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February.  Cold, blustery, boring February. I am so sick of it. I can’t wait for spring, I thought Saturday morning. An idea had been in my head all week, and I couldn’t shake it. A friend goes to get her hair styled at a beauty school, and was raving about it all week.  I knew there was one a few towns over, so I thought I’d call and see if they could fit me in. I was in luck. They could fit me in at 11:30. That gave me two hours to pick a style from my online favorites. 

Let’s see, I thought. My hair is a medium beige blond inverted bob with a heavy weight line, with the nape sharply tapered. The undercut I had eight weeks ago has grown out to mid-ear. The side length starts at my lip and angles up sharply to the weight line. My ears are just barely peeking out now. The only thing I hate is that my stylist won’t cut in layers for me yet.  So, I have a really blunt cut, which is bothering me. The answer for the blunt line is obvious- curls! I went on line and googled short curly bob. There I saw a few that I liked, but my favorite was the Meg Ryan style. Not huge hair, but soft curls every which way. I printed out three different pictures, and I was on my way. After all, it is just an appointment for a shampoo, blow dry and style. I wasn’t scared at all. It seemed like just the thing to pick me up. 

I walked up to the second floor to the academy, and was immediately impressed. Lots of chrome, glass, and marble. Just my ticket. Then I saw the front desk manager, who turned out to be Leslie, one of the instructors. OMG! My jaw dropped. There was my new perfect short haircut. I fell in love with it immediately. Long side swept bangs, short to medium layers on the crown and sides, long but delicate sideburns, the back starting at a sharp point, tapered up higher without a heavy weight line, with a really short hidden undercut going up over the ears, but long layers hanging over this. As I checked in, I told her I loved her haircut. She looked me straight in the eye, and said, “You’d really look great in this haircut". “Really? Are you sure with my round face I could carry it off?" “Sure, she said, you have a really cute pointy chin, and it would really work for you. Think about it. Here, Annie is ready for you."

Annie was a 20 year old something with long layered black hair. She could not have been more excited to do lots of curling today. She loved the pictures, and told me that I would look great. I asked her if she would be able to clean up my neckline today, and she said she could definitely do that. It had been about two weeks since my last cut. After discussing all this with the instructor, off we went to the longest shampoo of my life. It was wonderfully relaxing, and I really liked the products she used. 

Back at her station, Annie got out all her tools - Clippers, trimmer, rat-tail comb, three different brushes, blow dryer and curling iron, volumizing mousse and hairspray. She put a towel around my neck, and put on the black vinyl cape. She combed out my hair, and put in two big puffs of mousse. She then took a vent brush and started very slowly blowing out my hair. She had a very gentle touch, and it was very relaxing. Just then, her instructor came by and explained how to curl my hair to get the right look. One row was to be curled towards my face, one row curled back away from my face, all over. The picture had fairly tight curls, probably done with a ½ or ¾ inch barrel curling iron, but Annie only had a one inch one. As soon as I saw how great the curls looked and we started talking about lots of different things, I felt the February doldrums fading away. 

I have really thick hair, and it probably took her over an hour to do all the curls. Every student who came by commented on Annie’s great work. During this time, Leslie walked by a few times. I got up the courage, and said, “I just love her haircut. Leslie said that I could get away with it, and I’m thinking about going for it." At this, Annie’s head snapped up to look in my eyes in the mirror. I laughed, and said, “not today, after you’ve done all this hard work!" She laughed too, and seriously looked at my face. “She’s right. You’d look great". I said, “okay, Annie, if you could do anything to my hair, what would you do?" I always ask this question to anyone who does my hair, because I love to hear different ideas. She looked me straight in the eye and said, “at the very least, I’d get rid of this bluntness, really layer it up and make it really fun. Ideally, I would really love to do Leslie’s cut on you. Then we can play with color or highlights too." Just then, Leslie walked by again. Annie called her over, and told her that we were talking about her haircut. Leslie told Annie that she could definitely do it, and told me that she would make sure she was there if I decided to do it. “After all, you’re more than halfway there. The back is almost all done already. We’d just change the sides and make lots of layers on the crown." I totally could not get the idea out of my head. 

Annie finished the curls, and sprayed them in place. They were gorgeous loose ringlets that had great volume. I definitely had big, beautiful curly hair, and I absolutely loved it! “Now for your clean up". She took a small clip and held my weight line up out of the way. I said, “Annie, one of the things I love about Leslie’s cut is how the neck comes to a point. Could you do that for me?" Annie nodded and said, “Oh, sure. Let me get my instructor to discuss this with her". She was back a minute later and the instructor told her what she was supposed to do. The instructor asked how extreme I wanted it, and Annie told her just cleaned up. She popped on the clippers with NO guard, and my heart started pounding, especially after they just were talking about how extreme I wanted it. She used the clippers over a comb, and very slowly and meticulously started buzzing up from my hairline. It felt like heaven. She went all the way to the weight line, about two inches up. I could tell by how she was holding the comb away that it would not be a whole lot shorter than normal, but she went over, and over, and over, and over, checking her work, and making my day. Annie went to get her instructor to check her work. Of course, I was a bit nervous about all the buzzing, and checked how short it was after all this time. It felt great. Not too short to feel like velvet, but it still felt absolutely great! Her instructor looked at it, and made a few suggestions. Annie was then ready to start on making the nape come to a point. Her instructor explained how to do it, and off she went with the trimmers. The tiny little buzzing bites were getting rid of my nape that made me feel manly. On its way would be a delicate little nape just like Leslie’s. The first step possibly, towards my new haircut, I thought. After another few minutes, Annie got her instructor again to check her work. She made a little minor adjustment, brushed off my nape with talc and a brush, and handed me a mirror.  She spun me around to see, and asked if I liked it. I told her that I completely loved it! It was amazing to me how maybe an inch cut off at a different angle totally changes how you feel about your hair. I felt so pretty. Tons of curls, a freshly cut back and a gorgeously delicate pointed nape, what’s not to love? I was so over my February down in the dumps! 

As I walked with Amy to the counter to pay, Leslie, I looked at them both and said, “Okay, let’s make an appointment to do the cut. It better be soon, so I don’t lose my nerve. I haven’t had hair that short since I was ten years old". Annie was smiling from ear to ear, and Leslie said, “This haircut was made for you. You absolutely won’t regret it. How about something on Tuesday for you?" After we agreed on 3:45, I thanked them, paid the ridiculously low bill, and gave Annie an extremely generous tip. As I walked out of the building, I could not help look at my beautiful curls bounce in the windows. It was just what I needed for today. I have three days to wait until I really will feel better. 

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