Many women would agree that hair can be an integral part of identity, which is why a dramatic chop or colour change can be so life-altering.

Here, eight celebrities explain what motivated them to completely overhaul their usual hairstyle — and not one of them involves ‘a meltdown’ or a dramatic breakup.

1. Kristen Stewart

Kristen Stewart debuted her new shaggy platinum blonde look at the Cannes Film Festival this year — a drastic departure from her usual long, brunette hair.

“I’ve always really stayed neutral since I was like 10 years old. So I was like, ‘I’m gonna direct a short, and I’m gonna f—k up my hair,” the Cafe Society star explained to People magazine.

“I just did, like, five movies over a two-year period, and I think it’s a very good decision for me right now to stop acting in movies for just a moment. I’ve never really done that, I’ve never changed my appearance.”

With her hair looking this glamourously grunge, we agree it was a good decision.

Kristen Stewart's grungy new hair. (Image: Getty. )

2. Emma Watson

Emma Watson's pixie cut was, arguably, the most drastic haircut of 2010. The actress said the chop signified the end of an era — in her case, the end of the Harry Potter movie series. (Sob.)

"I didn’t get to experiment with dyeing and chopping off my hair like most teenagers," she told Metro at the time.

"I also felt, 'Right, I’m 20, I’m not a little girl any more'. I’d been on Harry Potter for 10 years so I needed to mark the end of it in some way. I needed a drastic change, and that’s what the crop was all about."

Watson claimed guys 'hated' her hair, but we were big fans.

Goodbye, Hermione Granger. (Image: Getty)

Watch: Short hairstyles we're adding to our Pinterest boards. (Post continues after video.)

3. Jessica Rowe

Jessica Rowe was well ahead of the rainbow trend when she dyed her usually blonde hair a candy pink shade in 2014.

“I just did it for fun, a bit of a laugh," the Studio 10 host told Mamamia.

“For many years as a news presenter I had to look conservative, and now I can have a bit of a change. I’m 44, I’m in a good place. Or maybe I’m having a mid-life crisis."

Mid-life crisis or not, we loved the result — although Rowe's husband, newsreader Peter Overton, took a little convincing.

“I didn’t tell my husband that I was going to get it done. He’s very conservative, and I’m the opposite of that. When he saw me at home he said, ‘Nooooo. Why did you do that?'" she said.

The best in the business! Love you @slfollowmylips - and my Tinkerbell hair! #pink

A photo posted by Jessica Rowe (@jessjrowe) on Oct 11, 2014 at 5:00pm PDT

Halle Berry

Halle Berry had long hair until she was about 18, when she first entered the very competitive acting industry.

"I would go to auditions and see every other girl in the room with long, curly hair ... I remember thinking, 'This isn’t working for me. I have to somehow be different from these girls.' So I cut all my hair off," she said to Huffington Post.

"I went to my manager’s office and he almost had a heart attack. He said, 'You’re never going to work. You are no longer commercial.' And I said, 'That’s exactly it. I look like every other girl and they’re never going to notice me.' Two weeks after I did that, I got my first acting job."

It definitely paid off, and Berry believes she's her "best self" when her hair is short.

(Halle rocks her iconic pixie cut. Image via Getty.)

Taylor Swift

The Blank Space singer transformed from sweet country girl to undeniably cool pop sensation when she cut her long ringlets into a side-swept lob. But what seemed like an overnight occurrence actually took months of planning.

"I actually cut my hair [in London], in the O2 arena backstage. All my friends watched. I was planning it for six months. I was like, 'I'm doing it. I'm cutting my hair. I'm changing my hair for the first time ever,'" she said in an interview with Kiss FMUK,

She's been giving us hair envy ever since.

Image: Getty

Other celebrities who embraced the long bob. (Post continues after gallery.)

Katy Perry

Katy Perry seems to have a different hair colour every week.

“I’m naturally the most boring dishwater squirrel brown. So I’ve been playing with colours since I was 15. Coloured hair is such a huge accessory that you don’t even need to add extra stuff,” she told Glamour magazine.

Her hair these days couldn't possibly be considered 'boring' — and we’re keeping our eyes open for her next makeover.

Remember the green hair? (Image: Getty)

Jennifer Lawrence

Jennifer Lawrence is no stranger to a hair change, recently opting for an icy platinum blonde long bob. Yet her most dramatic change came in 2013, when she went from long flowing hair to a short pixie cut.

This was partially for practical reasons; the Hunger Games star explained in a Google+ Hangouts Q and A that her hair had been "fried from being dyed so much", so she chopped it.

In another interview with Teen Vogue, she elaborated. "[My long bob] grew to that awkward gross length and I kept putting it into a bun, so I just cut it off. It couldn't have gotten any uglier!"

It's reassuring to know even J-Law deals with those awkward-growing-out-your-hair-phases like the rest of us.

J-Law's pixie. (Image: Getty)

Emma Stone

Emma Stone really is testament to how someone can look completely different with a different hairstyle. Just recently, her usual strawberry locks were traded in for a brown bob and short front fringe.

However, the red tone she has become known for throughout her career was initially suggested by her Superbad producer Judd Apatow.

"I came in with brown hair and Judd [Apatow] asked me to dye it red at the camera test, so I was already cast in the movie—it was just a thing that happened," the natural blonde told Interview magazine.