Pixie Power.

When I show people pictures of what I used to look like (picture in the far left hand corner), they always have a huge reaction that goes something like this: “WHAAAAAAT?! Oh my gosh, you look like a different person now!” Why yes, I do look like a different person because every year I get older. However, I can’t help but agree with their big reactions, especially when I look at old pictures of myself from the past couple of years. It really does seem that I look pretty different year to year. Some say it’s because I have changed my hair style pretty drastically. That may be true, but when I take a closer look at myself over the years, I see changes in my face as well. I thought that I was crazy until my boyfriend confirmed that he saw the same changes that I saw. I really don’t know if my face is actually changing or if I using different make-up, I’m better at doing my hair, or if it’s that I have officially lost most of the baby chub that resides in my cheeks. Who knows. All I know is that I keep changing, and I love it!

Many people have asked me about what the process of going to a pixie cut was like for me so I thought I would share some of those details here. Let me tell you, I did not chop it all off at one time. It has definitely been a gradual progression and it took a couple of years to fully attain the cut and style that I wanted. Let me take you back to the year 2009 (insert cheesy time warp music), which was just about a year into my relationship with my boyfriend. My boyfriend, his name is Jonny, loved my long hair. I loved it as well, but I was always so frustrated with how straight it was and that it could never hold a curl. Also, it took forever to blow dry! I have fine but very thick hair, so drying it was a constant battle that always ended with me in a sweaty mess. Despite my frustrations, I kept my hair long because, duh, that’s what boys like, right? I always believed that long hair was most attractive and I didn’t want to give that up. I also had side-swept bangs that never did what I wanted them to, so I had to spray them with tons of hairspray, which never looked good.

By the end of 2009, I was ready for a change. I knew I wanted to keep my hair longish but I wanted to experiment with what I call “full-frontal” bangs, or bangs that covered my entire forehead. I really loved my new bangs and felt like they made my hairstyle look edgier. However, I found that bangs are really hard for me to style due to how straight my hair is. I would constantly work them with a round brush and hair dryer, which would just make them look frizzy. At this time, I only used hairspray as a finishing product because I was unsure of how to use pomade, gel, or oils. Since I had taken a daring plunge with my new bangs, it wasn’t too long before I was itching to shake it up again. In 2010, I cut my hair pretty short (above the shoulders but below the chin) and kept my full-frontal bangs. The haircut was a bob of sorts but it was all one length.

As 2010 marched on, I continued to feel more adventurous with my hair and decided to upgrade to an a-line bob. I think everyone and their mother was sporting this ‘do at the time, but I absolutely LOVED it. For the first time, I felt like my hair had style and that it wasn’t just lying limp on my back. I definitely got a lot of compliments on this haircut, even from Jonny, who was very unsure of me going that short. Turns out, he just needed to get used to it because he ended up loving my short hair. So much so that he told me that he didn’t want me to go back to my long hair (score!). Now, when I was in the a-line bob stage, I varied it up quite a bit. Full-frontal bangs, side bangs, back to full frontal, growing them out, etc. I just never felt like my bangs looked right and it constantly felt like a struggle to get them to do what I wanted them to do.

In 2012, I wanted to change it up again but I wasn’t ready, okay I wasn’t even THINKING about, going to a pixie cut. Come on! The thought of chopping off all of my hair was super scary. So, I did the opposite! I started growing out my bob so that I could eventually color my hair with the ombre technique that was becoming so popular. I grew it out for about six months when I started realize that I didn’t want to have to constantly dye my hair to keep up the color. With that, I began to research other hairstyles that I could try. I came across the pixie and thought it looked SO cute on so many different types of girls. Since I was already pretty adventurous with cutting my hair, I decided to take the pixie plunge in early 2013.

The evolution to the pixie cut that I have now has taken about a year. It started out looking like a super short bob, but it was still very shocking when I first looked at myself in the mirror post haircut. Even Jonny’s response was “It’s…..different.” Of course, that sent me into panic mode and I started to wonder if I had made a mistake. However, after a week or so, Jonny ended up liking it, which made me feel more comfortable. Once I got comfortable with not having any hair to pull back into a ponytail, I realized that I wanted a try a true pixie (bangs above the eyebrow) and mustered up the courage to cut it a little shorter with each haircut. I can happily say that I have reached a place of pixie perfection and absolutely love having hair this short!!! Also, my bangs are now cut in a way that helps them lie flat minus the battle with them every morning and I use pomade, gel, and a leave-in conditioner (apparently my hair is dry and needs moisture when I had always thought that it was oily and needed volume!), which have all changed my life. I thought I would hate looking different from the girls who had gorgeous flowing locks, but I realized that I really loved how different my hair looked from everyone else. It made me stand out!

If you ever have any questions or comments about my pixie cut journey, shoot me a comment!

Thanks for reading!!!