Monday, July 12, 2010

Short Hairstyles--There's Still an Allure

A lot of people seem to think that I've become some kind of a long hair freak and that I have something against short hair.  Nothing could be further from the truth. I've just come to the realization that unlike most women, I feel that short hair is no longer for me. While short hair could look cute and sassy at times in my 20s and even into my 30s, I just don't like the look of it on me anymore.

My last really short haircut was in 2003.  At that point, I was 42, no longer as slim as I once was, wearing my hair a shade or two too light, and I wanted a change. I went for a lip length bob.  It felt really good; light and swingy, and it was easy to wash and dry. However, it still required some heat styling in order to look nice, and frankly, when I saw photos of myself with the cut, I realized it just didn't look as good as it might have when I was younger. It seemed to emphasize the new flaws in my features that had occurred naturally during the aging process.

I am not attempting to ward off aging. In many ways I embrace being older. I do realize though that I have to adapt and wear makeup and hair that suits and makes the most of my new and ever-changing face and figure.

I admit it.  There are many times that I look at the latest short hairstyles, or admire one on an actress in a movie and on TV.

In the past I would often go for it, just for the change. I've finally gotten it through my skull that I don't have the face or figure of those hair models or movie stars, and just getting their hair cut will not make me look like them.  Why did it take me so long to really get that?  Logically, I always knew it, but emotionally, I didn't listen to that logic.

On the other hand, there are so many beautiful women who are my age or older who really look lovely with short hair.  Part of it has to do with their facial features, and part of it has to do with their hair type. Women with certain types of hair can look so glamorous with short hair in a way that I never could, no matter what I did. Other women do not look glamorous with their short hair, but they do look beautiful with that confidence that their hair suits them. All of these women do look their age, as I feel I do; they may have wrinkles, but for whatever reason, their faces suit their hair.

Am I the only person who has fallen into that trap of not putting my own facial features into consideration when getting a haircut? I doubt it. I do regret that it took me so long to get it.

Now that I really think about it, I know that I really am not the only person for whom that's been an issue. It's no secret that just about all advertising revolves around the knowledge that women think that if they buy a particular scent or brand of makeup that they are somehow going to look or feel like the actress or model in the commercial or ad.

We really have to collectively wise up.

Til tomorrow, my friends.  Love to all.

4 comments:

  1. I can identify with what you're saying. I'm slowly getting over the belief that if I have a certain hairstyle or clothing style that somehow I'll look like the model. Never happens.

    ReplyDelete
  2. More on how we are controlled by the media; I was at a some family function recently and there were a bunch of young adult women. Looking at them I realized they all look like they are in their thirties, with shaggy hair cuts, colored hair and sometimes outfits that would have been suitable for them 10 years down the line. It got me to think how the media is influencing young girls to look like thirty something women, because they are trying to look like an actress or a model. While thirty something women and middle aged women are trying so hard to look younger because again we are influenced to think that young is beauty.

    ReplyDelete
  3. You said it, sister. I fall into this trap time and again. Never look at the books of hairstyles in a salon. I also know this intellectually but my emotions are still all over the board.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Short hair DOES require lots of maintenance. I have had a bob twice in my life and though they were cute, I had to be looking on point everyday. No ponytails to save the day with a bob. Don't even get me started on the heat needed to keep short hair looking right. Though it's in style for people in my age group to have short hair...uh-uh! Not on this head again. lol.

    ReplyDelete

I love hearing from you.