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| Nov. 7, 2010 |
Once upon a time, I use to have looong curly hair. I enjoyed it and it made me feel pretty...especially because so many people liked it, as well. Women were envious of my free flowing curls and men wanted to touch & "crunch it"
(not kidding.) This hair of mine use to be something I despised as a child because it wasn't like all the other girls. I magically, and accidentally, discovered the beauty of gel & mousse, in my last week of high school. After that, my hair turned into a blessing and not a curse.
This is a picture of me on Nov. 7, 2011 in Philadelphia, PA.
A month before my trip to Philadelphia, we were told that a woman in my ward (church congregation) had cancer, breast cancer to exact. In the month of October, we wore pretty pink ribbons at church to support this sister. As a Relief Society, we even took homemade soup to her home. In speaking with her, I was touched by her amazing strength and courage. She wasn't a "Debbie Downer" or "Negative Nancy" in the least bit. She really affected me. Knowing that she would lose her hair in a few weeks, I instantly wanted to shave my head. As Nash and I drove home, I quietly and seriously contemplated shaving my head. Sister L meant a lot to me. We weren't the closest of friends, but she was my one time Stake Young Women's president, as well as Stake Choir Director. She had touched my heart on several occasions. A week after I arrived home from the east coast, I was talking to my friend CC about the crazy idea of shaving our heads to support Sister L. CC mentioned that it would be cool if we got other people to join us. She would talk to Doc and I would ask Mr. Red. Doc was hesitant, which was lame because he already had super short hair so what would a few less centimeters of hair really do for him?!
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| Nov. 14, 2010 |
When I "asked"
Mr. Red, I said,
"I think you should shave your head"
"Ok, I'll do it."
"Wow, really?"
"Yeah, but are you going to tell me why I'm shaving my head?"
and I explained and he was in, even more. Oh that's why I love Mr. Red, he's such a team player!
CC and I discussed it on a Friday and planned to do it that following Monday after FHE. I was so pumped up on the idea I wanted to do it that very day!! I couldn't find the clippers, so instead, I trimmed my hair...trimmed..cut... well it was a lot shorter:
I was LOVING this length! It was short, straight and way cute! For several months, I was debating on cutting it to this length but always hesitated. I figured I'd cut it since it was all coming off soon enough. It didn't help that I was starting to fall in love with my hair just as I was getting ready to shave it all off. Oh well, it's only hair--it grows back.
To celebrate and soften the blow of losing our hair, we had "Shave Shindig". It helped to shave it together and encourage each other... also, ice cream makes everything feel a lil nicer. Good idea, Mr. Red....
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| Nov. 15, 2010 |
So there we had it...we shaved our heads. Well, some 3 of us buzzed our heads and 2 of us bic'd it, with a shaver. They tried to talk me into it, but I wanted to enjoy it buzzed first. I was the smart one of the bunch, I brought a beanie to wear afterwards, knowing that our newly shaved/buzzed heads would be extremely sensitive to the night air. Even when I tried to fall asleep that night, for once, I did NOT enjoy a cold pillow, it was like ice!! I had to sleep with a beanie, for several weeks. In fact, I wore beanies all the time because my head was always cold and it was fall/winter. Did I regret shaving my head? Not. At. All. I loved it. I was finally able to get ready faster and as crazy as it sounds, I felt more feminine. I truly loved it. I think I felt more feminine because I had to put more effort into looking and feeling more like a lady. Blush & mascara were my new BFF's.
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| December 1, 2010 |
I eventually shaved my head a few weeks later and man alive, it felt trippy! Just like when I shave my legs and the way the feel in my sheets at night..that's how my head felt. I guess that would be called, 'sensitive'. My friend, FishLips started calling me "Haole Head". You can see why....
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| January 17, 2011 |
I did buzz my head again, on Martin Luther King day (Jan. 17). I heard Sister L's treatments were going to be for several more weeks. I wanted to continue shaving my head til her treatments were over. However, some friends and their old wives tales spooked me into thinking my hair wouldn't grow back if I continually shaved it. Funny, that only applied to my head and not my legs..?
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| February 2011 |
So I let it start growing. I found out a cool way to hide any grey hairs at this stage is to color it with mascara! :) Nice, quick remedy!
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| March 2011 |
...and then it started growing enough that I could brush it! I was so happy! I quickly brushed it into a lil faux hawk! This was after I had to go buy a brush, since I threw mine out after shaving my head. The wide bristles wouldn't have helped anyways...
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| April 2011 w/ newborn BabyChelo |
I had to trim it around my ears a bit because it was looking a lil scraggly. If I wanted my hair to go down, I had to immediately wear a tight beanie as soon as I got out of the shower. Secret #2.
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| May 2011 |
There will be a point in which all your hair is the same length. However, the back will appear longer because it's at the lowest point of your head. If you don't trim it, it'll look like a mullet. So trim it! Trick #3.
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| July 2011: |
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| June 2011 |
Having thick, coarse, curly hair isn't all too great when your hair is short. It's just not pretty sometimes...now I was back to using hair products. Darn, I was loing the ease off 'wash & go' hair!
And then it just started growing and growing! At times I didn't know what to do with it... Gel it? Straighten it? Scarf it? No wonder why so many men just buzz their heads, it's so EASY to deal with!
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| August 2011 |
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| September 2011 |
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| November 2011 |
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| October 2011 |
It's been fun watching it grow and learning how to handle it. Would I recommend it? Maybe. It's been nice knowing what I look like at all hair lengths. The only thing I would recommend about hair: JUST OWN IT! I received SO MANY compliments about my hair/head/appearance and how well I rocked it/pulled it off. Confidence is a BIG seller--in all things! If I acted scared or regretful, people would have treated me as such. I'm grateful for all that I experienced, learned and grew from in doing this act of love. I still love that sister dearly and I'm grateful for the friendship that came from it.
