In the midst of all the pandemonium of the current coronavirus crisis, many girls like Maddie Hurley ‘20, decide to cut or dye their hair while stuck in quarantine.
While everyone has their own way of coping with the boredom and isolation during these unsure times, cutting and dyeing hair is a way that these students can release their bottled-up creativity.
According to Hurley, before quarantine, her hair was long with the ends dyed red. During quarantine, she decided to cut the red ends completely off, so now her hair is very short and brown.
“I purposefully dyed the ends of my hair knowing I would want to cut it off later and I just was sick of having it long during quarantine,” Hurley said. “My decision to cut my hair may have been initiated because of quarantine boredom but I knew that I was going to cut it off eventually anyway.”
Abigail Hampton ‘20 said her hair is naturally blonde and she had never dyed hers before. During quarantine, she ordered a washable hair dye that would make her hair a lighter, silver color.
“I’ve seen people with this hair color and have always thought it looked pretty cool,” Hampton said. “So I thought that I’m not going to see anyone during quarantine and it will wash out, so why not.”
According to Salon 76 hairstylist Sarah Smith, girls and teens cut or color their hair when they are young because they see pictures of celebrities or they are trying to look like someone else. They are trying to fit in with what they see in tv or social media.
“In high school, I desperately wanted to be blonde and I colored my hair very poorly,” Smith said. “My mom made me wear a hat the next day to school until I could get it fixed by a professional. Back then it was $300 to fix it and my mom wasn’t happy.”
Hurley said hair is just hair and it doesn’t change the type of person you are. A lot of girls change up their hair because they want to, just how a lot of people change up their style or clothes.
“I think the assumption that girls change their hair because of a life crisis isn’t always true,” Hurley said. “Maybe it was out of boredom or because I wanted to mix things up, but at the end of the day it was solely my decision that I made because I felt like it.”
According to Hampton, a lot of people have been dying their hair because there’s often nothing to do all day, and seeing people is not an option in the near future, so there’s no need to worry about people’s judgment of it.
“Obviously there’s a national crisis, but for me personally, I dyed my hair because I was just bored and thought it would be fun,” Hampton said. “I knew I wouldn’t be seeing anyone but my family and it would wash out.”
Smith said girls have been dyeing and cutting their hair in quarantine due to pure boredom and social media plays a big part. Her opinion is doing so is not a smart idea and it will never turn out the way you want.
“95 percent of girls who do (dye their hair) spend more money and time trying to fix it, and color correction prices start at 60 to 100 dollars an hour and typically you are left with damaged hair,” Smith said. “I’ve seen a lot of videos that make it look really easy and it’s not. If it was that easy, I wouldn’t have a job.”
According to Hurley, although the assumption that girls cut their hair because of a life crisis isn’t always accurate it can still be true for some people.
“Hair tends to be a form of expression for a lot of people,” Hurley said. “So I think sometimes when someone has had something in their life that causes them to make a drastic change, hair can be a very simple and easy way to signify that.”
Smith believes hair is something a person has control over, so some girls dye or cut their hair during a stressful time in their lives, it is about control. With hair, girls are thinking it will grow back, but it doesn’t always grow back correctly.
“When stressed during quarantine, instead of cutting or dying hair, talk to a counselor, parents, friends or siblings,” Smith said. “When bored, you can get exercise, read a book, paint your nails, find recipes to do, clean around the house.”