Why is it that it seems so hard to get little boys’ haircuts just right?
A few weeks ago, I took Hudson in for a trim—that quickly turned into a much more dramatic cut—and we both left feeling upset with the result. Of course he’s completely lovely no matter how long his hair, and I assured him I thought so, but I think the first thing he asked was “how long until it grows back?” I felt terrible! And I was really annoyed that my requests “leave it long on top, just trim the sides” had been ignored and that all his blonde locks were scattered to the floor. I voiced my frustration on Instagram Stories, asking for the magic words required to get it right.
I quickly learned that I wasn’t the only one having this trouble. “I’ve taken to hovering like a crazy person,” wrote one. “It turns out right 5% of the time,” said another. “Considering beauty school after our last cut.”
And many wanted to a follow up: “Ugh, every time. Let me know if you find out.” and “If you find the right words, can you please share them?? Why is a longer boys haircut so hard?!?!”
So here’s some of my favorite advice that readers shared so far…
I was feeling so grumpy earlier this week, and then suddenly the sun briefly burst through the clouds and the difference was so striking! I felt instantly better. I never think of myself as someone with much seasonal affect, but perhaps it’s because it’s usually not this grey for this long in California. I’m so ready for the sunshine to return for a longer stay. It made me curious to give one of those light therapy lights a try.
In the meantime, I’m appreciating all the spring blooms that are starting to appear (the Almond trees are blooming!) and plotting getaways to sunny places.
I think it was 1991 that I first thought about shaping my brows. The first issue of Allure magazine had just come out, with a closeup of Stephanie Seymour’s eyes on the cover. I saved those early issues—which were printed in an oversized, glossy portfolio that ended up being too big to fit into newsstands—and eventually cut out a picture of the supermodel Linda Evangelista for inspiration, creating a sort of stencil. I’m happy to say I never went thin (a la Gwen Stefani), but I did try to copy Linda’s super high arch. This was all, of course, against the advice of my mom who would say “think of Brooke Shields!”
Since then, I’ve done my best to steer clear of any extremes, and have gone about any brow business on my own—armed with just my tweezers. Mine are hidden behind bangs most of the time, anyway. But the other day, I was admiring my friend Emarie‘s beautifully feathered brows and asked her her secret. She booked us both appointments at the Michele Holmes studio in Marin, and told me to stay away from any tweezers for the next six weeks.
