Channeling My Inner Uncle Fester

Spoiler Alert: I buzzed my hair.

My Contentious Relationship (with my hair)

In the past five years, I came to the realization that I wanted to shave/buzz my head at least once before I died. I’m not sure where the idea emerged from, but I felt it in my gut. However, saying you’ll buzz your hair and actually doing it are two completely different things.

I’ve had a love/hate relationship with my hair my entire life. When I was younger my hair was always frizzy and difficult to tame. My mom, who had straight silky hair, didn’t understand why her routines didn’t work for me. I spent the majority of middle and high school feeling as though my hair only looked pretty when it was long (if you ignored the dead ends) and straightened (which caused the dead ends).

It was only in college that I discovered that my hair was wavy and sometimes even curly, which meant that it needed a routine that was tailored to its texture. I started to experiment with products in my hair and finally came to know a so-called “good hair day.”

The Perfect Opportunity

Despite knowing that I wanted to buzz my head, I had no idea when I was going to make that happen. As a woman, I’ve always had this fear associated with buzzing my head that I would not look “feminine” enough. If anything, the growing out process scared me more than the buzzing itself. Would I be able to pull off the awkward growing out stage?

When I decided the hike the AT, I knew I had found the perfect opportunity. The best time to shave your head? When you’re going to disappear in the woods for six months while it grows out. The best way to figure out what you’d look like with various hairstyles? Throw a head buzzing goodbye party.

The Big Day

Finding someone to trust to cut your hair might be difficult for some people. However, I knew exactly who to turn to. Thanks to my friend, Zakiya, I haven’t paid for a haircut for the past two years. No formal cosmetology training, just sheer talent. When it came down to the use of an electrical razor, I appreciated having the male perspective of my friend Aditya. Not only did he supply the razor itself, he also played a big role in the final buzzing of my hair. I’ve been friends with Aditya and Zakiya since high school. I’m incredibly grateful to have friends that have walked through various stages of life with me.

Please enjoy this lookbook of various hairstyles I had to try before letting them all go.  I left my own personal ratings of each style, but feel free to let me know which ones you preferred.

Bob

Rating: 4.5/5

I actually really liked having this short hair. I haven’t had it cut this short since I was a child. See comparison below:

Bangs

Rating: 3/5

My first experience with bangs, and I have a hard time comprehending how the feeling on your forehead doesn’t drive people insane.

Bowl Cut

Rating: 0/10

Had to do it. Will not be doing it again.

Pixie

Rating: 2.5/5

I still can’t tell if I like this style or not.

Finally, the buzz

Rating: 4/5

The actual act of buzzing my hair left me quite emotional. Having my friends by my side as my hair fell to the floor left me feeling incredibly grateful.

Great news! My head shape is pretty normal, and I don’t actually hate how I look with a buzzed head.

Hair Holds Memories

Or maybe it doesn’t. Who cares? There’s no science to prove that hair holds memories, but honestly it’s a really comforting thought. If you were to never cut your hair, your ends would be the first hair that ever grew out of the top of your head when you were a baby.

It’s also well known that hair does react to the circumstances of your environment. Stress and illness have been proven to negatively impact hair, leaving it more brittle or even resulting in additional shedding. My poor hair has also been fried to kingdom come throughout the years when I had no idea how else to tame it.

The concept of cutting your hair to let go of trauma that has happened in your life resonates a lot with me. It’s a symbolic way to show a fresh start. To let go of everything that came before.

Plus it doesn’t hurt to shave a bit of weight off 😉

Talk soon,

Uncle Fester