When Joy-Anna Duggar surprised Austin Forsyth with her new haircut, it was certainly a surprise.
Maybe he was just startled. Or maybe he was just tired.
But maybe Austin was unhappy that his wife had made a change without his permission. He made it clear that he wanted her hair longer.
Either way, calling his wife a “dirty girl” is super weird. That’s strong language coming from a member of a fundamentalist cult.
In a recent YouTube video, which you can see below, Joy-Anna Duggar opened up about her plans.
Austin was with her at the beginning of the somewhat lengthy update. He was also with her at the end.
But for the bulk of the video, Austin was away on a six-day trip. And Joy-Anna had plans for how to spend that alone time.
“I am going to get my hair cut,” Joy declared to her YouTube followers.
“I’m so, so, so excited!” she expressed.
Joy-Anna acknowledged that she has “always” cultivated a certain look. This, she admitted, would be a bit of a departure.
“I’ve always had long hair,” Joy noted to her fans. And it absolutely looks great on her.
Conspicuously long hair on women (and only women) is a staple among Christian fundamentalist cults. Some pull off the look better than others.
“But I thought for the winter and this pregnancy,” Joy nervously explained. “I thought it would be fun to change it up.”
Austin was, as we noted, out of town. He would be gone for six days.
Joy-Anna felt excited for her new ‘do, and both excited and nervous for her husband to see it.
She went to the salon for her haircut and styling. And it started simply enough: with a trim.
That’s not Joy-Anna’s full head of hair on the floor, but it’s enough for a bird’s nest. Maybe several.
It was also only step one on her closely documented hair journey.
The blonde dye came out, but Joy wasn’t following in Jinger’s footsteps. Instead, she was getting highlights.
You know how a wax resist in watercolors allows you to paint while leaving part of the paper untouched?
The process of giving someone highlights, whether subtle and with natural colors or with vibrant chromatic dyes, works similarly.
Basically, it works by wrapping and covering large portions of someone’s hair. As you can see in this still from the video:
Highlights require skill, practice, and patience to do well.
People can dye their hair using all sorts of things. Highlights are trickier because they need to be precise.
But it sure looks like Joy-Anna’s hairstylist knew what they were doing.
Joy-Anna assured her fans and followers that she “loved” the results. Of the cut and of the highlights.
“It’s not, like, super short, but for me, it’s really short,” she raved to the camera.
That’s true. Long and short are relative, especially when it comes to hairstyles.
Austin was still out of town. But he wasn’t going to be in Colorado forever.
Joy prepared for his arrival, staying up until 1 in the morning to surprise him.
She answered the door with her hair up. That way, she could do her dramatic reveal.
Truth be told, Austin’s initial reaction was a bit … reserved. Maybe he was in shock. Or tired. Maybe both.
“It’s a little short,” he told his wife. He admitted: “I don’t hate it.”
We are unsure if he knew that he was on camera for any part of this exchange.
Austin’s most generous assessment of her hair was that he found it “cute.”
Joy playfully poked him in the sides.
This one portion of the video lacks captions, but it sounds like he calls her a “dirty girl.”
Interestingly, Austin’s dad had apparently spoiled the surprise. He shared with his son that Joy was getting a new ‘do.
We’re not sure why he’d do such a thing, or why Austin would blurt out the news.
Maybe Joy’s independent decision wasn’t as independent as she imagined. It’s hard to tell with this lot.
