Time to take it all off and get a buzz cut?

I've reached a fork in the road when it comes to my hair. After a disastrous experiment with braids for my holiday in Jamaica, I cut them all out, and cut off most of hair too - I'd been growing out a platinum blonde streak for a while and just wanted it gone. So, three weeks later, my hair is growing and I don't know what to do! The buzz cut - taking it all off - has been playing on my mind. My BF really, really, wants me to do it. But once it's gone, it's gone, and I'm just not sure.

Image found on Pinterest

If I were going to chop my hair off, now would be the easiest time to be coaxed into it; there are tons of women wearing the buzzcut and other more androgynous styles so well, and I can definitely see it working. There's also a certain freedom in chopping it all off (I did it once when I was 19 and bleached whatever hair was left) but then there's the regrowth, the upkeep and the styling. I would never call a short haircut a 'wash and go' situation, especially for black and mixed women. If I were to wash and go, I wouldn't be looking like Ruby Rose. Nope, I would have a poufy TWA (teeny weeny afro). Once I even had that Rihanna style, you know, the one where she had shaved sides and a straight, blonde long-ish quiff? Talk about a pain in the ass. Not only did I have to deal with my natural hair colour when it came to regrowth, my blonde hair was straightened, so it was also a different texture to the shaved sides and their regrowth...

Going short is no new thing; in the past it has often been seen as a statement of rebellion ('m talking circa 1920s). At other times, it's just been about playing with a more masculine look; there's a very sexy allure to a woman having the confidence to take it all off. More and more, women (white and black) are realising that they don't need a headful of extensions or weave to look or feel pretty/sexy/good. Black women have always been braver when it comes to getting close to the razor, but it wasn't until the latest series of Orange Is The New Black came out that everyone wanted to flirt with going shorter. Yes, everyone was talking about the new series ahead of it being uploaded to Netflix, but within days it emerged that no-one was really talking about the show (I gave up after the last episode of the second season and haven't heard much praise for the new one); instead they were talking about a character called Stella, played by actress Ruby Rose.

Ruby’s hair is as unapologetically fluid as her sexuality. Thanks to her hair - and obviously that bone structure - she can play with the camera however she wants. Check her out on Instagram and she's hanging in tees and baseball caps sans makeup. See her in a glossy magazine and she'll show off her tatts and tramlines on her scalp, but she'll sweep her fringe over her eyes and wear the prerequisite lips/mascara/fake lashes.  She's proof that going short can be versatile, and it can be anything that you want it to be. 

But Ruby isn't the only tomboy in town; the buzz cut is also experiencing a new lease of life on women of all hair types, from afro to baby fine. And they're not just taking it all off; they're playing with geometrical tramlines, scalp tatts and colour.

The only downside to this look? It ain't for everybody. While styles like, say, the lob, can be tailored to just about anyone's face shape, no matter how angular or chubby it may be, a buzz cut lays so much bare, it's not the easiest style to carry off, especially if you don't love wearing makeup every day. Women who go this short and wear it well often have more angular features, heart shaped faces or a strong set of eyes or lips. But having said that, even if they don't have any of those features, you can be damn sure they have the right attitude. You can't do this look half-assed. 

So, after all of that, 'discussion', am I any closer to deciding? Well, I've managed to round down my options to: shave it all off, shave off the sides and concentrate on growing the top, a la Ruby, or just grow my hair back to a chin length curly bob. Of the three styles, the last one is the most painful. Let's just say, I'll be borrowing a few of Ruby's baseball caps...

Would you chop it all off? Or are you already rocking a buzz cut? Let me know in the comments below!