LONG OR SHORT, BANGS OR NO, SUMMING IT UP

I always considered myself to be a one-hairstyle kind of person; thought of myself to have had just long hair and that’s it. But once I thought about it I realised that’s not really true, well  you saw that from my little hair-anthology a while back and before that (way before) I went trough the usual teenage-henna-red phase, had my hair (almost) black then spiral permed for some years. Photo proof might come at some point here. (Or, in some cases already has...)
And then, as you know, at the mature age of almost-thirty I cut it short for the first time in my life.

Since I just recently cut my bangs back I and now have long(er) hair again I have most styles rather fresh in my mind (all yeys and neys came to me in an instant after cutting!) I thought I'd list some pros and cons,  for how each hair style has worked. For me, that is. It might not work the same way for everyone else, but can perhaps offer some think-upons for those pondering a new move?

Short.

When I cut my hair short it felt all "I'm free!" But au contraire to what I thought, my life did not get any easier.

My hair was cut in a Sassoon halo-cut, which is similar to the classic cut of yesteryears, the middy. Such a cut allows for great sets of curls, but for many and my hair at least -which seems rather straight until cut and sudden waves in different directions appeared - it did look quite awful unstyled. No 'brush and go'- there, although it was rather easy to just curl the edges a bit to be able to leave the house.

To pin-curl and set it took forever and was so tiring and my arms started to ache half way trough! I have a lot of hair.  Shorter hair requires less hair per curl, and a smaller such, in order to be able to form the curl. (The same goes when heat styling, if you want it curly-curly you have to take very thin strides of hair). At it’s shortest some hairs were too short to be able to roll properly. Muchos annoying.

Jackets and scarves will mess your short curls as the collar often hits you in the neck just where your locks would like to hang. Obviously more of a problem during the colder seasons, but then again we have a lot of cold.

When my hair was very short I could not fasten it properly and that was annoying, plus, if you like to make hair do's like I the options were more limited. With hair long enough to be fastened, options returned. Plus you can clip on extras for fancy do's then too.

On the bright side I had to have it cut quite often and that did my hair good and it grew well and quick. This ,ay mound like I did not really like having short hair at all; which is not true. But for now, I will leave it long.

Long.

Long hair… well, suddenly I almost have it again, things are "back to normal".

Well, um, the options to make pretty any up-do you can mange.

The longer the hair the better it looks with less curls, so at this length I have now I can fix it pretty quickly by just curling edges with heat .

In my case it is easier to pin curl my hair when longer, as the curls can be bigger with more hair which makes the rolling faster. Just a few ones will already give a nice wave to my hair.

Long hair takes forever to dry, especially when rolled into a not-even-wet-just-damp -set. I will need 24hours or so to get it dry.

If kept open you need to remember to carry a bush along because it gets messed up easily.
(I always carry pins too, to be able to change into an undo if the curls go flat or so, or just if I want to fasten it for pratical reasons..)


Bangs or no

I had bangs during most of my childhood, a thick straight fringe in the early- and mid eighties, then some some hideous thin version combined with scrunchies and hair bands in the very early nineties. (Around the same time those big wooden parrot earrings were very pop over here. Just before the plastic pacifiers and dolphins came. Hhhhuh.) The kitchen scissors went back and forth for a few years when I was in my twenties.

I started growing them away "for good" about five years ago,and the growing-out part is pretty awful at certain lengths. I remember the main reason (which may also have been the only one, but that I can't remember) : Although I liked my bangs I realised my face in general just looked better without.

I also though a clip on fringe was the solution to everything.
But, of course, turns out faux never really feels 100% like the right thing (oh, really?) and so clip on bangs and the faux rolled bangs still couldn't hold down the urge to cut when I'd got it into my head.

Well, as you now I went for it. The cut. I had decided to wait until cap-season was over and until a couple of shows and my hair workshop were done and then I set in on letting an actual hair dresser do it this time. But ended up cutting it one late night i front ot the mirror snip snap instead!

It turned out a a little too wide and a little too short. Uh. Short, no problem, I remember it grows out quite quickly -and I feel they have settled a bit better buy now- but wide, gnah. That’s a problem for many years. After a few first days in agony I realised it’s just a few streaks of hair that should have been spared the scissors so I can learn to live with that.

As I said I know I actually look better, as in prettier, without bangs. But the look with bangs is sort of edgier and more styled and now I’m feeling that. Plus on me, it makes me look a bit younger. A doorman actually asked me for id to a nightclub last week (both things are big news, me seeming under 24 -Eddi teased me by saying the age limit probably was 30 that night, hah!- and the fact that I was at a nightclub).

But, on me, I feel I look worse without make up and with bangs, and in general need to wear a bit more eye makeup than I do without bangs.

Some more bang-related memories that came back to me the same instant I had lots of hair in one hand and a pair of scissors in the other:
Like said, the cold season; cap season, is a definite minus. Will mess up the bangs. (Apparently it wasn't over quite here yet. Damn you, cold winds! Which leads us to:)

Wind. Well wind fucks everything up, no matter what style. But bangs especially.
Which leads us to:

You always need to carry a comb or brush along.

Working and sweating when your bangs are too short to pin away from your face, that's nasty.
(If you manage to pin them away  you got a lot of work to do to get them back down and look somewhat normal again.) Which leads us to:

Trimming them too short. Too short bangs and I look like a Benedictine monk.
Well, been there done that this time already.

A lot of bending and curling in the mornings, most mornings.

However, once I have my bangs done I get away a lot easier with the rest -my hair in the front when not cut in bangs always required styling in order not to be blah, and it was more work than just rolling a pair of bangs. (One word: beret) After all that time of growing them out it wasn't that awesome in the end, to have everything in the same long length. Oh damn.

I have these annoying small sections of eager hair growing around the hairline that often want to lead a young rebellious life of their own. (One word, which will not be hair spray: beret) With the bangs fixed -and they are rather quick to do in the end - the rest is quite alright on it's own, random gathered buns don’t seem as floppy, my straight hair less boring. Ponytails look nice in an instant. That is the biggest bonus for now!

When the bangs are long enough they can join rolls and be tucked away or rolled to the side or so for some change in looks. I had to check back in my own blog to see what I used to do and it was quite a lot I see. And apparently not all stages of growing out bangs were that nasty either.