Talk Nerdy To Me – Got My Hairs Did

Stemming off of last column’s fashion-friendly talk, I thought I’d write about something else that I love: hair.

Someone once asked me how I manage to seem so self-confident all the time. Much of it has to do with how you treat yourself; if you feel good about yourself, being confident is sort of a side-effect. A great way to feel good about yourself is trying a new look or by taking the time to keep yourself well-groomed; I mean, seriously, who do you think looks more confident and in charge? Joaquin Phoenix and his hippie-beard of Commander Riker and his trimmed, well-maintained beard? That’s what I thought.

A haircut can do a lot to raise your spirits. I “got my hairs did” this past Saturday, and I still can’t stop talking about how much I love it. I’m writing a column about my hair. That’s how much I love it. I hadn’t had a haircut in over a year prior to this, and I hadn’t done anything with the faded slightly-orange-blonde that had become the norm in place of my preferred strawberry ginger locks. A year is a long time to wait between haircuts, but I had been seriously traumatized by a bad haircut.

This was my first time going to Elaine at Persnipity here in Las Vegas, but a friend of mine had her hair done by Elaine and it looked great. After seeing my friend’s hair, I decided it was time to get my own hair styled and colored. I had split ends and my hair looked limp and dull when I didn’t pull it up into a 50s pompadour to get it out of my face. It’s a new year and that means that change is something that’s not only expected, but embraced.

Considering how long and thick my hair was, Elaine decided to cut my hair first and then color it. She gave me smooth, sleek layers and got rid of all of my split ends. I was almost in shock at first because she cut off about 4 inches, but in the end, my hair now feels lighter and healthier — and healthy hair is happy hair. I decided to reacquaint myself with the ginger color that I love and get a few highlights. I love how doing highlights always involves wrapping one’s hair in tinfoil. I don’t know why that amuses me so much, but it does.

Overall, I’m very happy with the results. I love my new hair color and style. It makes me feel happy and very self-confident. Of course, as mentioned, a haircut can do the opposite. When the last stylist I went to butchered my hair, I never wanted to have my hair done again; I just wanted to hide or go buy a wig to wear. Lesson learned: don’t get your hair cut by a stranger with no clients that you know. A good tip for trying a new hairstylist or barber is to find out who cuts the hair of any of your friends whose hair you like. Many stylists also have photos of previous clients that you can look at, and some even have before and after pictures. Even if you get recommendations from friends, don’t get your hair cut by someone who styles in a way you don’t like; maybe your friend loves her hairstyle, but you don’t like it — if you don’t like someone’s hair, don’t go to the same person that does their hair!

In the end, whether you like your new hairstyle or not, remember: it’s just hair. It will grow, and you’ll be able to try new things again and again. Unless you’re bald.