Tasha Dhanraj on the implications of a hair cut

One of the most difficult decisions that any woman has to make is whether to totally restyle her hair or not. Let’s face it, our hair is the biggest way we can dramatically change our appearance and the way the world perceives us – without plastic surgery. Yes we could don false eyelashes or pluck our eyebrows but none of those are going to make that big a difference. Heck, despite what toothpaste commercials would like us to believe – even our teeth only make so much of a difference. I don’t notice people’s teeth unless they’re saying ‘cheese’ in a photo.

We are not only trusting hairdressers with the long strands of protein that protrude from our heads – we are trusting them with the way other people view us.

I recently got my hair cut fairly short. This is so you know that I’m kooky and original, but also have killer bone structure. It’s not ‘boy short’ as my friends puts it. This is because while I’m so kooky and original that I want short hair, I’m not nearly kooky and original enough to pull off really short hair. I wanted to dye my hair blue once as a kooky and original supplement, but changed my mind when I realised I would clash with my own bedroom.

“I decided the effortless look wasn’t for me”

My sister, on the other hand, has swishy, long black hair. The kind of hair you’d see swaying about in slow motion on shampoo adverts. She even uses leave-in conditioner. Leave-in conditioner, of course, being the appendix of the hair care world, in that it is pointless. From her hair, we can tell that she is elegant, cool and feminine. Of course, sometimes she leaves the house with it in a messy bun. That’s so you know that even though she is elegant, cool and feminine, she is also carefree and effortless. When I had long hair, I would sometimes leave the house with it in a messy bun. It was only when I got home and found twigs and a baby sparrow living in it I decided the effortless look wasn’t for me.

While we all preach the gospel about judging people by their personality and not by their looks, we all know that we draw huge assumptions about people from the way they decorate their scalps. So please, fellow people of earth, whatever you do, think before you perm and never ever opt for an asymmetrical bob, because none of us want to be one of those kinds of people.