#4 Cut bangs – CHECK!

Say goodbye to long locks, and helloooo to....

drumroll, please...........

BANGS!

I looooove it! 

I was long overdue for a haircut anyway, so there was no better time than now to jump head-first (excuse the pun) and accomplish #4 on my 30 for 30 list. On Saturday I worked up the courage to walk-in to Supercuts, looking for bangs. This, of course, after I spent all Friday night tossing and turning in bed, wrestling stomach nerves in anticipation of what I was about to do.

"Canyougivemebangs?" I hurriedly ask the hairstylist, Crystal, while thrusting my printouts of Asian girls with similar shaped faces and cute bangs. Yes, I was about to entrust my hair to a Supercuts stylist with a stripper name. She flips through the pages, asking if these are pix of me, validating my hopeful theory that if those Asian girls look good in their bangs, then so would I. After all, don't all Asians look alike? Pffffff.

She whisks the cape around me and clips up sections of hair around the sides and back. I tense up, wringing my hands under the cape. Relax, it's just hair! Embrace the change, I scold myself. I find my shoulders loosening up, preparing to enjoy the experience. Everything will be okay.

"Jamie, your hair just doesn't want to part any other way besides down the middle. Straight-cut bangs won't work on your hair because they'll keep parting to the side, but I can try to give you side-swept bangs. If you want."

WHAT?!

No no no no nononono! In a panic, I thought I might have to abandon my plans to cut bangs. Side-swept bangs did not align with all my careful planning for a classic blunt bang. I mean, I brought pictures!

"Can't you just, um, try?" I asked meekly. So Crystal spritzes my hair with water, then blow dries it while using a round brush to tame it into submission. And repeat. She does this several times. And then finally, clip, clip. She's clipping away, and I'm getting my long-coveted bang!

I suddenly feel so stylish and coy, eyes peeking out from under a blunt fringe. I find myself walking around with a little smile, like I have a secret and noone else knows. This is the most daring thing I've ever done with my hair, as an adult, and I must say it's a bit like stepping into character and playing someone else in a play, someone slinky and chic. Right now, I feel like Sophisticated Artist or Upper East Side Prep Schoolgirl. It still startles me to pass by a mirror because I look like a completely different person. But I'm loving it!

As for how worried I was that bangs would call more attention to my big face, big cheeks? It turns out they actually frame and slenderize!

One down, only 29 to go!