Be Afraid, Do It Anyways

For someone who doesn't write hair related blog posts, this is the second time that I am doing so in a short period of time, but with good reason. 

For many years now I wanted to change my hair, I did cut it pretty drastically one year ago, and once when I was like 16 I died my ends red, but that was about it when it came to drastic changes from me. I was always afraid of not liking the result, and truth to be told I love my natural blond honey hair colour. 

When I chopped it off last year the main motivation was the fact that it was super damaged after a summer spent in the sun, diving in the ocean and in swimming pools and with lack of hair care (the usual). 

This year, however, I decided that it was time for a change. I wanted to do something different from what I had done before. Once I had done a fringe last year, and I had loved it, I wanted to do that once again, yet I wanted to keep my hair long, that's exactly what I did when it came to the cut, something very me, very similar to what I had done in the past that yet felt like a little change. 

However, the back of my mind kept telling me that I should do something more, something that would change my look a lot more than a hair cut. I've been wanting to go blonder for years now and I never got the balls to do it. I was afraid because last time I had bleached my hair, it had completely ruined it, it was super damaged for years. Now that my hair was feeling as healthy as it possibly could I was afraid to ruining it, yet again.

I was also afraid that the colour wouldn't look good on me. It's a chance we have to take whenever we are messing with something that relates to our appearance, literally the fear of fucking it up. Our face is our business card to the world, and no one wants to be seen by others in a way that doesn't make them feel comfortable. So, for me, this decision wasn't easy. It took a lot of thinking, a lot of images saved on Instagram and a lot of Pins made on Pinterest to be sure this is something that I could do. 

It sounds silly, so much drama, just because of hair. Truth to be told, I never truly loved my hair 100%, even though I love its natural colour, I was never fond of its texture, how dry it was, how oily it would easily get, the lack of volume, you name it. This is a feeling I always have had growing up, until last year I chopped it all of and my confidence was found, for the first time I fell in love with my hair. I enjoyed doing hair masks, trying different hairstyles, I loved my hair. Doing something that I had never done before to it when I was the most confident I had ever been, was a terrifying thought.

I WAS AFRAID, BUT I DID IT ANYWAYS. Because in life I truly believe that we should face our fears, especially when the other option is to stay at the same place where we are right now, living life, always wondering, what if... What if I had done it? What if I wasn't afraid? Where could I be in life right now, if I had taken the chances... You guessed it, this isn't just about my hair. This is my take on life. This is my perspective, the way I try to live my life. Do the things that put me out of my comfort zone, and sometimes I will fail and feel miserable about it, other times, well, other times it will be just like my hair. It will look amazing. It will boost my confidence and make me feel like a brand new person. It will give me the chance to start with a clean slate, to be bolder, to reinvent myself. And even if those times represent 1% of the total outcomes, I say, they are still 100% worth the try. 

Location: Loulé, Algarve, Portugal 

Photography: Mariana Rocha