How I Messed Around With Short Hair
So today I grabbed my bathroom mirror, my cheap Walmart hair dye leftovers, and decided I was done with long hair. Seriously, it was everywhere – clogging drains, sticking to sweaters, basically haunting me. Short hair seemed like freedom. But which short cut wouldn’t make me look like a startled potato? Google said “Chin-Length Bob” was safe. Fine. Let’s try it.
First up, the Chin-Length Bob itself. Got my scissors – the kind meant for paper, yeah, I know, terrible idea. Sectioned off the hair like those YouTube tutorials showed. Started snipping behind my ears first, aiming for a straight line across the jaw. My hands were shaky, man. Ended up chopping one side noticeably higher than the other. Great. Just great. Looked like a lopsided mushroom hat. Panicked, hacked the other side shorter to “match.” Suddenly, I was rocking an accidental, super-short undercut vibe. Not the plan.
The Big Reveal Disaster: Washed out the cheap dye I’d slapped on two weeks ago (bad roots were showing). Towel dried. Stared. The cut felt… boxy? Weirdly thick at the ends? My fine hair just kinda sat there, lifeless, like a sad, damp paintbrush. Zero volume. Zero bounce. Zero stylish points. It didn’t frame my face. It framed my despair.
Okay. Time to explore other options since the bob bombed. Reached for the clippers my brother uses on his beard.
- The Pixie Attempt: Took the guard off because why not? Took one swipe right at the crown. Instant bald patch the size of a golf ball. Yanked the guard back on (like the #2 one) and buzzed the sides and back SUPER short. Top left longer? Ha. More like top left messy and uneven. End result: I looked like I’d wrestled a lawnmower and lost. Badly. Way too harsh for my face. Felt like I needed combat boots and a snarl 24/7.
- The Lob (Long Bob): Too late for that! Hair was already way above the shoulder. Grabbed extensions I bought for Halloween once. Tried clipping them under the butchered chin bob. Looked utterly ridiculous. Like I’d glued a hairy tail to the bottom of my chopped mess. Threw those clumps of fake hair across the room.
What Actually Saves Fine Hair (Sort Of)
After my self-inflicted hair trauma, here’s the ugly truth I figured out the hard way:
- The Chin Bob CAN work… barely. But only if your hair has SOME thickness hiding somewhere. Mine sure didn’t. It needs sharp, regular cuts – not kitchen scissors hack jobs. And tons of product: mousse while wet, texturizing spray while dry. Constant fiddling. Way too much work for pretending to be low maintenance.
- Pixies are trouble. Super demanding on bone structure. Needs serious styling skill to look ‘effortless’. Mine just looked electrocuted. Clippers and fine hair? Not friends. Ends up floppy or spiky, never that chic texture.
- Lob? Too late now! Maybe next year.
So what actually works? Honestly? Acceptance. For fine hair, short cuts are high maintenance. The chin bob is the least bad option I tried. You’re basically choosing the best KIND of bad. You gotta commit to frequent trims, never skipping blow-drying, and living glued to texturizing sprays. It fakes volume okay, if you work at it constantly. Pixies? Unless you were born with model genes and a stylist on speed dial, just… maybe don’t.
Anyway. I’m currently glaring at my reflection wearing a beanie. Experiment concluded. It’s a messy journey. My hair still looks a little crazy. But hey, at least it’s short. And it’s not stuck in the drain anymore.