Cutting my hair short? Yeah, that always felt like an act of self-sabotage—one wrong snip and suddenly I’m supposed to have thicker hair, or it’ll grow back in a week? Sure, and if I believed every time someone told me, “Short hair grows back faster!” I’d have a private espresso machine by now. These short haircut myths just won’t die, but every barber I’ve ever met will tell you: it’s really about your hair’s texture, your genes, and maybe that endless argument over whether expensive shampoo is a scam. Also, can we please quit pretending barber shops are some boys’ club? I’ve seen more women rock fades and pixies lately than dudes with mullets, and places like Buzzed Barbers have the receipts.

The number of times I’ve heard “But I’ll lose my feminine vibe if I go short”—I mean, is this 1952? I’ve watched stylists at strip mall chains and tiny indie shops, and not once did hair length magically transform anyone’s face or confidence. If you actually listen to barbers talking about their clients, you’ll realize everyone’s getting short cuts, no one cares, and the only thing anyone’s worried about is cowlicks and maybe their WiFi signal. Next time your grandma says hats cause baldness, ask her if that’s before or after her crystals charge.

Every time I see hair hit the floor, I remember this one barber who got so worked up about old wives’ tales—she just snapped, “No, trims don’t make hair thicker unless you swap DNA with your cousin.” That stuck with me more than anything I ever read on a conditioner bottle. Also, why does no one talk about baby hairs staging a coup every time it’s humid? I feel like that should be a bigger deal.

What Are Short Haircut Myths?

Jumping in—barbershop chairs spin, myths multiply, and somehow I’m still hearing the same nonsense as when I was 12. People cling to the weirdest beliefs about hair, and I swear, rumors spread faster than I can sweep up the clippings.

Understanding Common Misconceptions

The stuff people say, honestly. “Short hair’s impossible to style.” “You’ll look like a boy.” Last week, I heard that while fixing a bowl cut that looked like a kitchen accident. Hair length doesn’t determine your age, your gender, or how long you spend with a blow dryer. I’ve seen fades look cooler than any long layers, and buzzed undercuts get more compliments than limp, waist-length hair. Buzzed Barbers says the idea that only men should go super short is just, well, made up. But people keep repeating it, like it’s gospel.

Then there’s the “cutting makes it grow back thicker” thing. Where did that even start? Mayo Clinic literally says, nope, scissors aren’t magic wands—your genes call the shots, not your stylist. I had a client panic that a pixie would “flatten” her head, but she had the thickest hair I’d seen all week. I feathered in some Verb Volume Spray (which, yes, actually works), and boom, instant lift. And the whole “short hair tangles more” thing? I’ve never once had to fight a bob with a wide-tooth comb. Not once. People just make stuff up.

How These Myths Spread

Trying to figure out why these myths won’t die is like chasing a cat hopped up on catnip. One uncle says “men don’t get bobs,” then some Instagram Reel warns your face shape will be ruined, and suddenly three people are quoting a 2010 blog post like it’s the law. Barbershop talk is wild—one person says something, someone else repeats it, and suddenly it’s a rule. I’ve scrolled through articles like this, but half the time the “expert” works at a dog groomer, not a salon.

And stylists? Sometimes they just avoid the whole conversation. Probably because “It depends” is the only answer that’s ever true. TikTok loves to say “short hair makes you look old,” but there’s literally a USC study that says hair length and age perception aren’t even linked. Not that anyone cares once a video goes viral. I hear people at brunch moaning about “growing out a pixie is torture,” and then two months later, they’re all booking shag cuts because some celebrity did it. I swear, I debunk the same myth six times a day, but some stories just have nine lives.

Short Hair Suits All Hair Types

People act like short hair is one thing, but I’ve seen every texture—thick coils, pin-straight, wavy, whatever—look amazing with the right cut. Hair texture doesn’t care about old “rules,” and barbers definitely don’t. Scroll any pro’s feed and you’ll see: every hair type can pull off a short cut, and honestly, the results are way cooler than Instagram trends.

Short Cuts for Curly Hair

First thing everyone says: “Short hair ruins curls, right?” Stylists just roll their eyes. Texture matters, not some curse on curls. My cousin was convinced her ringlets would explode if she went short, but with the right layering and a silicone-free leave-in (seriously, don’t skip this), her curls actually looked better. Xavier Velasquez—celebrity guy, apparently—says it’s about letting curls do their thing, not “controlling” them. So, yeah, no more triangles.

Shrinkage freaks people out. You cut two inches, they panic, but a good barber knows curls bounce up after a wash—sometimes it’s a surprise, sometimes not. I’ve watched barbers dry-cut curls in micro-sections, which takes forever but saves everyone from disaster. And detangling? So much easier with a short cut. Curls don’t follow rules or parts, so after a cut, everyone just kind of wings it. Byrdie says every curly cut needs custom tweaks, which is code for “no one knows what’ll work until you try it.”