You look fab, Alaskagirl!

Love the longer hair Shannon! The cranberry streak is awesome!

Your growout is really fab! I wouldn't have guessed you were still at an in-between state. Well done!

Your new do looks really lovely Shannon!

Wow, your hair looks fantastic.

Looks really nice on you. I wouldn't have guessed it is a work in progress, it looks very intentional to me the way it is cut now.

Love your hair as is & the longer version looks great too

The original cut was great and the new do is even better. Nice to have a change, isn't it? I'm always tempted to try something new.

Love your new do. It really suits you.

It's gorgeous, Shannon, I LOVE it. I can totally picture you with that second inspiration cut (pic 6). At this point, it doesn't look like a 'growing in cut' at all; you look downright amazing! Can't believe how fast your hair grows. You are a woman transformed

I always enjoyed your super short hair, but this is just gorgeous on you! You will look wonderful in the style of tour inspiration photos, but I am also loving it as is. I am still such a fan of the cranberry streak!

Heh, my daughter shaved her head bald in November, so I can absolutely understand the task and the patience! You are like my daughter -- you look good in any length. OR color!

I've had the chin-length asymmetrical bob now for over a decade, and although it never grows as long as Una's, and isn't as thick either, I have worn it shorter and longer. I have worn it as short as yours is right now. I like tucking it saucily behind the ears when it's that length.

OMG it's GORGEOUS!!

I actually love what you have now better than the inspirations. You look sensational. Those specs are magical on you, too.

Absolutely fantastic!

You hair looks terrific! Your stylist is working good magic -- it already has great shape, with a bit of modern and a bit of softness.

Love,Love,Love! You are such an inspiration Shannon - I'm glad you're back!

Congrats on sticking with the grow out process! It looks great. I'm also growing my hair. When it reached the "poofy" phase, I used a hair straightener and damaged my hair. I think my hair was damp and I'm impatient. Fried the ends. So my growing out has been halted until the fried parts are cut off - I think/hope - 2 more hair cuts. But what I've been learning and doing is conditioning like mad and my hair feels hugely better (except the fried ends - nothing really to be done there). So my advice is to really deep condition regularly (I do every time I wash - which is about 3 time per week). Also use a heat protectant before using any blow dryer or other styling tool. Oh - and my newest thing (which I love) is a silk pillowcase! Really cuts down on the frizzies. Good Luck!

Oooh, I love it! It looks really great on you.

I am growing out my hair as well, from a bob to shoulder length. I know how hard it is to be patient!

Shannon your hair looks fantastic! It suits you and your natural colour is just beautiful. How did you manage to get through that 'not a proper hairstyle' stage?? I am sure the regular cuts helped but did you just have to push through and accept it wasn't yet your version of perfect?? I am two days away from a cut myself and cannot decide if I should go shorter or start growing into a short choppy bob lol. I always go back to the bob!! Signed Inspired and Confused.

BTW you are look fabulous. Well and healthy and you have skin to kill for

Your patience has paid off, Shannon. Your new bob is beautiful.

Your new longer hair looks terrific Shannon!! (Love the red specs too)

I do love me a good pixie-to-bob grow-out! YLF!

I love the idea of growing it out, too, but I agree with Jenn -- what you have now looks very intentional and does not at all have that look of "I'm growing my hair out." Well done. I think it looks really great now, and it will be fun to see the final result!

Looks gorgeous. I actually prefer this length on you and would not grow it any further.

Wow...I was busy last night and couldn't get back to this thread until now. What an explosion of comments! Thank you all so much for your feedback.

What I found most interesting in the comments is the theme that it looks good at the length it is at now. My last trim did finally start to give the extra length some shape so that it looked like a style on its own and not like I just didn't get to the hairstylist on time, you know? I am going to continue to grow it to the length I originally planned but am leaving myself open to the option of cutting it back a bit more if I find the extra length doesn't suit my narrow face.

El Cee - the hairstyle is indeed my interpretation of Parisian chic style in my way - timeless but modern, not hard edge.

Una - oh good grief woman! Your hair is positive MAGICAL!!! Your grey grew in beautifully and the style is so you. How are you liking being a Silver Fox???

Aliona - pic 6 is actually the inspiration photo my stylist is working off of. We both have it on our phones as reference.

Shiny - I think that's what I'm looking for - the versatility of a bob. You can wear it straight, behind the ears, wavy, longer, shorter - your hair always looks beautiful.

Beth Ann - "modern and softness" - exactly what I'm going for.

Shevia - I'm so glad to be back sweet lady

Deborah - how did I manage to get past the horrendous part? Gritting my teeth all the way! Seriously...there was a time at the end of November where I was ready to give up. For a few weeks, it looked like it had no actual style at all. My stylist showed me a few cute ways to use bobby pins (yes...good old bobby pins) to keep the fringe out of my eyes (it kept going between my glasses and my eyes) that worked quite well and didn't look completely ridiculous. It was a lifesaver.

Thanks again for all the positive feedback.

My daughter has been my cheerleader through the growing out process. I've only just gotten to the point where I can see the possibilities for a just-past-chin-length layered bob - until now it's all been my relying on her vision (or freaking out and getting it cut). I've regressed in my resolution to grow it so many times that I probably extended the growing out process by a factor of three. You look fab!

Shannon!!! You're back, and you look lovely! I wouldn't know from the photos that there had been any awkward growing out phases. I'm glad you are keeping the colorful streak too.

I have been through that journey myself this year. Went from a long pixie, tight in back and longer but choppy in front, to an angled bob. I'm very nearly there but the grow out phase has taken a lot of maintenance-not only to clean up the shagginess and get the sides to angle DOWN vs. angle UP in a way that's flattering, but also because I have all these flippy ends that go their own way. My stylist is great so if I ask her to thin out certain sections that get heavy, or if we can shape a section that tends to flip, she knows just what to do. But with humidity I'll confess it can go haywire.

The longer bob requires more effort-I started drying my hair again and using a straightener. I'm babying it with conditioner (again, not something I had to use often when it was short) and have a few staple products I love:
Lush Hair Custard (UK product.) It's like a cross between leave in conditioner and pomade-and smells like vanilla. I apply a tiny bit to WET hair and it gives me the volume and control I crave. I sometimes use a TINY bit on dry hair for extra texture.
Lush Roots: scalp treatment, removes buildup and stimulates growth.

Thanks, Shannon! The hardest thing to get used to has been not changing up the color, which I loved doing. Ironically I get more compliments on this (including "how did you get that hair color?", to which my response is "I got old!") than any other color I've had. I am thinking I will either dip dye the ends a color - easy fix if I tire of them - or do a small streak like you. Do you just do the color over the grey?

Beautiful! You pull off both cuts really well, but bob gives you a very sleek vibe and frames your face nicely.

Kari - it is definitely much more work than my pixie. My pixie I would just wash, towel dry, throw in some styling gel and head out the door. The longer hair I need to blow dry and then flat iron if I want it straight. I have neither straight nor curly hair - I have poker straight sections and then other sections with weird bends and kinks. If I let it just air dry now, it is nothing short of bizarre looking. I have started using more conditioner and I also use a heat protective serum. Hoping my hair stays healthy.

Una - yep, color right over the grey. About every 3 months, after my stylist has given me my latest trim, she mixes two colors (purple and red) and then paints it onto the one section, wraps it in foil and sends me home. She doesn't charge me for this because there's no processing - I wash my hair out 40 minutes later after I get home and voila - done.