Courtesy of Melissa Ordway
Melissa Ordway, aka Abby Newman from The Young and the Restless, has chopped off nearly a foot of her long blonde hair and revealed her new look on Instagram. Soap Opera Digest spoke with her over the phone about her decision to make the change, her family’s reaction, and adjusting to what she calls “the new sassy me.”
Soap Opera Digest: How long have you been thinking about cutting it short?
Melissa Ordway: Honestly? The girl at Layla’s Bagels in Santa Monica had the cutest style. For example, her hair was very short, but the ’90s is coming back style-wise, so she wore these cute baggy jeans and Dr. Martens. . I thought everything about her was so cute. Justine (Gaston, her husband, ex-Ben Weston, Days of Our Lives) actually said, “Would you like to take a photo of her?” You seem to be very into her style! ”And I thought, “No, no, I’ll remember it.” So I started thinking about it probably about two weeks ago. And I thought, “Let’s just give it a try!” My parents were a little surprised because I had never cut my hair short. My hair is always at least shoulder length, so it’s definitely something to get used to. But this is what I thought. Why not change it up once in a while? ”My hair grows so fast, so I thought I’d give it a try!
Digest: What did you look for in a stylist when you pulled the trigger?
Ordway: Luckily, my friend Christine, she’s an amazing hairstylist and has a very similar haircut to what I wanted. So I trusted her. . You know my hair very well. ” So I went to her and got my first haircut, put my hair in a ponytail, and then cut off one big chunk. And she was like, “Are you okay?” He made sure I was okay (lol). I was like, “It’s okay!” And I had this strange feeling of not being nervous at all. I felt very at ease with it all. And she was like, “Okay, I’ll cut more!” And I thought, “Yeah, good luck!” So she cut out one large chunk and started from there. When I showed her the photo (for inspiration) she said, “Your hair probably doesn’t fall like that, because I have very thick, coarse hair.” So she also thinned out my hair considerably using thinning scissors. It was just below my chin, and I didn’t want it to look like a mushroom head.
Digest: Do you know how many centimeters you lost in total?
Ordway: I think it was about 11 inches!
Digest: Can you put into words how you felt the first time you looked at yourself in the mirror after your haircut?
Ordway: So Christine was very cautious. She was so nervous to show it to me that there was no mirror in front of her. Me for a while. She then styled my haircut before showing it to me. She was like, “Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.” She kept making sure it was perfect before showing it to me. And when she did that, I thought, “Oh my god, I love it!” I thought, “Oh, this is a new me!” I was excited.
Digest: What was your family’s reaction?
Ordway: I was actually worried about my youngest daughter, Sophie. Sophie loves long hair. She likes playing with my hair. I was really scared to show it to her because I thought, “She’s not going to like this!” But when she came in, she said, “Oh my gosh, Mom, I love it. It’s so nice!” Apparently, Justin told the girls (Sofia and Olivia) that he was nervous to meet me. And when he came in and saw it, he thought: It looks very good. ”He was very supportive. He knows that if he says to me, “I really hate this,” I’ll probably cry. So whether he was telling the truth or not, he was very supportive. I feel like my daughters (Sophie and Olivia) and Justin have all given me the confidence to say, “I love you!” But you don’t have to style it yourself just yet. That is, after washing, a few days later it can be a completely different conversation. Have you ever seen the Instagram meme where someone cuts their hair short and then wakes up with a super weird hairstyle (resembling) of Joaquin Phoenix in the movie? It’s like, “I hope that doesn’t happen to me!” Because in the back of my mind, I’m always worried that this will happen someday, that I’ll look in the mirror and look like Joaquin Phoenix (lol).
Digest: Did you have to get permission from the show before cutting it to this length?
Ordway: You know, it was something else. There have been a few times recently, especially on this show, where I wanted my hair done a certain way and they were like, “Oh, so-and-so styled my hair that way.” Not today.” So I couldn’t do that. So I thought, “There’s a lot of blondes on this show with similar hair lengths, so why not change the length of their hair?” It’s just hair, and it grows back. Why can’t I come? ” I showed the hair team a photo of the cut I wanted and they asked, “What do you think?” And they were like, “Oh my god, this is so great.” I had a few days off so I felt it was the perfect time to do it!
Digest: Do you feel different, like a different atmosphere?
Ordway: Yes! I feel lighter. It feels more fun. I felt a little cocky. And the reason I want to get all new clothes is because I feel like I don’t know if my (clothing) style matches my hair! I’ve been looking at a lot of ZARA and H&M trying to buy new clothes for my new sassy self.
Digest: Did you get any tips from Christine on how to style your own?
Ordway: She was like, “You definitely need a texture spray,” and I think that made my hair fall apart and kind of fall apart. I was like, “I don’t have any of that!” So when I’m not working, I wear my hair in a bun or ponytail. She was like, “Yeah, I can’t do that anymore with this hair.” That makes me a little nervous too. No more bread, no more ponies?! At least not for a while. And she actually told me about my new hair that I should blow dry it at night after washing it, which I had never done before in my life. I usually go to bed with wet hair and wake up in the morning to process it. But she told me: “Blow dry and style it at night before you go to bed, because that gives it a chance to settle down a little bit.” So, so far so good, but let’s see what happens when I wash it. Check-in may be required after one week. I might just be crying on the phone (lol)!
