She Bangs!

I chopped my hair off for the summer.


It was long, slicing my back neatly in half (quite possibly the longest it's ever been); it was irreparably damaged from my mood-swings of color and a torturous regime of the glossy rigidity of workday buns and the weekend flat iron; it had to go. I resisted the urge to chop for one whole month, while I wrestled with the emotional baggage attached my lengths. I hadn't gone for the total chop since my sweat-drenched summer of boot camp. My hair has endured a lot since then: riotous parties, bad boyfriends, the Army, then, finally, an adorable boyfriend who morphed into my husband and the hormonal roller-coaster of the pregnancy and nursing of my now-fourteen month old son. It really had to go.

What about your hair? When's the last time you really took a good look in the mirror and truly evaluated your current hairstyle situation? Would you be able to cut in off? Are you hanging on to lackluster lengths just because your spouse loves long hair or are you simply guilty of wallowing in a style rut? Truth is, even though I knew it was the right choice to bob my hair, I almost didn't go to the appointment I booked. My husband has nightly dreams of being rescued from the doldrums of life by a luscious Rapunzel, and I really wondered if he'd be okay with my choice.

Apparently, however, once the harsh glare of reality peeled open his eyelids to the actual condition of my hair, he decided he'd rather have a happy wife with healthy hair than a frustrated one who spends hours taming her long tresses. (Or, in my case, a frustrated wife who only wears ponytails and buns because she doesn't have the patience to spend hours on her hair.) Long story short (ish), I did end up keeping that appointment...and I'm in love. My hair is now just a little bit longer than my chin, a hybrid cut that combines the layered angles of Victoria Beckham's asymmetrical bob with a side-swept bang (so 2009, a la Katy Perry, Lily Allen, Rihanna, and Katie Holmes).

I can wear it curly or straight. The freedom is amazing! Still, I have to admit that this whole ordeal was a bit unnerving. I've been terrified of a bob with bangs since a terrible pixie/bowl cut accident when I was five, but (thanks to modern technology and Nichole Richie) I've discovered that I actually look fabulous with right style bangs.

Unless you're sure your hair won't grow back, shaking up your hairstyle by going for the chop can make you giddier than that vicodin ride you took when you got your wisdom teeth pulled. Plus, these days, you can try out a new look just by googling "hairstyle 2009." If you'd like a hands-on way to 'preview' your new style, you can upload a recent picture to a hairstyle simulator like Taaz.com, print out the best look and give it to your favorite scissor-wielding wizard (ahem, cosmetologist) to refer to.

Think about it, mamas...

When you look in the mirror, do you bang?

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

Posted by AJae