My hair evolution

Long hair runs in my family. A true hippie at heart, my dad has worn his silvery hair in a ponytail for years. Two of my sisters have long, straight locks and my other sister has shoulder-length, curly hair that hits her shoulder blades when she straightens it out. Even my little brother, the 17-year-old drummer, wears his hair long and wavy. The girls and I agree that he has the best hair in the family – not too thick, not too thin, just enough wave and body. He’s so lucky. 

Anyway, I tell you all of this for a reason. Until recently, I’ve had pretty long hair myself. In elementary school, my ponytail reached my waistline. As I got older, I convinced my mom to let me cut it, little by little. When I left for college, I cut it off to my shoulders. 

I’ve always been the more adventurous one in my family, as far as haircuts go. I’m the only one who has ever intentionally taken risks in that department. (I say “intentionally” because I vividly remember my sister Rachel getting gum stuck in her hair when she was about 5 years old. To avoid getting in trouble, she cut the gum out. After my mom got home, before she beat Rachel within an inch of her life, she punished her severely without even realizing it. She cut the rest of her hair as proportionately as she could, resulting in the only recorded mullet in Litvack family history. And that, I assure you, was not Rachel’s intention.)

I’ve sported quite the variety of hairstyles in my day. There was one I called the “rock star hairdo,” with choppy bangs that hung right past my eyebrows and sharply defined layers all around. I loved that haircut. It was so much fun. 

I have colored my hair blue and blonde (yes, you read that correctly) and I’ve worn it curly, frizzy, bone straight, wavy, crimped, braided, swept up, straight down and sideways. (Don’t you remember? Side ponytails used to be very in… and I jumped on the wagon when the low ones became trendy a couple years back.) 

On my 22nd birthday, I went to a new salon and told the hairdresser to “do whatever would look good.” I left there with the shortest haircut I’ve ever received, with tufts that stuck straight out over each ear. My friends told me I looked beautiful, apparently not wanting to ruin my birthday. But I have the pictures to remind me that haircut was anything but cute.

After my streak of trying new things, I settled in to a safe zone of just-past-the-shoulder length hair, with my natural color and a few loose layers. I’ve been in that zone, or well within the vicinity, for the last few years. Earlier this year, I started feeling a little wild again and I got about 5 inches cut off. The lady cut my hair into a cute little bob that I really liked. Soon after, I began taking notice of other short cuts I saw. 

One recurring ‘do that I really liked was really short in the back with jaw-length hair framing the face. I thought about it for several weeks, taking pictures of more than one person who had that cut, and then I began searching the Internet for a salon that I felt could make my vision a reality. 

I decided on a quaint little salon downtown. My stylist, Rose, seemed as excited as I was when I told her what I wanted. She played with my shoulder length locks while she looked in the mirror, envisioning what the cut would look like on me. She decided the shape of my face was just perfect for the style I wanted, commenting about my “cute outfit,” adding that anyone with that much sass needed a sassy hairdo. (I love the service industry, always telling you just what you want to hear.) 

She sent me over to a girl named Angel, who washed my hair and gave me an incredible scalp massage. Then, before I had time to chicken out, Rose commenced to cutting. As she snipped away, she told me a little about herself. She asked me questions about myself, too, but I couldn’t take my eyes away from that mirror long enough to answer. As I’ve said, my hair was pretty short already – or so I thought. I sat in amazement as clumps of it continued to fall to the ground. 

As Rose continued with her story of training in New York and Europe, I watched as she pulled out her razor and a steady haze of shavings floated from her hands to the floor beneath me. When she reached a stopping point, she explained each product as she used it – the volumizing spray, to be applied at the roots, will keep my hair from laying flat on my head; the styling cream will control flyaways without weighing my fine hair down. 

She dried my hair with a round brush, finishing it off with cool air to further prevent frizz. Then, she did what she referred to as the “fun part” – texturing the cut, to make it more personalized. I think I held my breath until she was done. Either that, or I had eaten some bad tuna at lunch. Either way, I felt very nauseous as I watched even more hair fall to the ground. She snipped away at the front of my hair, where I could have sworn I’d told her I did not want any bangs… She must not have heard me say that, or she must have thought I was just joking.

I have to admit, I wasn’t sure I loved it when she was done. I mean, call me crazy, but for $40 I expect to get exactly what I came for. Plus, there is just something about the way someone else fixes your hair that just doesn’t sit right – at least that’s usually the case for me. She hadn’t used a flat iron to straighten my hair out, either, and I’m sure I told her my hair is naturally curly. Didn’t she see the curls that surrounded our feet?

Later that evening, I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror. The July humidity had transformed my sassy new hairdo into an uncanny resemblance of the aforementioned mullet of 1993. I felt sick… My high school reunion is next week. I can’t show up with a mullet. What will people say? How can I possibly pose for the million pictures I know will be taken? I wonder how much extensions cost…

But now, three days later, I have the styling of my new cut down to an art. I bought my own brand of volumizing spray and use my own styling crème. And I’m pleased to say that I have never been happier with a hairstyle. For the first time in a really long time, my hairstyle reflects who I am. Fun, professional, relaxed. I absolutely love it.

Rose had a vision when she was texturizing my hair that I couldn’t yet appreciate. She took a lot into consideration, cutting shorter layers underneath to give my hair the body it needed for this cut. I am so excited to have a stylish new ‘do that is easy to fix and fits me perfectly.