Hair is an Accessory

Michelle Schneider

4 years ago

I kept my hair long up until I went to college. You may think that it was by choice, but actually, it was Mom’s choice. I was forbidden from cutting my hair, probably because Lisa had cut hers, and mom was traumatized from that point on. Even though I couldn’t cut my hair, I did on occasion get a perm in my hair to try to combat the stick-straight quality of it. The perms didn’t hold for very long and I even went to a beauty salon a time or two to get a spiral perm. Those perms worked better than the at-home perms but still weren’t a long-term solution.

While in college, I got up the nerve to cut my hair to shoulder length for the first time ever. My boyfriend at the time said to me, “What have you done to your hair?!” I had been so excited about my hair until that comment and then I started to bawl my eyes out thinking I had made a mistake.

My hairstyle hasn’t changed many times over the years. At one point, Lisa and I were looking at pictures and I realized that every picture of Lisa showed her with a different hairstyle, while every picture of me in a 20-year time span showed me with the exact same style year after year. That realization caused me to embrace Lisa’s phrase “Hair is an accessory. It’ll grow back!” Since then, I’ve tried to be a little more adventurous. Just a little.

I’ve tried having my hair cut to my jawline and I don’t find that style very attractive on me with my very square face. It tends to draw too much attention to my jawline. I’ve had hair down my back and loved doing a variety of hairstyles with it. I’ve also had shoulder-length hair and feel that suits me the best. My absolute favorite hairstyle on me was when I had shoulder-length hair and swooped it out, but the problem was that it took a LOT of time to do and a LOT of product to achieve. I’m just not willing to put that much time and effort into it anymore.

My latest issue now, aside from having stick-straight hair, is that it’s starting to thin on the top. I tease that soon I’m going to have Dad’s hairstyle (a ring around the head). My solution, for the time being, is to use colored hairspray to camouflage the issue. If they ever get discontinue my hairspray, you will probably find me in a corner sobbing.

Remembering mom’s insistence that I didn’t cut my hair as a kid definitely impacted how I raised Jess. As a mom myself, I’ve prided myself on letting Jess do what she wants with her hair regardless of what others say. When she was 7 years old and hated having bangs, she wanted to grow them out. Mom was constantly pestering her about cutting bangs again, but Lisa and I encouraged her to stand her ground. After all, it was her hair, she had to live with her choice, so we told her to “Stay strong girl!” Now as an adult, when she wants to make a change, she asks my opinion but then does what she wants. After all – Hair is an accessory – it’ll grow back.