The bald truth: Would you brave the Covid buzzcut?
It’s the ultimate no-maintenance lockdown hairdo — but would you brave the shave? As salons remain shut until late July, there have been reports of Irish women paying up to €250 for black-market haircuts.
When her long, dyed hair began to grow out in quarantine, Emma O’Toole decided to take matters into her own hands instead. “I just had this lightbulb moment,” says the 20-year-old from Swords. “I woke up at 6am, jumped out of bed and was like, ‘F*** it — I’m just going to shave my head’.
“I didn’t even cop that it was April Fool’s Day — when I went into my mam, she honestly thought it was a joke. My dad was like, ‘Oh, you’ve joined the club’, because he’s bald.”
The so-called ‘Covid buzzcut’ has become the unlikely hair trend of summer 2020 after hairdressers closed their doors in March.
Although still more popular among men, now a growing number of women have been showing off their new #coronacut online as well.
“I definitely know of a few women who’ve shaved their heads since the salons closed,” says Deirdre Cremin of The Cutting Room in Midleton in Cork. “I actually saw somebody using a kitchen knife on her hair before she took the razor to it because she didn’t have a scissors.
“I know a lot of hairdressers who say, ‘leave your hair alone’, but the reality is that it’s probably one of the biggest botherations for both women and men at the moment.
“People stuck at home are obsessing over grey roots or styles that have grown out — and just having that moment of madness.”
Tallulah Willis, Riz Ahmed and Pink are just some of the stars who’ve embraced the lockdown look. And six weeks on, content creator Emma says she’s still buzzing from the response to her DIY hairdo on Instagram.
“Growing up, I had this obsession with long hair and spent hundreds on awful hair extensions,” she recalls. “For me, long hair was deemed beautiful. When I look back on photos, I’m like, ‘Ew, why did I do that?’. “It really struck me how much I’ve hidden my face, whether it’s make-up or hair extensions, trying to cover my natural way.”
Since she shaved it off, though, she’s feeling differently.
“I felt really inspired to do a video to explain to women that you don’t have to have long hair to feel beautiful,” she says. “So many women were sharing the video and saying, ‘Thank you so much’.
At 76, gran-of-three Paula Senior from Wicklow said she’s beyond caring about societal beauty standards — which made it easier to wave goodbye to her neat white crop in order to raise €1,000 for the Dublin Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
As the charity head-shave makes an unexpected comeback, now RTE presenter Eoghan McDermott is set to follow her lead when he has his signature quiff shorn off in aid of the Julian Benson Cystic Fibrosis Foundation on The Late Late Show tomorrow night.
“I wasn’t too bothered about taking it off,” jokes Paula. “It’s all grey and mouldy-looking anyway.
“My neighbour works at the DSPCA, so I thought, ‘I can’t do anything because I’m cocooning, but I can shave my head’. So I put up a GoFundMe and said when I reach €1,000, I’ll shave my head.
“My granddaughter Hannah got hold of some dressmakers’ shears and she came and did it.”
For ladies considering joining the baldy bunch, it’s best to
‘I wasn’t too bothered about taking it off — it’s all grey and mouldylooking anyway’
enlist the help of a trusted family member, according to hair stylist Deirdre Cremin. “What I would say to anyone thinking of doing it is go no shorter than a number three on the razor,” she advises.
“If someone else is doing it, they would start from the back, shaving in both directions; if you’re doing it yourself, it’s easier to start from the front and work your way back.
“I would get rid of the vast majority of the hair with a scissors first before putting a razor clippers near the scalp because it’ll get caught in the blades.”
For fellas planning to channel Jason Statham, there are also a few dos and don’ts, says John Keegan of The Academy Barber in Kildare.
“Using the same number all over will highlight the shape of your head,” he cautions. “Try go with a longer number on top and slightly shorter on the sides, such as a four on top and three on the sides or three on top and two on the sides, as this will help with creating a more masculine shape and look.”