my hair styling journey
empowerment through self-styling my hair
I was a brunette with a very short bob and blunt bangs for most of my childhood. While I’ll always have a soft, sentimental spot for that haircut, I quite literally outgrew it as I got older.
When I lost both the bob and the bangs in middle school, I suddenly realized I had no idea what to do with my hair. A critical problem of having short hair most of your life is that you don’t know how you’ll look with a ponytail, braids, or a bun when you finally get your hair to the length you need to do those simple styles.
I didn’t know how to part my hair, let alone how I liked to part my hair; I was so used to the way my hairstylist did it that when I finally had the chance to mess with different parts, I couldn’t make up my mind over which one I liked best.
By the time I’d realized a middle part was the way to go, I was a sophomore in high school, and I knew I wanted to change it again. So, I got curtain bangs and chopped off a few inches. I loved it. I still do—this is my favorite cut for my face, personally. But, once again, I had no idea how to style it myself.
I played with heat protectants, serums, blow-out brushes, anything but an actual straightening and curling iron. And when I say “played,” I mean it. I had a lot of fun experimenting with and self-styling my hair during this phase of my life. Doing my hair wasn’t a task or a chore; it was gratifying to see the results of my adventures into blow-outs and thickening creams.
Taking care of my hair is also self-care, and I don’t want to dye it until it’s absolutely dead. I’m consistently mindful of hair health.
By the time I entered college, I’d gotten my styling routine down. I knew the products and tools I liked; I could do my hair quickly and efficiently. Yet, by the end of my freshman year, I knew I wanted to switch up something about my hair.
So, I went blonde. And I haven’t looked back since.
I won’t lie, it had to grow on me. I tried on different shades of blonde, including one that was nearly platinum, one winter. But my favorite shade has been a honey-blonde, which was what I wanted my hair to be all along.
Although I received more compliments on my hair than ever before, I didn’t go blonde for anyone but myself. A few of my friends poked fun at my hair color change, which coincided with the upcoming release of Greta Gerwig’s Barbie. But I stood firmly in my reasoning; I just wanted to see how I’d look as a blonde. I didn’t dye it to appease, succeed, or fulfill anyone else’s expectations.
I also got—and still do get—compared to Elle Woods a lot. As someone hoping to go into law, I don’t take the comparison too seriously. Yes, I love pink, my sorority sisters (among my other female friends), and I’m blonde. But, while I love a voluminous curl, my inspiration isn’t Elle (though the stylists on Legally Blonde did a wonderful job). It isn’t anyone.
Grouping women into archetypes because of their hair colors is ridiculous. It’s so obvious, but so many people get this wrong.
It doesn’t matter how long or short my hair is, or if I’m a brunette or blonde. Everything I do with my hair, I do for the fun of it. I try new styles and looks with my hair because it scratches that creative itch within me. To me, beauty doesn’t have to be painful; it can be fun. Maybe I’ll be blonde until I graduate, maybe I’ll grow my hair out, or cut it before the end of the year, but it’s not that deep, whatever I decide.
But seriously, hair health comes first.