Okay, first of all, someone really needs to offer a course in “how to not look like a complete loser while taking photos of yourself for your blog in the office bathroom”. I will sign up immediately and I will study hard, I promise. Seriously, I don’t know what’s wrong with me—the second I turn the camera on myself, I forget how how my face works and I start doing some weird smirky half-smile and looking off into the distance or up at the ceiling. And of course I’m doing this really quickly so nobody walks into the bathroom while I’m taking pictures of myself. (Can you imagine? But the lighting is so flattering in there.) Ugh. Anyway. Sorry.
So! I got this great haircut last week, and I’m pretty excited about it. It’d been almost a full year since my last haircut (I can’t believe that post is from a year ago…woah), and after three stylists in a row split town on me, I was holding out until I found just the right new person to supernaturally change me. I got a recommendation by way of my friend Laurel in Austin, who has a friend in NYC with great haircuts. Sometimes these roundabout references are the best kind, and that was the case this time! Reviews on Yelp confirmed the recommendation, and I booked an appointment.
My fabulous new stylist is Mariko at Dlala Salon on the Lower East Side. Mariko spent a lot of time with me before she started cutting, talking about how I imagine my hair looking (rad!), whether it matters what my hair looks like for work (nope!), and how much time I spend styling my hair in the mornings (not much!). Before she even stuck my head under the faucet, she’d made sure she had a really clear idea of what I wanted, and told me what she thought would look best on me while keeping my vision in mind.
These are the two images I had in mind most when I walked into the salon. The one on the left was drawn by the wonderful illustrator Paule Trudel Bellemare (she did that great drawing of Fritz, remember?), and the one on the right is me…16 years ago. While I wasn’t looking for something quite so extreme as what 19-year-old me was sporting at Disneyland that summer, I did want to keep the spirit of that haircut in mind. Paule’s illustration came much closer to what I was hoping for.
(Funny to read this post now! I really have no new ideas, do I? I might as well be a teenager again.)
Mariko thought it would be better to make the short part of my hair a bit more subtle, and I think she was right. At first glance, it’s easy to miss that my hair is very short on one side—it almost looks like it’s just tucked behind my ear! I love that. She also managed to cut my bangs exactly the way I’ve always wanted (but no other stylist has ever really understood), and she cut the perfect amount of layers into my long hair so that it dries with soft, easy waves with almost no effort.
This cut really feels like me. Next time I might go even shorter on the short side! I’m still getting used to being totally exposed on one side of my face since I’m so accustomed to hiding behind my hair (I never wear my hair back in public), but I’ll get there. I’m grateful to Mariko for being so patient with me and really listening to what I wanted. I’m definitely going back—I just hope she doesn’t wind up moving away like everyone else who’s cut my hair!
117 Comments
i LOVE your haircut! and mariko sounds amazing. i haven’t ever found such a good hairstylist. if i’m brave, maybe i’ll take your picture to somebody (if i ever find anyone good) someday.
you look great!
Seriously, it looks SO GOOD. The perfect amount of wave, too.
Your cut looks incredibly flattering on you! Looking smoking!
WOWEE! It looks awesome!
Also, I adore your color. It’s really rich and flattering.
I think it’s Garnier Darkest Brown? Something like that. It’s pretty much my natural color, but I need to cover grays. 🙁
you are ROCKIN’ the new cut. I’ve been excited to see it since you tweeted about it the other day, and I absolutely love it!!
Looks awesome! I wish I had the guts to do something crazy cool with my hair
awh. it makes me so happy that she worked out – god, i know how important a good stylist is in ones’ life (mine is a super trashy flamboyant wonderboy, but he’s PERFECT and i love him so much). i just told my friend annesta (who’s my friend who goes to mariko) about the round about referral too, and i’m sure she’ll be so pleased. yay!!!
ANNESTA. Thank you, Annesta! I felt like such a goofball telling Mariko that I got a reference from someone I don’t know through another friend that lives in Texas. 😀
Thank you so much for hearing my plea, Laurel! xoxox
nice!
Love it so much. I remember that drawing on twitter and I’m delighted you went with it in the end, it’s just perfect with you. In fact I want to rip you off, which would be just lame. Since I got my hair cut short last year and found the perfect hairdresser I’ve been kind of regretting a lifetime of plain old long hair. Burgeoning midlife crisis is acting out on my barnet, yay.
The haircut is amazing, but the color and bangs are something else. Beyond rad! I’ve been trying to get my bangs cut like that for years but I finally gave up a few months ago and have grown them out. You make me want to cut mine again!
The key is having them move the part back REALLY far, almost to the crown of your head. Having bangs that fall like this is reliant on their being enough weight and substance going forward rather than to the side.
Think Donald Trump or Justin Bieber. 😉
Your hair looks amazing!! I saw it on instagram and explained it to my husband a day later. I’m getting my hair chopped next week and hope my cut is as awesome as yours!!
Yay! That’s awesome, Heidi jo. I hope you love it as much as I do.
Love it! I’ve never really liked seeing “lop-sided” haircuts on people, I guess because they never seem very flattering, and seem to draw attention to the hair and not the person. But I have to say, this really looks great. You look like the adult version of your 19-year old self. Very what I think of as you – a bit quirky, creative, and counter-culture, and also very feminine and flattering. Really love the bangs, and the softness on the shorter side. Way to go! (and tell her she can’t move away, or you’ll have to hunt her down and kill her…)
That’s a really great cut! I’ve been trying to find a good stylist where I am but I’m Chinese, and my hair pretty much only is treated right by an Asian stylist. I’m so excited that you let on about this salon… definitely need to take a train ride to the city and get my hair cut!!! 🙂 Thanks Anna!
I looove the haircut and have serious hair envy! 🙂
I am not a regular commenter on your blog, so it felt a little weird to just come in and say “you look great!” but… you do! I saw the header, then scrolled down, and thought: she is not wrong. that is one fabulous haircut!
I have been following your blog for 2 years and like anne b. I have never commented. But, seriously? That haircut is awesome! Hold on tight to that stylist.
Wow! Smokin! You have have to love a cut that portrays the wearer so incredibly well. Argh. I feel like I will never find the right stylist 🙁 We need someone to workshop everyone else’s personality + perfect hairstyle. That would be good. BTW, are you taking crazy pills? You don’t look like a loser you look hot!
it looks so great on you anna! hopefully your hair stylist won’t get pregnant like mine did many years ago hehe (luckily i met johan a short while after that and ever since then he’s been doing my hair, not that there’s much doing going on now – i’m trying to get long hair before it turns grey – i’ve found ONE grey hair hahaha).
I don’t know whether to hate you for having found ‘your hair’ or love you for being one of the lucky few that did. I’m 34 and still looking and praying and dealing with years of misinterpreted direction re my hair.
I love it! You look awesome. I wish sometimes that I didn’t have curly hair so I could get a cool edgy cut! But alas, I deal with what I’ve got.
I see curly-haired people with cuts like this all the time! It looks even cuter!
Hmm….well I may need to do a little research then!
very pretty Anna! It looks great on you!
It’s perfect – it’s like two haircuts in one.
When I read the title of your post, I was so doubtful. I was wrong. Very wrong.
You look so pretty! And those eyelashes! Sometimes when I read your blog I feel like you just don’t get how beautiful you are bc of all the self depreciating humor. And I know how that works bc I’ve been accused of the same thing. But look at you…such a pretty lady!
This haircut says something about you. It says you’re creative, that you know what you like, that you have your opinions. It’s a flattering, feminine, adult version of your 19 year old hair, and it’s more personal vs. the old one looking a bit like you’re Lol from This Is England (the movie). I particularly love your sideswept short bangs. It’s so stylish, not generic like my own hair 🙂
Gorgeous! You always look beautiful, and I love the way this looks so soft & pretty yet modern & edgy all at once. I have total hair envy!
I spent at least a minute looking at that photo, trying to work out if that bit of your hair was tucked behind your ear, and then I read further.
Your hair looks ace!
I love it!
so you.
you definitely achieved ‘rad’ with a healthy dose of gorgeous, pretty and stylish!
So beautiful! It looks edgy but also very classy, and I like that combination. It really suits you (you might remember me telling you before that I think you look great with your hair back)! Have you changed your hair color? It looks lighter, almost highlighted.
Nope, it’s just dark brown! I think the lighting in the bathroom just makes it look lighter/shinier than it actually is.
This haircurt is really great!!! You look very stylish!!!
it looks great!! so happy that you found a stylist that you love.
Yay, Dlala is great, isn’t it? I go to Coco regularly, but most of my friends go to Mariko and love her. Your bangs look *really* good… I might have to go back to short bangs now!
It’s such a cute little salon! I’m so glad to have found out about it. So affordable, too!
i used to live in the area, and my old roomie stumbled upon it one day… she was drawn in b/c she saw mariko rocking some dreads and had to book an appt… and now almost all my friends go there! the stylists are all so cute – i’ve heard they get super dressed-up on halloween too!
very cool!
You look great with that cool cut!
And the bangs are very, very, very nice. I love the way the line of them blends in seamlessly with the other hair, like you see in the first photo. There is no beginning or end of the them.
It’s funny how important a hairdresser becomes to you. I nearly take it as a personal insult when my hairdresser get’s pregnant. Like “Does she really have to? Doesn’t she consider ME, I need her!”
And I took swoon over your eyelashes- is it ok to ask if they are real?
Haha, yes, they’re real! Well, they’re curled and obviously I’m wearing mascara, but yes, those are my lashes.
I must say, after losing THREE stylists in a row (one of them moved all the way to Austria!), I’m beginning to thing that I’m somehow driving them away. 😉
that haircut is wicked beautiful! you look amazing! love your teenage self aussi.
Hey!
Thanks for the mention!! 😀
You look amazing. This is so flattering. Shows that a hair dresser that LISTENS to YOU makes a big difference! Funny im getting a trim today. I think i recommend the ‘longer-short’ version too. To be honest, the shorter you shave, the ugliest it looks when it grows back, because who has time for a trim every 2 weeks? Nobody that works for a living.
Congrats on getting it done, it looks so good, those waves are very pretty!
Now when i have time off, i should draw you. 🙂
Yeah, that’s pretty much what she was saying—that I’ll like the growing-in process much more if she cuts it like she would cut short hair. I remember growing my hair back from when it was shaved all those years ago (it was all the way around, not just one side), and it was awful!! I would up cutting it all short because it was making me crazy.
(And I would love if you drew me!!)
I’ll be in my ever-longating do-draw list, after Puces Pop, and Renegade pass. 🙂
You look beautyful!
You look fantastic.
I got a new hair cut a couple months ago, from a bob to short all over. It did take me some time to get used to the more exposed face. Sometimes I look at my profile and wonder what my husband sees in me! I love my hair dresser, it’s worth paying more when you have someone who knows how to get great movement and texture into your hair.
I wish I could figure out how successfully take those in the mirror self portraits too, I never get them right! I think its the combination of looking straight + smiling + pressing the camera buttons + the fact that everything’s backwards that makes it too complicated for me. if you find a class, i’ll join you!
PS: loving the hair!
absolutely flipping gorgeous. absolutely.
It’s so nice to see you comment here, Anne. 🙂
Stunningly beautiful as always!
I love your haircut! In a fit of bangs frustration I was ready to start growing mine out but now you are changing my mind. It is so hard to get them right.
Do you have any product suggestions to help prevent stringy-plastered-to-forehead bang syndrome in the summer? Besides a hair clip–ha! There’s got to be something out there for this issue and I can imagine it is even worse in NY’s climate.
Maggie, ugh, I know EXACTLY what you’re talking about. Stringy-plastered-to-forehead bang syndrome kills me EVERY summer, and I have no suggestions for you at all. Just yesterday I was tweeting about how I hate summer primarily because of how bad my bangs always look!!
This is going to sound terrible (and the packaging is hideous), but this hairspray (which I’m sure is toxic) is the ONLY thing that KIND OF works to keep my bangs from clumping up and getting stringy in the humidity and sweatiness of summer.
Ha, me too! My only consolation is that everyone else with bangs is in the same boat. I saw a recommendation for a product in Lucky Magazine to help summer bangs (which I can’t remember the name of), but it was $25, which is a little expensive for an experiment. If I decide to suck it up and try it out, I will let you know the results.
Too quote Morrissey, “the
rainsweat that flattens my hair, these are the things that KILL me”.$25 is worth it. Let me know how it goes!!
Have either of you tried good ‘ol baby powder? Life-changing. Or b&b hair powder? Much better for brunettes since too much baby powder makes brown hair dusty looking. For me (blonde, with thick/fine hair) I wash my hair at night, and by morning it’s terribly greasy. I sprinkle a little baby powder in my hands, tip my head over the bathtub, and work it in. It absorbs all the oil and gives awesome volume/texture. I can repeat this for a few days without washing, and I used to wash it every day. It styles so much better a little ‘dirty’ feeling! Bumble hair powder is tinted and a little goes a very long way. It dries matte and gives even better texture than baby powder, AND (bonus) will cover gray. I have a 100% gray client who insists on having black as midnight hair, and in between colors she uses the black hair powder on her regrowth. It’s magical stuff.
Oil isn’t the problem (my hair isn’t oily at all, actually), it’s SWEAT. As in soaking wet scalp and clumpy, sweaty bangs. Hair powder isn’t going to help that. 😉
A stylist who actually listens and responds in accordance to your dialogue is as rare as a physician who does so! I love the cut!
Love it! Wish I could find someone I could trust with my hair, but it seems like no one knows what to do with this thick, curly, moppy thing on my head. Seriously I’ve gone years without a haircut sometimes because I’m just afraid of getting another bad haircut.
YOU should offer a course in “how to not look like a complete loser while taking photos of yourself for your blog in the office bathroom.” I’d take it.
Hair looks great! xx
Love!! Congrats on finding someone. She did an awesome job!
–Kim
Beautiful cut Anna! Question….is one side cut short (as in the drawing) or is hair just behind your ear (which is seems) or both?
It’s cut short. Read the post! 😉
sorry…i was multi tasking as i read through. not clear when i read first time that it was cut short near ear!
😉 S’okay.
your new haircut looks totally flattering on you, Anna — i love it. i had a similar style in mind for my next hair cut. BUT, unlike you, i always keep my hair in a bun because i have explosive pomeranian hair (explosive and fluffy), so this style wouldn’t quite suit me. shaved on one side and explosive and fluffy on the other side… hmm… but i love seeing how others rock this look and it looks fantastic on you — soft, feminine, and edgy all at the same time.
hi anna– lurker here until now…. i wanted to thank you for this post as i just went to dlala today based on your awesome cut– and yukari there gave me the best cut i’ve ever had! what a find! xoxo
That’s amazing, michandaro! I’m so glad you had a good experience there. Hooray!
I love the updated Anna ‘do!! LOVE the bangs and the layers are perfection. And your pictures taken in the bathroom are mighty good too. When I do pics like that I always squish my head back and end up with a horrible double chin. Pair that with my buck teeth… Ick.
Anna, I’m going to start to take photos of myself and Mamma Biscuit in the ladies room at work because the lighting is just perfect in your photos! As you already know, I think your haircut is fantastic! It is fierce without looking severe….it’s a great combination of soft and modern and I love it! Why do I have a feeling that in 6 months you will come to my desk to tell me that Mariko has moved to Saskatchewan to persue a career in mining LOL I’ll keep my fingers and Mamma’s paws crossed so that this does not happen but with your luck . . .
No joke, the lighting in that entryway to the ladies room is incredible!! It’s bizarre. It makes every pore look flawless!!
p.s. Mamma, you need to watch your mouth! Your first two comments wound up getting automatically marked as SPAM due to your language. 😀
Delurking to tell you how AWESOME that cut is and how gorgeous you look!
Wow! What a great, gorgeous cut! I can’t relate to the anguish of losing a beloved stylist, but definitely understand the process of searching for a great stylist–kept my hair the same for 25+ years and never went to a professional stylish until I was almost 30 (crazy, i know). Here’s hoping your new stylist never moves!
You look so pretty… and even more like a unicorn.
I’m pretty sure you mean Jewnicorn, Jen.
gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous!
I wish I had a hairdresser that would spend time talking me through the haircuts. Most just think they get it and start cutting away.
Totally amazeballs, Anna! Love it.
I love it! Hope to see you in person very soon.
Oh, this is a WONDERFULLY laid-back kind of punk-y haircut. Love the wave. The bands look so good. Hurrah for finding a good stylist, I’m in protest after moving away from my last one and am just letting my hair grow and be big and wavy this summer.
Yeah, I’m definitely not going to fight my hair this summer. I give up! The humidity is too much.
Your new (old) look is fabulous. It must be so good to get the cut that feels like you! It looks like you (even though I don’t know you but sort of think I do because I’ve been following your blog for some time). I’ve been struggling for some time to get the cut that ‘feels’ and ‘looks’ like me, the old me, or real me? I look back at old photos and want to recapture the ‘me-ness’ without trying to grasp at youthfullness. I am nearly 50 (can’t quite grasp that number myself) so it’s a bit trickier. However, I do feel lately a bit more confident and less self conscious which could be one of the benefits of ‘this time of life’. You’ve inspired me.
I always imagine that my hair is thick and slightly wavy like yours. Unfortunately it’s super baby fine and straight and lanky – or else I would NEED to rock those bangs and that cut.
Looks fantastic!
Layers are magical things, though! You might have waves you never knew you had. I actually have really super baby-fine hair.
This looks awesome, Anna!
I’ve come back to this, Anna, and might well show it to my stylist here to see if it would work with my mop. If I do so and happen to start a craze in Melbourne, I hope that’s ok with you. 😉
Do it, Momo!!
Beautiful! At first look, I thought it was similar to mine, but now I see it is much, much more creative with a bit of classic. Love it so much =)
I wish I could pull that look off…You are one cool chick 🙂
the hair looks awesome. i could never pull this off. i got a haircut yesterday, and it kind of makes me feel like a cheerleader circa 1995 🙁
Oh dear. I’ve been there! Maybe you just need to style it yourself. Sometimes they get a little crazy with the blow-drying in salons!
I walked past you on the street when you were walking your dogs this morning, your hair looks really great in person. hope your new stylist sticks around.
Anna, I know I’m a little late, however I think your hair looks great!
Late to the party but had to chime-in. The hairstyle looks amazing on you. Not many people can carry it off. Jealous!
Love the new cut. Since we’re on the subject of hair, have you tried the new Bumble and Bumble Texturizer creme? It’s amazing stuff. can’t really explain what it does but trust me, you will love it
http://www.bumbleandbumble.com/product/spp.tmpl?CATEGORY_ID=CAT70&PRODUCT_ID=15957
I was just reading about that stuff on Fieldguided! I usually love b&b stuff, so I’ll have to give it a try. 🙂
After seeing this I immediately called and made an appointment for Friday afternoon with Mariko. She was so sweet! I was telling her about your blog and and it turns out someone else in the salon who was getting a blowdry was there because of you too!
Thanks for the suggestion because I reeaaallly needed a haircut and I had no idea where to even begin looking…
Desperate for a new hairstyle and inspired by your post, I went to my usual place on Third Ave. . . . and kept walking. I went to Dlala instead, and though Mariko was fully booked, I got a great haircut from Jun, who was just so . . . meticulous, it was amazing. Mariko was thrilled to hear about your post (and see it on my iphone), and on my way out I heard Mariko’s new customer telling her about your blog, too. You’ve got some influence, girl! (Did you read “The Tipping Point? You’re a “maven”!)
Sandi and Uli, I wonder if you were there at the same time! How funny that Mariko has seen this post now. I didn’t tell her that I have a blog or anything.
When I go back for a trim maybe I’ll take a picture with her. 🙂
I stopped to chat before I left, but unfortunately we didn’t exchange names . . . .
Oh lady, you look excellent. And pretty. 🙂
ok, just catching up on the blogs and I love your new haircut. My stylist at Soon left, so I might need to give this place a try plus it’s cheaper. I know what you mean about the waves in your hair after cutting layers. So many of my friends flat iron their hair, but I prefer the waviness.
I can’t believe how cheap Dlalo is! You should go. The review on Yelp are so good for all of the stylists.
nice doo.
My stepdaughter has had an asymmetrical haircut something like this for years. It’s really versatile and can look “rad” or traditional equally well. And it looks great on you.
That’s gorgeous Anna, love it 🙂
I think you’re good at it – taking pictures, of your self too!
Cute cut! I am so madly in love with your bangs, it’s not even funny.
I received a haircut two months ago that has gotten more compliments than any of my other cuts combined. Apparently, it makes me look like I’ve lost weight, too, since that’s the first question I get from everyone in my life. (Nope, gained five, CHEERS!)
That’s so super awesome. It’s amazing that you art-directed your own hair! It really suits you and is very flattering at the same time. Itching to find my own perfect cut now!
Hah! I never thought of it as art-direction, but I guess it kind of is. 😀
I too love it! Both sides are fascinating.
jbhat
Congrats on the most classic “Asymetrical bangsy hipster cut” it goes great will all the mod furniture in your house. Great blog post.
Um. OK?
this is seriously the best haircut ever. bravo!
Mariko gets all the credit!