Confidently Beautiful With My New Hairstyle

It’s March again. It’s the transition month from brrr-ing to whew-ing. Summer is approaching despite the fact that climate change is evidently in effect as well, giving us more rains that it should be. Nevertheless, the thought that the cold months are over  means not only a transition in temperature but in fashion as well.

During the last week of February, I had this recurring thought of getting a haircut. I’ve been known for my long locks ever since and I suddenly felt the need to change my looks by cutting my hair.
Don’t get me wrong. I really love my hair. It’s thick and soft though there are breakage and split-ends, but it’s not that bad. They are nice to touch…and smell. 🙂

Jpeg

Jpeg

My long hair is one of my sources of comfort (and strength), and I believe most girls have the same case. It serves as my security blanket when it’s cold, or when I am not comfortable with what I am wearing, or when I am a bit shy.

So basically, the first challenge was to emotionally let go of my long hair. Can I do that? It took me a lot of self-convincing to finally have the courage to say to myself that I AM GOING TO CUT MY HAIR. So how did I convince myself? I did some research online – Benefits of having short hair, Why should I cut my hair, Factors to consider and so forth and so on.

The second challenge was the kind of haircut that I’m going to get. I have decided to get a short one, like an inch below the shoulders, but the questions is, will it suit my face? And so, I did research again and I had a lot of information regarding the shape of your face, the size of your forehead, the length of your jawline, etc. Eventually I decided to get a short-to-medium length haircut – 3 inches below the shoulders.

The third challenge was to dye or not. I used to color my hair before – browns, to reds, to purples. And I decided last year never to dye my hair again because of the growing number of girls having hair colors, and I don’t want to be with the mainstream. But when the idea of getting a short haircut got into me, I thought that it would be best to color my hair as well. I reckoned that if I plan to change the way I look, then it should really make a difference, and cutting my hair wouldn’t be enough. Coloring it would make the change more evident, more striking. BOLD.

Then comes the fourth challenge – what color should I use this time? What I wanted was a humble color yet one that I can confidently flaunt, something that will not be hot in the eyes but one that will incite curiosity as to what is different with my hair.

I decided to get a reddish-brown  color from Kolours. Why Kolours? I’ve been using this brand since college and believe me, the product is excellent. The color is long-lasting. At first, the color isn’t very visible especially indoors, but with natural lighting, the color comes out. Based from my past experiences with Kolours, it didn’t make my hair brittle after coloring, and during the first month after application, my hair actually looked shiny or healthy. I told my boyfriend to buy a hair color and provided the options – Zen Auburn, Mahogany, Thai Tamarind, Chocolate Brown.

 

HAIRCUT

So on March 2 at around 6PM, my friend and I went to the parlor at UB Square, Baguio City, which our friend and colleague recommended. It was only 49.50 pesos! At first, we were a bit hesitant to go to that salon thinking that the service may not be good considering its cheap price, but we still did go anyway  and had our hair cut. To my surprise, ate Momay (the gay hairdresses) gave me the haircut I wanted. It was short, but not to short for my hair to fly away, and a little layered about 2 inches at the tips.                                                                                              Lesson learned: Don’t judge a salon by it’s prices!

When my boyfriend saw me, he immediately smiled and said my haircut was very good on me. 🙂

Here’s a picture of me with my new haircut. It’s decent but quite boring with it’s plain black color. There’s a fading brown color at the lower half though that was from my previous hair color 9 months ago.

 

THE HAIR COLOR

My boyfriend manage to get a buy-1-take-1 Kolours in Mahogany. And that same night, he dyed my hair and we stayed up until 11 PM. (Yes, my bf is super cool and very supportive.) I cannot see the result right away since I don’t have a hair blower and it’s hard to see the color with my hair wet.

I was able to see the result of the hair color the next day at work when my hair was already dry. It was really good. The effect indoors is very different from when I am outside. Inside the building with artificial lighting, the color is dark brown with red undertone, on the other side, when outdoors with natural lighting, the “mahogany-ness” becomes more apparent, which is nice because it is vibrant but not hard to the eyes.

Here’s a picture indoors.

I noticed, however, that there are inconsistencies with the color throughout my hair. This was because I had an existing  hair color before and around 4 inches of my crown was already black. So on Saturday, we re-dyed my hair. Thanks to the buy-1-take-1 promo from Kolours. And voila! There was finally an equality of color distribution on my hair. Thanks also to my bf who was very patient and who made sure that the imperfection gets corrected.

This was taken after redyeing when I was airing my hair to dry.

Here’s a picture of me the morning after my hair was re-dyed. It’s outside with a natural morning light. As you can see, the color comes out with natural lighting and.

These are taken 1 week after the reapplication. 😁

 

WHY DO IT YOURSELF?

If you are a miser like me, doing your hair color at home is the best option as long as you have someone to help you out. Your best friend, your sister, your mother maybe? You’ll save a lot of money. Imagine, I only spent 250 pesos for my hair color whilst it’s 500 pesos minimum in local salons. What more if you go to David’s?

Plus, one advantage of coloring your hair by yourself is you get to choose what brand you are going to use with your hair. I tried going to a local salon once and it took them 3 hours to get the desired result. And after 3 months, my hair became dull and the color turned lighter making my hair look even more damaged. Of course, it’s all about chemicals but choosing the less toxic and more environment friendly, is up to you.

The key is to READ and FOLLOW the instructions that comes in the box, and you’ll do just fine.

 

JUDGEMENT

When I got my haircut, many people at work commended the change I underwent. Many were shocked and amazed, while some were curious at first as to what is different about me and later realized that it was my hair. All reactions i received so far were positive. Others say I look younger, others say I became more mature-looking, and some say I look mataray.

Right now, I am planning to keep it this short or even shorter. It is easier to manage now – less time to shampoo and condition and less time to dry. Plus short hair is classy and it never goes out of style.

I am glad that I had the courage to let go of my long hair and made the right decision. With my new hairstyle, I am more confident, and more summer-ready. Sometimes, we just need to take a leap of faith and we’ll be surprised with the result/s, and me, I am confidently beautiful with my new hairstyle. 🙂