The Asymmetrical Lob: A Love Story

So if you follow me on Twitter you might have stumbled upon a tweeted pic or two of my hair before and after a recent cut.  (And if you don't follow my lovely little tweets, you should!)  It's been a long while since I went to the salon for more than a one or two inch trim.  You can blame that on the Hair-Raising Story from November 2010... also known as: The Time a Hair-Stylist Gave Me a Mullet.  Tragic, but true.

Anyway, I'm blogging about this time because it's a major success.  I'd kept my hair long and avoided cutting it for several reasons that I'm sure many of you can relate to.  Reasons being: A bad haircut in the past that scarred me for life.  Boyfriends who were crazy over my long locks.  A wedding I was in and wanted to have long enough hair to style all pretty and such.  Well, I got over the fear of another mullet.  I'm currently single, loving it, and have become such a "comfortable-in-my-own-skin" and "do-what-I-want-with-my-hair-and-makeup-and-clothes" that I was just dying for a drastic change.  And the wedding was months ago, so I no longer have a valid excuse to put off a haircut.

I was originally inspired by Keira Knightly's hair on the December 2012 cover of Allure.  Seriously, I love love love Keira... her acting, her style, her beauty.  She's so very lovely that I almost considered dying my hair brown. Almost. ;)  But I'm far too attached to red.  

And then, coincidentally on the same day I saw this blog post pop up in my Facebook feed.  Caitlin, blogger over at xoJane was also inspired by Keira and cut her own lob... while drinking a few beers.  The original post (Do This Don't: Get Drunk and Hack Off Your Hair) is very funny and this girl looks lovely with both long locks and a long bob.

The morning of my appointment, however, I almost chickened out.  I realized that I've had a bob and even a lob (long bob) many-a-time and that it wasn't really a huge change for me.  In fact, in the past I'd usually grown tired and bored of it within a few weeks.  Fortunately for me and my hairstylist Natalie, I hopped onto Pinterest and ended up finding an inspiring new take on the classic.

I have very wavy hair naturally, so I immediately was smitten with the wavy, beachy lob pictured at the top left, top right, and bottom left.  All I needed was a way to spice it up a bit... and that's when I found the photo of Shenae Grimes' adorable asymmetrical cut.  It was love at first sight.  It was just different enough to be the change I needed... without requiring I shave off half my head or go for a pixie cut.  (Both things that I would not---and just could not---pull off.)

And I love it!!  My hairstylist Natalie knew exactly what I wanted.  It feels soooo good to have all that weight and all those dead ends gone.  I love the floaty head feeling and the sudden decrease in how much shampoo and conditioner I actually have to use.  It'll be super easy to style my hair with my natural waves.  Plus, it looks cute straightened or blow-dried then curled (like Natalie did, at right).  And I adore the little tiny ponytail I can pull my hair back into. :)

Any of you undergone some mini (or major) makeovers for 2013?  I'd love to hear about them, so do up a blog post and leave a link to it as a comment here.  Happy hair-styling!