Thursday, November 21, 2013

the evolution of a haircut

posted by jennifer:


so, i cut my own hair.   and have been doing so for about the last 6 or 7 years.   well, i guess technically i have been doing it even longer than that.   i know there were a few instances in my childhood that i started practicing the art... ahem.   but i didn't start in earnest until more recent years.

i didn't just pick up the scissors one day and decide to go for it.  there was a process i went through.   it all started with isaac.  he was the first "real" hair stylist i went to.  you know, not your run of the mill strip mall chain stylist.  my mom and sister had been going to him, and
i decided to plunk down my money  and see what this isaac was all about.  i loved my haircut.  so much that i went to isaac, who was in fullerton (orange county), even after i moved down to san diego.

then isaac moved away.

i had to find a new hair stylist. 

i asked a friend, whose haircut i loved, where she went.  she gave me the information for a swanky stylist in hillcrest.  a rather artsy, hip neighborhood in san diego.  i set the appointment.   i was a little nervous, because i am not the adventurous, directional savvy type girl.  i get lost frequently.  and am one of those drivers who gets a little, um, erratic when i don't know where i am going.  i have never been in, or caused an accident or anything, but i am sure i have had a few choice words spewed in my direction when, well, let's say, i am looking for a hair salon i have never been to.

well, i made a wrong turn.   i was late for the appointment...very, very late.  the hair stylist wasn't pleased.  i started getting all choked up when trying to explain myself.  yes, i tend to do that.  this was probably 12 years ago.  but i still remember the way she was looking at me. i must have looked pathetic.  and very out of my element.  so, i dried off my tears.  and kept up my search.

i found a stylist i liked.  close to home.  i knew i would not get lost.  but, no, the stylist was not myself..... yet.  

i went to that woman for about 2 years.  until she left.  ugh.  i tried a new stylist at the same salon, and left more than once with a haircut i did not like.  it was then that i started to question what exactly i was paying for.  i clearly remember thinking "a hair student could do a better job."

so, i found a cosmetology school.  you could have a student cut your hair for like $10 or something.  by this time, i definitely didn't feel like i could continue to spend $50+ on a haircut.

 the first time i  left the cosmetology school with my new haircut i felt pretty smug.   i couldn't believe people didn't go to cosmetology schools more often to be guinea pigs.  i had one of my best haircuts ever..... that time.

i think that the girl who cut my hair the first time must have graduated...at the top of her class.   and i think the second and third time i went, the students must have been held back.... or maybe it was there first day of school.   at this point my thought was "i could do a better job than this."

well, it is all ancient history now. 

i never get lost on the way to the bathroom.  i don't need to schedule an appointment.  i can get a touch up whenever i want.  i don't need to worry about being witty, or more accurately, don't need to worry about how socially awkward i must seem when trying to make small talk.  and best of all, i have gotten compliments on my hair.  and they are not those courtesy compliments... when someone doesn't know what to say because what is before them is so uncomfortably awful.  you know "you look great".... when said receiver of the compliment is a horribly hot mess. (oh no, i hope they are not courtesy compliments... egads!)

at least 90% of the time, i am happy with my self haircuts.  and that my friends is a better percentage than when i was going to the professionals.... and sometimes not so professionals. hmmm.  well, regardless, i will continue to cut my own hair.  at least for now. but who knows about the future.  thus is the evolution of a haircut.

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