to even look presentable.  Back when stick-straight hair was everything in school, I tried to tell myself that my decision wasn't influenced by other people, but it definitely was, and since I couldn't get it as straight as everyone else I just decided to get rid of it completely, which didn't work and was the wrong mindset anyway.

Lessons & tips: Sometimes I think people make a decision simply because they've invested so much thought in thinking about it, and that was definitely what happened with me.  I didn't have the face shape, maintenance time, or personality to go with short hair, but because I saw everyone with straight hair at school every day, I just assumed I should go ahead with my decision because anything was better than feeling so inadequate.

Resources: I use Renpure "My Pretty Hair is Parched!" shampoo and conditioner (L'Oreal has some stuff in copper-colored tubes that work too, but this is a dollar cheaper and easier to find).  Truthfully, people can review as many flat irons as they want to, but it just depends on how long you actually want to spend straightening your hair, and no matter what I used, ten minutes was not enough time to flatten anything about myself.  I wasted a lot of money on different straighteners just because I didn't realize short hair didn't fit with my lifestyle.

Jan 07, 2012, 10:08PM PST | 0 comments | 4 cheers