The Pros and Cons of Short Hair

I recently decided to cut off about 5 inches of hair. Since this was such a big change, I wanted to share a few Pros and Cons of Short Hair.

**Electric London invited me in to have my hair done. I was not required to make a blog post, I simply just documented the transformation.

A few weeks ago I took the plunge and chopped my hair. I’ve wanted to change my hair for quite some time but actually chopping it has taken months (really – years) of internal debate. 

I haven’t had short hair since I was in elementary school. In high school, I was adventurous with hair colour but never dared cut my hair. I always thought it would be more work, it wouldn’t suit me, and that I would regret my decision.

But over the last few years, I’ve really wanted to change my hair and try out the lob style. Or, as my husband continues to think its called: A “glob” style. Ha! (face-palm)

When we scheduled my hair appointment at The Lounge Hair Studio in Yaletown, I decided it was time to commit to a change. It was my champagne birthday and it just felt right: if not now, then when? You know?

The Pros and Cons of Short Hair

The Pros:

It Dries Faster

One of the convincing factors, when it came to cutting my hair, was drying time. My long hair took FOREVER to dry. Like, truly, forever. 

It drove me nuts. I felt like most of the evening was planned around my hair-washing and drying time. And, especially now that I am working full-time again, I just felt like I couldn’t keep up the hours of hair washing, drying, and styling. 

I needed something that would cut down on time in a major way: hello, short hair. 

Drying my hair now only takes about 5-10 minutes with my Dyson hair dryer.

The Dyson already cuts down on drying time, but now that my hair is shorter it feels like it takes no time at all to blow out my hair. 

It also air dries much faster. I don’t use a blow dryer on my hair very often – in fact, I pretty much always let my hair air dry. Before, air drying my hair could easily take 6+ hours.

My shorter hair takes about 1.5 – 2 hours. In the summer it’ll dry even faster – hooray!

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It’s Faster to Style

In addition to it drying so much faster, I am also able to style it faster. I can curl or straighten my hair in just a few minutes.

It has almost felt a little weird how quickly it styles.

I am still used to scheduling out 20+ minutes to style my hair so when it only takes 5 minutes I’m like… Wait – what do I do now? 

It Looks Fuller and more Voluminous

Whether I am styling my hair, or just letting it air dry, one thing I’ve found is that my hair just looks fuller and more voluminous than when it was longer.

I love super thick-looking hair so for me, this is a MAJOR pro of having shorter hair. Especially now when I just finger coil my hair and let it air dry, I have been so impressed by how my hair looks. It looked like I’d used heat tools and thickeners on my hair.  ***Tutorial to come

It’s Healthier 

My hair was looking pretty ratty before. It was super damaged, dry, and it looked stringy. I wasn’t loving it. 

I love that my hair is officially split-end-free and looking healthier than ever. It’s super soft, silky, and easy. 

You Use Less Product 

One of the biggest adjustments with my new hair has been how much product I use. 

I used to find that I had to use so much shampoo and conditioner to really coat my hair.

Now, when I use my Electric London Shampoo, conditioner, hair serum or MilkShake Silver Shampoo and Ouai Leave-in Conditioner, I only use a small quarter size amount. I feel like overtime, I’ll really notice that I save money on my hair care routine. 

The Cons

There Aren’t As Many Style Options

When it comes to the variety of hairstyles I can do… it’s pretty limited. But, to be honest, it was pretty limited before, too. I’m just not a hairstyle wizard. I’m more a ponytail, bun, straight, or curly kind of girl. Occasionally, I’ll throw on a hairband. But that’s pretty much the extent of my hair-styling abilities. 

I had always wanted to be someone who could braid their hair no problem – but I really could only do the most basic braids. 

So, my hairstyles are limited. This is kind of a con, but also kind of like… whatever. 

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If you Hate it… You’re Stuck with it (for a while)

I know people say “hair grows back” and honestly, I hate when people say that.

Since I have hypothyroidism, my hair grows super slowly. So the decision to cut my hair short was a bit of a long-term commitment. 

The fact is when you cut your hair, you are committing yourself to have short hair for quite some time. Even if your hair grows at a normal rate, you’ll only grows about .5 an inch each month. That means at best, you’ll grow 6 inches of hair a year. So yeah, it grows back but you’re not a chia-pet, it won’t grow back within a week or two. 

So, if you chop your hair and you hate it… You’ll hate it for a while. 

Summary:

I love my hair and I have no regrets about cutting it. But, if you’re thinking about cutting your hair and aren’t sure if you should take the plunge, here are a few things to consider:

Hair Texture:

Will shorter hair make your natural texture easier to manage? Or, will it require more maintenance?

Are you ready to say goodbye to Long Hair?

Don’t just cut your hair on a whim. Really think about if you’re 100% ready to make the big chop. The fact is, once you cut it it will take months or even years to grow back to where it was so you want to make sure you’re confident in your decision.