The joy that is really, really short hair.

I finally did it. I got a pixie cut.

I've always had frustrating, stubborn, thick hair, and for some reason I've almost always kept it long. That's really just asking for trouble when you have hair like mine. Recently, what with the hot weather and the popular trend of celebrities rocking super short hair (Michelle Williams, Katie Holmes, Rihanna, Keira Knightley, and Katherine Heigl to name a few), I started yearning for the incredibly chic look myself.

I've always wondered if I could pull off hair that short. Bad skin runs rampant in my family, I think my nose is rather on the big side, and did I mention I have horrible skin? It took me years to get my acne under control and even today, if you look closely, you can see scars. Long story short, there are aspects of my face that I'm self-conscious about, and I've always relied on my thick curtain of hair to hide them for me.

But one particulary hot day this past July, my impulsive nature got the better of me and, abandoning all reserve and common sense, I practically ran to my hairstylist with a fistful of pictures of the above-mentioned celebrities.

Halfway through it, I almost freaked out. My nose looked big! Since when did I have all that acne on my temples?? And the actual haircut wasn't even looking that great. But when my hairstylist finally finished, I couldn't stop grinning at my reflection. I looked.... almost as chic as I'd dreamed about. I have a small face, and my bone structure isn't all that bad if I say so myself. I finally realized that all these years I'd been overwhelming my face and hiding my attributes with my hair. I truimphantly returned home, bragging to my quickly-exasperated family about how much I resembled Keira Knightley.

Of course, I'm not suggesting that pixie cuts are for everyone, or that you should rush to the salon right now and chop off your gorgeous locks. But, if like me, your hair has been causing you constant exasperation and work, and you think you have the right features to pull it off (I'm not totally sure what those are, but I think a nice helping of confidence works for everyone), then maybe a pixie cut is something you should consider trying. Or even if you don't think hair that short is your thing, maybe there's something else you've always wanted to try but held back for some reason. Maybe you'd really like bangs, but aren't sure if they'd look good on you; or maybe you secretly yearn to go blonde.

Well, go for it! My mom always says, it's just hair. It grows back. Why not have some fun and experiment with it?

(That does not mean you should dye your hair orange, ever. Like I did. But that's a story for another time.)

Good luck, and leave your daring hair-scapades (sorry) in the comments. Also, if I inadvertently caused you to completely ruin your hair, good God I am so sorry. You really should never listen to me, you know.