Ever since eighth grade when I cut my hair to my shoulders, I have been trying to grow my hair out. That is, until this January. I impulsively told my hair stylist that I wanted it shorter but ultimately gave her free reign, and she cut it right below my shoulders. It is short, but too long to be considered a bob, so it’s a long-bob, or a “lob”. My hair immediately felt healthier, and it felt like I gave myself a huge fresh start going into the new year.

I was nervous as I watched long strands of hair fall to the ground. I realized that I couldn’t put my hair in a high ponytail or bun anymore. I thought about how I couldn’t wear my hair in a long French braid, which I had been sporting a lot throughout the first half of senior year. My hair stylist kept telling me, “This will be your college girl hair!” Her saying this made my haircut feel like I was adopting a new identity. This was a simple but big change.

As I have gotten used to this length, I have opinions. My hair is at a length that if I want to do a braid, it starts to slip out almost immediately. I can do a small low to mid bun, and a low pony. Otherwise, I have to work harder for a cute hairstyle. I can do a French braid of course, but it doesn’t look the same because now, the tail is super short. A go-to new hair tool for me is headbands. Before my haircut, I never used any headbands because I couldn’t quite figure out how to make it look good with my hair. Now that most of it is gone, I’ve utilized headbands as an easy way to push my hair out of my face without a ridiculously small bun.

I have had to look up a lot of inspiration for how to style my hair, and I’ve found that lots of short(ish)-haired women do space buns and half-up hairstyles. This has pushed me to spend more time working with my hair than previously.

Some styling pros to having short hair are that it is less time-consuming to straighten, curl, and braid. Short hair has also made hair wash day less of a feat, mainly with how quickly it dries, and now I don’t have the agony of noticing all of my dead ends. With my hair having some curl to it, in the summertime I think it will be super easy to not style and just throw it in a little bun. It will be less of a mess for swimming, and won’t hold as much heat. 

I’ve noticed that a lot of my peers are getting their hair cut shorter, and I think that 2025 may just be the year of the “lob”! I would recommend this cut, but keep in mind that you may have to get creative with how you style it.