Being Pretty in the City

So I have been talking about going with short hair for a very long time.
This Friday, I gathered all my courage and did it!

Now, getting any sort of beauty treatment here in the city is an interesting experience. Most of the salons and such are very nice - but very pricy. And even though our tuition is paid, I am still a broke college student. You can go to a cheap place in Chinatown, like some of my friends do. But those kids speak fluent Chinese, and I am not brave enough to attempt going there without them.

So what's the solution?  Let your hair grow until it drags along the floor? Cut it yourself and hope for the best? Wait until you go home again?

Nope. The solution is free haircuts.

This place teaches advanced haircutting skills to people who are already certified hairdressers.

But they need models to teach on, so they'll offer free cuts if you're willing to fit to one of their styles. You can get a few different ones, I went for a razor-bob cut. (I am not cute at the moment, so no pictures today. Sorry guys!)

They emailed me at 10:30 in the morning, and I was in for a 2:30 appointment. All I had to do was send them a picture of my current hair length. Normally you do have to go to a preliminary hair assessment, but they needed models badly that day.

The other upside is that I managed to be rebellious and make my mother angry. She hates my hair short, but its how I feel most confident. And that is part of what college is about - making yourself happy. When my mom was the one paying for my haircut, she would simply refuse to pay to get it short, and I was too cheap to pay for it myself. Now, I'm living on my own, making my own decisions - and it felt like the right time to reassert my individuality. (I got said cut 2 days before my 19th birthday.)

When I told her on the phone, she wasn't thrilled, but I think that "Mom! I got that haircut I've been talking about for over two years that you wouldn't pay for, but I got it for free!" is definitely a better reason to call than "Mom! I've found myself and I'm moving to a Buddhist commune on the West Coast with my friends Ash, Patchouli and Mountain!"

The whole commune thing is something my mother fears a little bit. I'm too much the hippy for her taste.