The Ongoing Hair Dilemma

I have a hard time sticking with one hairdo for a long period of time. Throughout college, I maintained short hair, changing it up from a simple, layered bob to an edgy half-pixie/half-angled thing, and then eventually cutting the rest off. As it is, I’m a very low-maintenance person. Shorter hair has always suited that. Less drying/styling time, less effort. The epitome of ease came with my pixie. I loved how quick and simple it was, how it literally took seconds to do. Unfortunately, I wasn’t secure enough with myself in it.

There aren’t many pictures of me with this cut, mostly because I didn’t feel comfortable or proud of myself with it (Strange, because I met my love with this ‘do, and it was one of the things he liked about me). Which is unfortunate, because looking back it wasn’t all that bad.. The only unfortunate fact about this “low-maintenance” cut is that it would require monthly trims…something I couldn’t afford at the time.
I probably still couldn’t…

The process of growing out such short hair has been torture. I still feel like it’s in a constant awkward growing out phase, which is hardly true anymore. There were many times in the last year I’ve wanted to hack at the mane. But I’ve kept it going, and now it’s at the longest it’s been in half a decade. Unfortunately, with all the length comes longer drying times, more bad-hair-days, more ponytails, split ends from all the heat and styling damage. As the “low maintenance” girl I am (OKAY FINE…LAZY), I find it hard to come up with interesting things to do with my hair on short notice. So I usually look like a cavewoman or a 15 year old about to wash her face before bed. Not cool.

However, I’ve decided to stick it out. Maybe it won’t be for long. Maybe summer will come and I will freak out. But, after watching several YouTube hair tutorials this past weekend, I did my first successful attempt at milkmaid braids. This is a style I’ve been wanting to pull off for quite some time, thanks to it’s appearance on some of my favorite blogs (like here and here) and it’s general cuteness.

Not the greatest picture, but you get the gist.

This is the video that helped me finally achieve this little hair goal of mine. Check out all of the Strawberry Koi Vintage videos…there are a lot of great tips (lots of retro styles, a particular favorite of mine). I even trimmed my bangs with a little nudge from her confidence in doing her own hair (I trimmed them after this picture, though). Unfortunately, I don’t have the thickest hair, but succeeding in this style has given me a little boost. I wasn’t doing it correctly for my length, my first mistake. I can do lots of fun things with the locks if I teach myself and have some patience. If I exhaust all the options, maybe then I’ll chop my hair off again. But the hair deserves a fair shot at some fun. And it feels good to learn something and to carry it out, even if it’s just a little hairstyle.