Hair Experimentation is Back!...

It's time to tackle a subject that's on everyone's mind. It nestles deep within, causing a wave of anxiety each time it floats to the surface. We can ignore it for a time, but it never fully goes away. What am I talking about? Hair, of course! Hair that hasn't been trimmed, styled, dyed or highlighted for five weeks now. It might seem a superficial and frivolous issue about which to worry, particularly in times of national crisis, but as Fleabag once said, 'Hair is everything, Anthony.'

Feels like a life time ago. 

Depending on style, some of us can get away without a trim for longer. I am currently growing my hair. A serendipitous decision I made at the end of last year, that's allowed me to crack on without hair length worries clouding my day. And so far, hair colour is another calm area of my life. As long as supermarkets are open, I can pick up a box of hair dye. Win. Not only have I not spent £100 a month on professional salon colouring for the past few years, I've also perfected my home dyeing skills. Now that home dye is all we can do, I am confident and proficient. Well done me. (Soz, but I have to take my ego boosts where I can.) Smugness aside, I appreciate this isn't the case for everyone. I've heard friends and family say they 'wouldn't know where to start' when it comes to colouring their hair. (I mean, the box does have instructions. It's not hard.) But I get that in the current stressful climate, attempting a potentially stressful task, that might result in a stressful outcome, isn't ideal. 

Meanwhile, my hairdressing chain keeps emailing. Understandably they want to keep their clients on board, and are offering tips and advice about hair care in these crazy times. It does make me smile though. One ad they mailed out was 'Roots Are Back!' I found the incidence of that trend coinciding with the lack of access to professional root colourists almost too on the nose. But still. Businesses gotta business.

Emma Watson makes it
look easy. When I went
through a similar
metamorphosis, I 
looked bloody shocking.

So, all in all, me and my hair are fine. It's growing, and being coloured every few weeks, just as it was. But I do feel for the people with a short style. The people that need layers cut in, and ears trimmed around, and who've got short bits round the back. Short-haired people are having to make all sorts of decisions. I used to be a short haired person, and I'd be having a lot of internal worries right now if that were still the case. Letting a short style grow is not the same as letting a jaw length bob grow out. A jaw length bob just gets on with it. When left for a while, it looks the same but longer. Someone with short hair, looks completely different when they let it grow. Choosing to go from short to long, is a year long faff. The in-between-stage is an utter nightmare. Once you commit to it, you're tied into months and months of shit hair. Once you've gone through it, you don't go back without a great deal of internal wrangling. I feel for those people. I was those people. It was hell.

Worth a try?

Many short-haired people have already made their lockdown choice. Particular the mens. A few of my manly friends and family have invested in clippers. A Number Two all over has had a sudden rise in popularity. Perhaps my hair dressing chain should email that one. 'Skin heads are back! Get clipping!' If I were a bloke, or a woman with fantastic cheek bones, massive eyes, and no double chin, then I'd probably do the same. I'd let my inner Sinead O'Connor let rip and look amazing. The fact my facial features would let me down is reason enough not to go down this root. (Did you see what I did there! Word play!) But the fact remains, perhaps now is the time to experiment. What else are you going to do? Go out? Meet your friends? Sit in an office with a load of colleagues? Course not. So trying a new hair thing could be fun. 

Rocking a bit of coppery ginge
 there. Week One of the
lockdown saw me get
experimental.

I am not, you may be disappointed to hear, planning on getting the clippers on my own head. I am not Sinead O'Connor. I know. It's a shock to me sometimes too. But I'm playing about with my hair whilst I can. Week One of the lockdown saw me find an old box of highlighting bleach. I trimmed my fringe and slapped on the dye. It did not turn green, fall out, or make me look daft. (An entirely subjective opinion I guess, but other judgements don't interest me in the slightest.) In fact, it perked me up no end. Because of having dark hair, it went a coppery-ginge, which was a nice contrast between the rest of the dark brown towards the back. Next week, I am going to slap on another box. This 'should' make it go actual blonde. I'll be just like Marilyn Monroe! Or Kim Woodburn! The thing is, I'd never do this in real life. But a mixture of boredom, wanting to do something different, and needing to fill an empty hour, have all converged on this stylish moment. 

Now is the time to look
like a pencil, should you wish.

As the initial anxiety of the 'current global situation' merges into tedium and ennui, using the time for potential hair disasters might just be the ticket. It's as near to living on the edge as we've got right now. You want to feel something? Take the plunge and shave that first stripe into your head. You want to liven up your day? Bleach some streaks into your dark hair. Bored of your increasingly overgrown cut? Follow this BBC article and trim it yourself. Now's the time. Fingers crossed, there'll never again be a period in our lives like this. It's time to mix things up. Have a go. Try something brave. At the very least, it'll give the hairdressers and stylists something to fix when we're eventually allowed to go back to them.

Have a lovely week, folks.