Ive just bought a Intuos2 9x12, I was in the same situation as you prior to buying it. What I have found is this size suits me , either be it luck or that I know no differant lol I use it primarily for hair as well and the size alows long flowing strokes which I imagin would be somewhat more difficult on a smaller tablet, anyhow as a new Tablet user Ive found the 9x12 to be all I expected and then some!!. One thing to bear in mind tho is a 9x12 tablet takes up about 18 x14 of desk space!!