The Big Chop

At this point in time it’s no secret, I chopped off all my hair!  It happened last Wednesday at Adelaide Salon here in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.  It’s not that often I make a drastic hair length change like this, so to commemorate the event, photographer Joel Stigliano tagged along to document it.

My long time stylist Casey (who also did my dip-dye) did the honors.  I wanted to donate the hair to Locks of Love, and I had so much hair it resulted in two ponytails we chopped off.  All in all I think it was about 10 inches we took off.

The style I wanted was an inverted bob, which is longer in the front than it is in the back.  Casey took her time really perfecting the shape and when it was done, it was perfect!  Very flattering to my jaw line.

Also, for anyone wondering, the best way to cut curly hair is when it’s dry so you can see the natural curl pattern.  That’s why Casey’s cutting my hair prior to us washing it.

During my entire appointment, we had this adorable guy watching us.  Can you believe he’s just a puppy?!  Probably the most well-behaved puppy I’ve ever encountered.

Once my bob was pretty well-shaped, it was then time for color.  I decided I wanted to dye my hair back to my natural brunette.  While I loved the red, it was too high maintenance for me.  Adelaide Salon carries Organic Color Systems which is a vegan line, so I was all set!

After the dye set it was then time to wash, set and dry the curls.

I often get a lot of questions from readers on how I style my hair, so stay tuned next week as Casey walks us through a curly hair styling tutorial!

PHOTOGRAPHY  BY // Joel Stigliano

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Pinning / Curly Bobs

It seems just about every single year once it gets nice out, I have this urge to chop off all of my hair. By the end of winter, I’m totally over having to blow-dry my hair for close to 30 minutes because I have so much of it. While I love my current really long length, it’s now becoming impracticable for me to keep up with. I also think it’s kind of boring. I usually like a little edge to my haircuts and the current one just isn’t doing it for me anymore. Walking the streets of NYC there are tons of girls with long loose curls like mine.

When I did my last big chop back in 2009, the shorter curls were ridiculously easy for me to manage. It was literally wash and go. I’d like to get back to that for this summer considering how active I’ve been lately.

Last year at this time I was totally macking on Keri Hilson’s bob below, but as of recent I also love the soft, inverted bob that Marion Cotillard wears.  So I’m kind of undecided what version I want to do, or how short I want to go yet (at or below the chin).  I also haven’t decided yet if I want to stay a red head, dye it back to my natural brunette, or even maybe an ombre brunette.  All I know is I want all my hair gone and for my hair routine to only take 10 minutes again.

Here’s some of my favorite inspiration images I’ve been pinning lately to try to come up with some ideas of what to do.  My next hair appointment is in less than two weeks, so I better hurry up and make up my mind!

So what do you think?  Should I cut it all off?  Dye it?  Both?  I’d love to hear your suggestions!

Didn’t Do It

So I didn’t cut my hair as I had planned to. I had major plans to get this rad curly bob, but after some discussion with my stylist, my curls are a lot looser than Keri Hilson’s and to pull off that cut I’d potentially need to use a curling iron. I was looking for a cut that was less maintenance than my current style (i.e. NO maintenance), so that obviously wasn’t going to work for me.  I’ve also been kind of liking my hair better since I’ve been styling my bangs all curly and flipping it all over into a deep side part.  First day I wore it this way in public I had a famous artist at an art opening ask me if I was an Italian movie star (true story!).

So not wanting to screw up a hairstyle that already had potential, I had my stylist add in some additional layers to make it “bigger”.  I kind of consider a more modernized version of an 80’s style.  So far I love it.

{Dress: Old Navy (similar one here); Jacket: no brand (similar one here); Wedges: Target; Necklace: Gift}

I have this bad habit of never going out to do anything after getting my haircut. Reason I say it’s bad is no girl’s hair is ever as awesome as after they go to the salon, so it’s all the reason to make plans to go out on the town after an appointment. I always just go home and veg out.

Instead of making it a total waste of a good hair day, I decided to try out Jim and my new photo backdrop we installed in our office. Portia even came in for an appearance. The backdrop works really well, just have to get some better light equipment I think. And I think next time I take photos I won’t wrap the backdrop around to the floor so I look like I’m floating. It was fun to test out though!

Time for a Change

I want this haircut!  Source: shorthairstylescuts.com

Man, I’ve been BUSY lately.  Though work has finally calmed down for me a bit, my weekends have been filled with social obligations and lots of necessary chores around the house.  What little free time I’ve had has been spent either with Jim or at the gym.

Been so crunched for time lately, one thing that’s been really annoying me is my hair.  While I love my curls, at this point in time they’ve gotten so long my hair takes absolutely forever to dry.  I’m spending close to 30 minutes drying it again, which I hate.  Plus my curls aren’t keeping as frizz free as they used to when they were shorter.  I’m also kind of over my bangs, which is good timing being blunt cut bangs over the summer in NYC spells disaster so now’s a good time as any to start growing them out again.

Krystal from This Time Tomorrow

Kelly the Glamourai

Lately I’ve been loving the soft, curly bobs on a lot of the style bloggers I follow.  Especially Krystal’s new haircut from This Time Tomorrow as well as Kelly the Glamorai‘s bob.  Seeing these styles made me want to start doing some internet searching for inspiration, and I came across Keri Hilson’s crazy cool curly bob that when styled naturally is super edgy, but could also be blown out for a slightly softer look.  I’m loving the versatility of it.

So I think I’ve pretty much made up my mind that come April (which is my next haircut appointment) my hair will be chopped off.  Now it’s just finalizing the style.  While I’m pretty much sold on the Hilson style, I’m still open for suggestions so send them my way!  I’m also debating maybe coloring my hair as well.  I’m super excited to make this change because in April I’m finally going on a much-needed vacation to Mexico and it’ll be fun to rock a new look while there.

Haircutaversary

February 25th 2010 was a big day for me. It was the day I chopped of my hair and ended over a decade of chemical straightening and finally embraced my natural curls.

I had straightened my hair from when I was 10 years old. It was the early 90’s and perms and curly hair in general were passé. Hair products that were available resulted in crunchy, unflattering fros. After being teased a bit in elementary school, my mother allowed me to play hooky one day and took me into the city to have my curls chemically straightened. Afterwards upon returning to school I remember one of my classmates acknowledging it announcing “Corrie! No Fro!”

The following 16 years most people who knew me thought my hair was naturally straight. It was my dirty little secret. As far as haircuts go, I generally had the same cut from high school through college: really long with face framing layers. I received tons of compliments so I never thought to change it.

The haircut I had for basically 17 years.

Over the years in my late 20′, something snapped. I was always pressed for time and I was just plain sick of blowing out my hair, which took almost 45 minutes. I made the scary decision to grow out my straightner and work with my natural hair texture after getting married. After finding a photo of a totally badass curly style I fell in love with and was sold. The hard part would be the grow out.

My haircut inspiration image.

All in all the grow out process took less time than I thought. Only around 17 months. I was so excited yet insanely nervous the day of my haircut. What if my curls are weird? What if this style doesn’t look good on me? Am I making a mistake? My straight hair looks good why change it?

I was smart in that when I decided to make this switch, I immediately started going to a curly hair specialist to help with the grow out as well as the final curly cut. I had sent her my inspiration photo in advance and the day of my big chop she was prepared.

She reviewed with me as she chopped away how my new hair would have to be cut (while dry) and styled (mostly done while wet in the shower). To be honest, after it was cut and washes and I was sitting under the dryer I was petrified, my wet hair looked no different from the flat, crunchy 80’s hair I remembered. When my hair was dry, she then told me to flip my head over, “scrunch out the crunch”, fluff it up a bit and flip it back over.

Under the dryer, patiently awaiting the results of the big chop.

Holy. Freaking. Crap! My hair looked amazing! I looked like a totally different person!

The results, taken by my husband immediately upon returning home.

It took a little time to learn how to style it, but after I mastered it styling my hair was so much easier than my previous routine. Better yet, the compliments I received after were more bountiful than with my straight hair, but more meaningful being people noted this cut was more “me”. After so many years of trying to blend in, I was finally my own, unique person.

This newfound confidence totally changed my life. I totally revamped my wardrobe, started experimenting with my style (and blogging about it), plus I even went further in my career.  I also over the course of the year changed the cut three or four times (mostly variations in my bangs), three or four times in one year as compared to never-changing it for 17 years!  The changes were so profound, I had to commemorate it in this post.

For all you girls with naturally textured hair currently hiding it to become what you think society wants you to look like, I urge you please stop! Your natural texture is the way you were intended to be, so don’t fight it! You won’t regret it I promise you.

Do you currently straighten or alter your  natural hair?  Why do you do it and have you ever considered going natural?