For those of you who know me personally, I’ve had long hair for almost my entire life. Like, down to my butt, long hair. After chopping it short in 8^th grade, I vowed to never go short again.

11 years later – my hair is driving me CRAZY. I became THAT person you would look at and think “her hair is way too long.” Maintaining it became a daily task, and I’ve become too low-maintenance to deal with it anymore.

Even though I was physically prepared to cut my hair, I was not mentally prepared. I spent months researching which cut would look best on me (thank you Pinterest). I ultimately settled on a layered “squared lob” (the pieces that frame your face are the longest).

Since moving to Los Angeles 3 years ago, I hadn’t found "my" hair stylist. I tried around 3 different salons and all of them were either 1) pricey, 2) too eager to shove you out the door. One day at brunch, a friend recommended Paul Nash who works as an independent stylist. I was nervous about going to someone brand new for this drastic change, but he had a 5-star rating on Yelp, and I really trusted my friend’s rec (because she has awesome hair).

Paul understood that I would most likely have a panic attack after cutting my ponytail, so he tried to distract me by talking non-stop -- and it worked. I walked out of the salon and didn’t freak out! My new hair felt fresh and new, and it was in that moment I realized that, change is good.

I ended up cutting off 13 inches and donated it to Wigs for Kids. If you haven’t heard of them, they’re an amazing organization that creates wigs “for children who have lost their hair due to chemotherapy, radiation therapy, Alopecia, Trichotillomania, burns and other medical issues at no cost to children or their families.”

Embrace change ladies (and guys). Although it can be scary, it’s always good to incorporate small changes in your life over time so you don’t do anything impulsive!

xo, H