New ‘Do, New Woman

Photo Booth makes anyone look like a rockstar!

A few months ago Scott Adams (creator of the Dilbert comic) wrote a fantastic blog post (which I just discovered last week) about women and haircuts. It’s titled “Your Hair is Different” – here’s an excerpt:

I forget where I read this tip, but I have used it many times with great success. It starts with the notion that most women change their hair all the time. You might not notice, but a woman is very aware of these small deviations in everything from highlights to length to fluffiness. I’m probably not using the official hairdresser terms, but you get the idea. It’s different every day, at least according to the woman who owns the hair. To me, hair is either brown or it isn’t, and you either have some or you don’t. The rest is beneath my radar.

So here’s the tip. When you see a woman who you haven’t seen for a few weeks, you can pay her this compliment, and it works every time. Say, “You’ve done something with your hair. I like it.”

The woman will feel flattered that you noticed anything beyond her hair’s very existence and its degree of brownness. She might even wonder if you can be her new gay friend. But she will confirm that something is indeed different and offer many details about how it got there. You can use that time to think about your hobbies.

One of the commenters (Aardwizz) said this, and it has really stuck with me:

I’ve found that when a woman changes her hair –, I mean really changes it so that even Scott would notice — that is a serious danger sign. When a woman wears her hair differently (color, length, style) she feels different. And she is also treated differently (cf: Blonds).

I don’t know if she changes her hair because she feels different, or she feels like being different (it’s a chicken-and-egg thing, so you really can’t say which comes first), but every time in my life, whether a girlfirend, wife or daughter, when the hair changes, EVERYTHING changes. And that includes her relationship with me.

My advice: If your gal changes her hair, IMMEDIATELY buy her a dozen roses and take her out to a nice dinner to celebrate “the new you”. You’re in trouble; you just don’t know it yet.

Do you think that’s true?

I know when I feel a change coming, I start re-organizing, moving things around, I clean out my closet, craft a lot… but change my hair?

I hate haircuts. And I hate color. And I hate all those other things that lots of girls just seem to get. I hate them because I never know what to do with them, and I almost never like how my hair looks when I leave the salon. I don’t know what color looks good (except red on me makes me look trashy), if it’s too long or too short, if bangs work or if they don’t… So I get it cut and hope it looks good, all the while feeling this panicky tightening of my stomach like I might cry if turns out horribly.

So here’s a “real” photo of me and the new ‘do. Whatcha think?

Looking at it here, it doesn’t seem that different – but my bangs are a LOT shorter! Like two inches shorter. And I feel like it makes me look even younger than my (almost) 28 years.

Mmm… But. In this picture, my hair looks light on top and dark underneath. Now that could be a fun idea…