Pura vida, amigas! If you’re reading this and if WordPress is being its own efficient beastlike self, then I should be either on a plane or in Costa Rica right now! I didn’t want to leave you hanging, though, so I’ve prepared a little stack of posts to be published in my absence. (No, we’re not going to have internet in Costa Rica, so everything you will read in the next 12 days [which may not be a lot] shall be scheduled Don’t be offended if I don’t reply to any commenty things!).
While in my last beast-related post, I did talk about how much I was loving the pixie and all that it’s done for me, a few months back I felt ready for a change; ever since then, the Beast has been slowly and steadily allowed more leash, delicately creeping its tendrils down over my ears and spiraling out around the back. I’ve been wanting to do a chronology post like this for quite some time, looking back on the good, the bad, and the ugly phases of my pixie cut as it grew out–and also probably help others considering going for the chop figure out what the growing-out process was going to be like! I honestly think this is the scariest part of the cut…the dreaded awkward stage is NOT a mere myth to dissuade you from going for the chop!
But why did I choose to write up such a post now, you ask? Well, something prolific in my journey has just occurred…
I CAN HAZ PONYTAIL!!
Granted, it’s the kind of ponytail that is so puny it makes me uncomfortable and not one that could be worn in public, but now all that scruff at the nape can finally be gathered into something concrete and you guys, they grow up so fast.
(Also, just a fair warning here: For obvious reasons, the following post will be a whole lot of mah face. Prepare yourselves.)
Let’s flash back in time to September 1st, 2012…
It had just been chopped. It lay flat and shiny and everything and I loved it.
This is what it originally looked like from the back and-yes-don’t-worry-I-shaved-my-neck-after-this.
I was trying to take a satisfactory profile pic for the bloggity once–it was up here for about ten minutes and then I tore it down. Anyway, there ya go. It still looked pretty dude-ish at this point.
Oh look, lovelies! It’s my oh-so-stylish hair (and post-stage-crying-raccoon-eyes) from after my school play!
In March, it was still rather short, but the back was beginning to “flip out” and develop a mind of its own (I still can’t figure out how to tame this).
Yes, I take pictures of myself whenever I catch my hair on a good day night. Sometimes this just happens to be when I’m wearing fuzzy pink monkey pajamas. Don’t judge? K thx! (Also, please ignore my overly sullen expression in this picture!)
Oh look, fierce face.
I know, Mother Dearest. You’re feeling uncomfortable because of how friggin attractive I look in this picture, right?
You can’t even see my hair in this picture. I just threw it in here for pride purposes.
And here is where the shag begins in earnest. About 3.5 months after officially starting to grow it out, my bangs have become really too long to call bangs anymore and I’ve got these spiraly-tendrily things in front of my ears. (You can tell I’m really educated in technical hair vocabulary, right?) At best (in this picture) it looks windswept and cool, at worst it looks like the locks of some sort of hippie surfer dude. (Not that that’s a bad look–it’s just, I am not surfer dude…)
And, finally, here is a little thumbnail still from a vlog I have filmed but have yet to publish. As you can see, the general shape of everything is changing–the sections over my ears are beginning to flip out, the “bangs” are “waving” more, and the fringe is continuing to bush. This is the phase of growing out the pixie that’s hard on one’s self-esteem–sometimes you just have to live with the fact that you look like a surfer dude dork. Or wear a hat. Yeah, I would recommend picking out an arsenal of killer-ass hats before you embark on the journey of the growing out. I don’t follow my own advice. I either throw a scarf on or burn in shame as strangers interacting with me mess up my gender.
I hope this helped answer some of the common questions about the growing-out stages, and whether or not I would still recommend going for the chop! (In answer to that: Yes. Yes, I still heartily recommend it.) Keep in mind that my hair is VERY thick (think Hermione Granger) and wavy (downright curly when it’s short–it also refuses to obey even the most intense flat iron), so your purty lil’ pixie will by no means look like mine as it struggles its way toward a bob. *Cue husky surfer dude voice* Just have fun, and enjoy the journey, man! It ain’t so bad. (Just get some hats.)
***************************************************************************************
Hope y’all are havin’ a lovely weekend! Right now the stress of batch-posting is leaving me too burnt out to come up with a sufficient conclusion to this post. Perhaps I shall edit it and wrap things up more tidily when I get back and I’m all blissed out on UV rays and coconut milk. Adios!
The Girl In The Orange 