Ok, so as of recently I have NOT been feeling my physical best. In fact, I’ve sort of been feeling my physical worst. I decided it was time for a hair change, and it was time to do something drastic with my hair.

I have had very long hairstyle my whole life, mainly because I was scared to take a risk and felt it was part of my identity. I really never considered short hair until a couple of days ago when I needed a change, stat. I’ve been seeing tons of bloggers recently lob off their long locks and decided it was my turn.

I scoured Instagram for some hair inspiration and collected some photos to show my stylist. That’s when I realized I don’t even have a stylist in Miami. After doing some research and talking to some friends, I decided to go to Junior & Hatter in the Wynwood arts district of Miami. I didn’t know any women who went there, but my two close male friends who recommended it both have good taste. I called and booked an appointment for the very next day, which was perfect because my impulsivity was likely fleeting.

The salon itself has a very hip, artsy vibe that fits in well with the Wynwood surrounding area. I was happy to learn that I would have one stylist cut my hair and a different one color it, because this usually means the stylists have honed-in on their individual craft. I was first greeted by Robert who would be cutting my hair. I showed him the photos I had collected and he went right to work cutting my hair dry, using razor-like methods to taper the ends. He listened to exactly what I asked for which was a bit of an undone, messy look. He worked quickly and in about 20 minutes about a foot of my hair was gone and a new me was emerging.

I was so impressed by his cut and could not wait to see how it would look once my color was done. Shawna took me to her chair and I showed her what I was thinking – a platinum, almost white ash color. I wasn’t sure the color would even work on me, or if all my hair would fall out, but she explained we could eventually build to that color. My current color, as you can see in the photo, was definitely light but my roots had grown out for a while and were pretty dark. She would basically highlight most of my hair as light as it would go, to avoid a double process. I could tell Shawna took her work very seriously and carefully explained to me each step of the process. Even though I don’t have thick hair, she sectioned it off into three parts and rinsed and treated them accordingly. I also asked her to add Olalplex, a treatment that protects hair when going extremely light, which only cost me an additional $20. Shawna was incredibly professional and critical of her own work, which I really appreciated. She spent extra time with me to make sure I was happy with the result.

The end result made me feel like a new person. I finally have a hair “style,” not just long, drab and boring hair. Even though we didn’t get as light as the picture I brought in, I absolutely love my color. I highly recommend Junior and Hatter if you live in the Miami area. It also didn’t cost me nearly as much as I was expecting, which is always a welcome surprise. If you have been thinking about cutting your hair, my advice is DO IT. You’ll feel like a brand-new person.