One year of hair growth

Last year I decided it would be fun to learn how to cut my own hair, and, after many days of researching the best tools and watching countless videos on DIY haircuts, I finally mustered up the courage to purchase a pair of clippers. A secondary goal was to save money by doing the job myself as opposed to having a hairdresser do it - kind of ridiculous when I think back on it: my hairstyle was very low maintenance and I only got it cut four or five times a year anyways. Regardless, I committed to it, and in September 2019 I gave myself my first haircut, along with the help of my wife, Savannah. The end result was a success, and the process ended up being a lot of fun too.

I envisioned myself getting much better at self-haircuts in the coming months and years, but so far that vision has not yet come to fruition. You see, soon after, I decided that it would be totally awesome to cosplay as Link from The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, for next Halloween. Link's hair in that game is not short. It's long, much longer than I've ever had or ever dreamed of having. But it would be a new experience, and I'm all about new experiences.

The rest of this post is dedicated to showcasing my (approximate) one year progression of hair growth. I'm having a lot of fun with longer hair and I don't see myself cutting it anytime soon.

2019-09-23. The first picture I could find after my haircut. It was also the first day of fall, which I commemorated by wearing a blanket scarf. Being directly under a ceiling vent, I wore a lot of warm clothing when in the office.

2019-11-26. Two months later. From the front it looks almost identical, but the sides are fuller and the front of my side swept bangs are longer.

2019-12-05, beginning of December. Pictured here with an infinity scarf that I made.

2019-12-10

2020-01-07, new year! Same hair style, just longer.

2020-01-09. If I pulled my hair down, it would probably be to my nose?

2020-01-23

2020-02-10. Showing a lot of forehead 😮. With the help of texturizing clay, I've discovered that the hair "swoops" I love so much can be made by finger combing back and over, rather than forward and across.

2020-02-11. Hats are a great way to stay warm and accessorize an otherwise messy hair day.

2020-02-14. Valentines day 💖

2020-02-24. I tried my luck at a middle part, not a big fan.

2020-02-25. Back to the swoop.

2020-03-09. Ponytail milestone! This was my first attempt and it didn't turn out perfect, but it felt super cool regardless, especially since my goal was to eventually cosplay as Link.

2020-03-18. A much better ponytail, in my opinion.

2020-03-20. Side swept bangs used to be my favorite style, but it's quickly being replaced the pony 🐴

2020-03-30

2020-04-02

2020-04-06. A higher than usual ponytail, and a mask because it's pandemic season.

2020-04-23. Ponytail with messy side bangs. Also known as the hair-keeps-falling-out-of-my-pony look.

2020-04-29

2020-05-04. Pushed down, this is about 7 months of uncut growth.

2020-05-15. Side view of a no product sideswept style

2020-06-03. About 8 months of growth.

2020-06-22

2020-06-29

2020-07-01. ~9 months of growth.

2020-07-09. I like the level of messiness in my hair. The neck gaiter was made by me as well. One of my favorite pictures.

2020-07-30. Headbands are so useful when I'm feeling lazy and I want the hair to stay out of my face.

2020-08-05. This is probably specific to the fact that I started my hair growth journey with short sides and a longer top, but my side hair always falls out of any ponytail that I wear. Bobby pinning the sides after putting my hair up helps prevent what I like to call Einstein Whiskers: the tendancy for that side hair to become loose and stick out, rather than staying close to my head.

2020-08-07. 10 months of growth. I could probably audition for a Cousin Itt role.

2020-08-13. A halfway attempt at posing - you have to have a little fun while taking pictures, right?

2020-08-26. Wearing a bandana that I made.

2020-09-18. As close to the one year growth mark that I could find.

A weird side-effect of this journey is that: looking back on old photos of me seems so much longer ago than it did before, and I have more trouble recognizing/identifying with my younger self in the picture. I think this is because, until recently, I've had pretty much the same hairstyle my entire life and my brain had a strong mental image of what I looked like. It was easy to hold up an old photo and recognize myself in it, because I looked almost the same as before. As I've grown out my hair, that sense of physical self has changed as well, so looking at old pictures requires me to rewind, mentally, to a point in time where I didn't look like what I do now.

2020-09-23, playing around with effects in the Photo Booth app.

2020-10-12, side view of a pony

2020-10-14, another half bun. I'm starting to prefer buns over ponytails because they don't pull at my hair as much.

2020-10-15. See that bandana? You had better appreciate how nice it looks because I hand-sewed it, and it took forever!