beauty

The Chop: "I cut my hair for the first time in 7 years."

Image: Me pre-chop. And yes, that is a Ryan Gosling T-shirt.

When it comes to hair, I’m Derek Zoolander.

If the reference is lost on you (meaning you were born in the 2000s, which alarms me), allow me to explain: my hair has been the same length for about 7 years now, and aside from my occasional flirtations with blunt fringes the style hasn’t changed. At all.

The Chop: “I suddenly decided to cut my hair. I blame Taylor Swift.”

My hair has been so consistent that if you were to create a flip-book of photos of me from 2007-now, it would look a lot like the calendar in Zoolander. I’m completely guilty of having One Look. (“One Look!”)

I finally broke my run this weekend, all because of Emma Stone. More on that in a moment.

As you may already know, if someone relatively famous does anything to their hair, we usually cover it here on The Glow (incidentally, you can find our A-list hair coverage here). This is how a haircut called the long bob, or 'lob', came to my attention.

Everything you need to know about getting the haircut of the moment.

Although I was seeing this ridiculously-named cut on everyone from Taylor Swift to Rose Byrne, I quickly talked myself out of it (something I'm very good at doing). "It wouldn't suit wavy hair, anyhow/It took me so long to grow it to this length!/I couldn't be bothered styling it every day," I told myself. But every time I saw how great the lob looked on celebrities and readers featured in The Chop, I came around a little more.

Then, finally, Emma Stone walked down the Golden Globes red carpet and I was sold.

Look at that hair! Just look at it.

 

I'm completely obsessed with E-Stone as it is, but it was her relaxed, unfiddly, wavy lob that did it (well, in Hairdresser Speak, it's actually a "wob"). I happen to be hilariously inept at styling my own hair, so I live and die by the "wash and wear" philosophy. For someone with natural waves, Emma's hair actually looked achievable - although, yes, it was undoubtedly created by a team of stylists.

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So, this weekend I finally trotted off to my hairdresser Kylie Urquijo with the photo of Emma and one of Alexa Chung, another purveyor of the wavy, slept-in look. I was half expecting Kylie to attempt to talk me out of it (so many people get weirdly sentimental about long hair that doesn't belong to them), but she took one look at the photos and listened to me bluster on about an "easy-to-style long bob... well actually wavy long bob" and said, "Yep. I can tell you're ready."

9 ways to style a Lob.

I had my hair coloured as usual and then it was time for the scissors. I was expecting the cut to be A Big Emotional Moment but it just happened. In fact, the only incident that brought me close to tears was when I looked down mid-conversation and noticed a giant huntsman sitting on my armrest, poised to scuttle across my hand.

The final result! (I am really bad at taking selfies, can you tell?)

 

Style-wise, Kylie made my hair slightly shorter at the back and longer and softer around the face, with a long layer to add some shape and bounce throughout. She then added some loose curls with her straightener, and tried to convince me that I'd be able to do the same at home. Last time I tried that, I managed to completely straighten my hair. So, no, I don't have high hopes.

How to cheat your way to ‘natural’ beach hair.

I'm absolutely loving the final result and telling everyone who crosses my path to cut their hair. The most exciting outcomes so far?

1. A great excuse to use the haircut emoji relentlessly and at every available opportunity (sorry, everyone who knows me...)

2. No more neck sweats. Hallelujah.

Have you had a big chop recently? Tell us about it! Get in touch at info@theglow.com.au