baldies: Breanna Robertson
“I feel like cutting my hair off is like cutting off all of my insecurities.”
name: Breanna Robertson
social media: @brezzie_ (instagram)
How long have you been a self-proclaimed baldie?
Officially for 2 days
What made you decide to cut your hair?
I have "Big Chopped" my hair 3 times. Every time I've cut my hair was because of heat damage (because heat damage is the devil).The first two big chops, I cut my hair into a small afro. I wasn't sure if I wanted to be all the way bald yet. On the third & final time, I decided to make the decision and cut it all off to get a nice fade. The deciding factor was the health of my curls. I would rather walk around bald than have glorified heat damage.
What reservations/fears did you have about cutting your hair?
I thought I was going to look like a boy. As silly as it sounds, I was very nervous that I would look like my older brother. Though I've tried many hairstyles in my life, I've never had no hair before. It was always some form of extensions or adding hair to the hair I already had. I wasn't afraid of cutting hair off of my head because I've never been scared of the shears, but I was terrified of the clippers. I think it was because as a woman, I associated clippers with men & the one thing I didn't want to look like was a man,
How did you prepare yourself for your hair cut?
So, this is how the story goes. I had just straightened my hair the previous week for an event. I go to take a shower to wash and deep condition my hair. Once I came out of the shower, I looked into the mirror only to find that my curls were not exactly as curly as they should be. In fact, some pieces were just straight, no curl at all. My boyfriend is in the room at the time of my discovery & I immediately tell him to take me to the barber shop tomorrow to cut all my hair off. His response, ".....ok" So, the next day comes & I'm terrified. Luckily, my boo keeps assuring me that I'm going to look cute, but my anxiety is telling me otherwise. I let him pick the barbershop and barber because I obviously didn't know what I was doing. The whole time before the haircut happens, I'm just internally bugging, trying to tell my anxiety to chill. But all of that changed once I saw the hair cut. BUT BEFORE?! sheesh.
What was your initial reaction to seeing yourself with short hair?
My first words were, "wow." It was a totally different look for me. I honestly didn't know how to feel about it at first. I was like, "do I like it? do I love it? I know I don't hate it, but how do I feel?" However, as the day went by I liked a little more hour by hour.
Did cutting your hair symbolize anything to you?
I feel like cutting my hair off is like cutting off all of my insecurities. As my hair dropped to the floor, so did my self-doubt. You cannot be insecure with a bald head. You have to OWN IT! You no longer have hair on your head to distract from your face, so when people look at you, they see YOU. It made me more confident. It has allowed me to fall in love with parts of my face that I didn't notice before. It has made me feel like if I can rock a bald, then I can do anything. I feel like when people look at me, they see me now. I can't hide behind anything else. Cutting my hair started off as a terrifying thought, but ended as a liberating experience.
Do you plan on ever growing your hair back out?
I'm actually not sure. Right now I'm focusing on becoming a wave goddess.
Did cutting your hair hurt or help your self confidence?
Helped. I think I answered this in the question above. lol.
Do you regret your decision at all?
Never. I would do it again.