We had it so good, we just didn’t know it!

As I write this, I am staring at my feet, wondering when they’d be soaked in a warm bath of salts and massaged into softness, cuticles stripped, dead skin scrubbed away.

The salon has always been my choice for self-care. Every few weeks or so, I would take my seat at my favorite neighborhood salon, picking virtually all the services on the menu – hair cut, hair spa, manicure, pedicure, foot spa, massage. Every few months or so, I would have my hair colored. I’ve had my hair in brown, blonde, purple, red, and all other shades in between. My colorist would sometimes question my choice of color, checking once, twice, three times whether what she was actually hearing was purple. And I would say, yes, purple. She would smile in agreement, but I bet would wonder what the heck was a middle aged woman doing coloring her hair purple!

As millennials would say, YOLO! You only live once, so might as well see my hair in all colors of the rainbow!

I was contemplating of doing blue next, but then the pandemic hit, and all plans came flying off the window!

Locked up at home, I began to hatch a plan to do another one of my hair fantasies: shaving it all off and going bald.

I’ve always been curious about how my actual head looked like. I thought it was so bad ass of Sigourney Weaver to have her hair shaved off for Aliens III, and I’ve fantasized about doing the same — shaving my head, not killing aliens, although that would be cool, too!

With the whole of the world on lockdown, I thought it would be the perfect time to carry out my fantasy. For starters, it would resolve all my hair care woes. Months without seeing the insides of a salon had my hair in a rut. Colored hair needs care and maintenance, and visits to the salon, which was not happening at the time. I did give myself a cut, but it was cute, at best. Shaving it all off would also give my hair a break from all the products I’ve subjected it to through the years. It would be on sabbatical, of sorts.

It was liberating, I tell you. I have thick, thick hair, and my head literally felt lighter. It also felt good not to have to worry about hair going to my eyes or wonder when salons are going to open.

And I love the shape of my head. It’s like I’m a whole new me!

Here are some things I have discovered about having a buzz during the past few months.

• It gets cold with a buzz, and so a beanie is your best friend.
• It could also get hot when you’re outside. The sunlight feels like it could pierce right through me, and so a hat is advisable.

• The few times that we were able to dine outside, the servers were particularly attentive. I wonder whether the general public still equates baldness with sickness in women.
• This scene in GI Jane where Demi Moore gives herself a perfect buzz is incredibly difficult to pull off, most specially if it’s the first time you do it.

• I was able to buy a clipper from Lazada, and it has kept my hair nice and neat for the past few months. It’s the best P700 I’ve spent in years.
• You still have to use shampoo or you’d get dandruff.
• At one point, I thought of growing my hair back. However, it would mean I’d have to go to the salon for cuts to make sure it grows right. Honestly, I am not mentally ready for a salon trip.

It doesn’t seem the lockdown is ending anytime soon, so there’s no rush. I have grown to love my buzz, and I feel I look bad ass. Now if I could only have the body to match the cut. Mwahahahaha!