Most people don't even realize I have an undercut in my hair until long after they've met me, but as soon as they do the questions instantly come pouring in. When did you get that? Have you ever tried to grow it out? Do you ever regret it? (Five years ago, no, and not really.) People always like to play a guessing game about the practicality of my undercut, but no one ever questions why it's there in the first place.
And I get that. I have a very particular aesthetic. An undercut on someone as tattooed and pierced as me seems as natural as a Southerner in cowboy boots or RuPaul in a ballgown. But truth be told, my love for everything edgy and brash had almost nothing to do with the choice to shave about a third of my hair off. While a lot of people assume I got this undercut because it was trendy at the time or because I wanted to look tough, the reason is actually far more practical than that.
Do me a favor and touch the hair around the base of your head right now. Is it coarser and/or curlier than the rest of your hair? Is it a pain in the ass to style? Does it bother you to no end when it sticks out of ponytails and tickles your neck? Get an undercut — that's why I did it.
My hair is pretty fine in texture, but I have a lot of it. Back in my pre-undercut days, it would take my hair hours on end to air dry, even with a chin-length bob. The hair near the nape of my neck was always the culprit. And any effort to straighten my hair would be ruined by the itty-bitty curls that sprang up there every day. I'd try to tame that section of hair, but no matter what, it was defiant against my efforts. Styling my hair in any capacity felt like too much effort for too little payoff.
I'd been curious about the undercuts plastered across the Internet all throughout college but never considered one a viable option. I'd keep pulling up my hairstylist's contact in my phone before thinking, "It'll look so unprofessional." The next day, it'd be, "What if I regret it and can't grow it back?" Sometimes I'd even ask myself, "Will it make me less attractive to men?" That's when I knew I had to draw the line with myself — if I wanted to shave part of my head to the point I couldn't stop thinking about it, I'd just have to deal with the aftermath later. Fuck it.
At my next haircut, I had my stylist shave about half of an inch of hair at the very base of my neck. It barely qualified as an undercut, but it did successfully nix that pesky neck hair. Even with my hair pulled back, it was hard to spot. Walking out of the salon that day, I felt like I'd cheated the system by shaving my hair without it being noticeable. But the next day I washed and dried my hair so quickly and easily that I had an alarming thought: I could go even further with this.
At every haircut following, my stylist shaved more and more of my hair off. Eventually, it became a game to test how much I could shear off without affecting what my hair looked like let down. The more I shaved off, the quicker and easier styling my hair became. Over the past five years, that shaved portion at the back of my head has grown from half an inch to three, and it's expanded beyond the back to above my ears. I've definitely hit my limit for now, but I don't see myself parting with this undercut any time soon.
All the fears I had about what people might think of my hair have since melted away. I get the occasional funny look from older or conservative people here and there, but most people don't notice or pay any mind to it. It hasn't ever affected my love life or career. I'm lucky to work in a creative field where my appearance doesn't play a huge role in my "professionalism," mind you, but when I need to look more formal, I simply wear my hair down. Everyone's none the wiser.
With all that hair gone, I can blow-dry or curl my hair in 10 to 15 minutes, a saving grace compared to the 40 or so it took pre-undercut. And apparently I'm not the only one who took the shaved-head plunge for practicality's sake.
"I would say 80 percent of all types of undercutting are more for maintenance and ease rather than an aesthetic," says Colissa Nole, the Missouri-based stylist responsible for my undercut. "Guests are getting them done to create a weightless feel... most of them are done due to how thick the hair is."
An undercut as big as mine does take some upkeep, but it's more than worth the time I save daily. I shave it maybe once a month (I often enlist an even-handed friend to do that for budget's sake, but your local stylist might offer free neck trims). I can't honestly describe what growing it out is like — I've never even considered it.
So when people spot my undercut and ask the one question I actually like answering — "Should I get one?" — my answer is always yes. If you've been thinking about it for more than a few months, start with a small section and see just how many benefits you reap from it. You might find it far more convenient than it is risky.
More on haircuts:
