1. The "My mom cuts my hair"

Moms are great. They're basically superheroes (or super annoying, but we love them anyway), but sometimes they think they can do things that they just can't. Unless your mom is a hairdresser, she probably can't cut hair very well. She either opened the cabinet and found whatever cereal bowl would fit your head to use as a guide for the ultimate bowl-cut, or she decided you needed some layering, and now you look like a sheepdog. But, hey, quality haircuts are expensive, can you blame her? Thanks for trying, Mom.

2. The "I cut my own hair"

At some point, you become rebellious towards your mom and her terrible haircuts. If you’re anything like me, somewhere between the age of eleven and fourteen, you were standing in front of the bathroom mirror for a while, tucking and pinning sections of hair up just to see what you’d look like with a particular cut. If you were as stupid as me, you decided that not only could you rock that cut, but you could totally do it yourself (with safety scissors clearly not meant for hair). Five minutes, you’re standing in front of a sink full of hair clippings, staring into the mirror at your face full of shame, tilting your head to the side just to make yourself look even. And you’ll probably cut even more just to “fix” it.

3. The "Just a trim"

You’ve finally conquered those rough years of DIY haircuts. Your hair is at that point where if you bend back far enough, you can tickle your butt with it, which is like every long-haired girl’s guilty pleasure. But you notice your ends are starting to look a little less than alive, probably because you and your gang of heated hair tools brutally murdered them for the past few years.

So you decide it’s time for a trim. You go to the salon. They ask what you want. “Just a trim,” you say. Bam. At least seven inches of your hair, gone forever (at least until it grows back, but logic is the furthest thing from your mind right now). You’re non-confrontational. You say, “Yes, it’s perfect,” and they either don’t notice or don’t care about the obvious disappointment in your voice. You leave the salon imagining yourself crawling on the floor, gathering the scraps of your hair to glue them back on. You tilt your head in every selfie for the next few months.

4. The "Going for something bold"

Well your hair is already short, and you’ve finally accepted that it’ll grow back, so why not play around with it, try out some crazy styles you always imagined you’d look good with?

Option 1: Bangs. You looked okay with them when you were a kid, and all the cool girls have them now. The hairdresser holds the scissors open around a pretty large chunk of your hair and asks “Are you sure?” No, but impulsive decisions always turn out great, right? Wrong. She snips the hair and now you have this deflated unicorn horn hanging between your eyebrows. And you’re stuck taking an hour every morning to tame it or finding a headband to match every outfit.

Option 2: The pixie cut. Totally rock’n’roll, but your hair is too long to stay out of your face on its own, and too short to be pulled up. On the plus side, you get to look all cute when you’re violently blowing hair out from in front of your eyes.

Option 3: The edgy side shave. You really just wanted to look like Natalie Dormer (a.k.a. Margaery Tyrell) because she’s a goddess, but no average person will ever be able to achieve her level of cool. You now have a stubbly, itchy head that really throws off your symmetry.

5. The "Just cut it all off"

Well, you think you would’ve learned your lesson, but sadly you are a creature of habit, that habit being poor decision making. Instead of patiently waiting for your hair to grow out (or looking up all those crazy online videos that promise hair growth by means of what basically sounds like witchcraft), you decide to start fresh. This haircut, you can probably handle yourself. Step 1: Obtain trimmer. Step 2: Smooth along head until almost bald. Step 3: Cry. Now your whole scalp is stubbly, itchy, and subject to sunburn that will leave you shedding flakes of skin from your head like a reptile. On the plus side, you finally have the optimal look for getting your septum pierced. Please, for the love of not bleeding to death, don’t try to do that yourself.

Make the best of it

If you're unfortunate enough to get stuck with one (or all) of these cuts at some point, just remember that life is short, hair grows back, and hats exist. Be adventurous, and be yourself. Most importantly, make the best of it. You rocked that bowl cut when you were eight, and you can rock these bangs now (and if not, you can totally rock a buzz).