I read in Gina’s latest post about her trip to the Paul Mitchell Signature Gathering in Las Vegas that the style for fall 2013 is short. Thank god. I love it when the thing I’m already doing is the thing that I’m supposed to be doing.

I cut my hair short four years ago right after my wedding. My hair is naturally curly, with a medium-course texture. The longest its ever been was at my wedding. I miss it sometimes.

Last minute planning on the wedding day. Also, I remember looking at this picture at the time and thinking it was a “skinny” picture.

But I never miss it when I get up in the morning 60 minutes before I’m supposed to be at work, go for a 40 minute run, then take a 10 minute shower and am out the door feeling 100 percent confident.

The 11th thing I’d tell my self from 3 years ago: Life is too short for long hair.

A great short haircut is like investing in a great accessory/product/styling tool that you never have to remember. You just look awesome, ’cause you are.

And no matter how short it is … there’s room for plenty of variety. I’ve had a lot of short haircuts since the first time I cut it short.

I was trying to channel Audrey Tatou’s French Marie Claire cover in this haircut post-honeymoon in Montreal.

I’ve done the piecey half-bob cut. And the pixie.

Last spring, from the run for 3 fires in Lewiston.

and the faux hawk.

The day of the cut

Like, 8 weeks after it had started to grow out. And it still looked OK.

My favorite, the one I seem to go back to the most, is the asymmetrical cut, which I’m currently rocking.

From Fall 2011.

I feel like its edgy enough that it doesn’t look like a “mom” cut, but it’s shaped enough that even after throwin’ down some distance, I look pretty fly.

During one of our group runs in Bangor. Bonus points if you can name someone else in the photo. 🙂

Plenty of people run with long beautiful hair but I don’t think I’ll go back.

So are you thinking of cutting your hair short?

Here’s my advice:

• Find pictures of what you like. Bring them to your stylist. I’ll say, “I like pieces of this hair cut, and this hair cut, and this hair cut, and what do you think about how this will look with my face?”
• Find models with haircuts with a similar face shape to yours. When I like a haircut I pay attention to the models’ face. I have an oval face, which works well for most short hair cuts. I want to avoid anything that’s going to make my face look longer.
• Find models with haircuts with a similar hair type. A haircut for someone with really straight or fine hair is not going to work for me. I am in love with Robin Wright Penn in every way but her haircut is not going to work for me. :/
• Tell your stylist about your lifestyle and how much time you like to spend on your hair in the morning. S/he can steer you away from cuts that will take too much time.
• If you’re doing a dramatic length change, it’s OK to go gradually from long to sort of short to really short.
• Your hair will grow back faster than you think if you hate it. But you won’t hate it.