My hair shirt’s on the salon floor
But I have five more in the closet.
I’ve been trying to grow my hair out to a length where I can wear it in a ponytail or in two braids, but it’s stalled out at this impossible length for months now. Chris likes my hair long, and every couple of years I attempt to appease him, hoping against hope that it will turn out differently, that I’ll look fantastic with a Great Wall of Hair. I have a small face, so I never look all that terrific with long hair. My face sort of disappears. The romantic in me adores the long tresses and thick curls, but then I catch my face in a mirror or a window as I pass, and all I see is a hang-dog, droopy woman who could really use a haircut. Where has her neck gone? Does she have ears? Why does she look so much like a Muppet?
My fear with short hair is that I’ll end up looking like one of those women who have given up on feeling pretty, that I’ll take up golf and high waisted jeans, will get frosted tips and begin to think of myself as matronly. I’ll become my own Grandma. I’m too young for that, I need to feel like I have a bit of punkitude and that it’s safe to show it. I had a pixie cut once about 6 or 7 years ago, and I loved it, although it took more work than a pixie should. Short, curly hair just wants to kink up. My morning routine involved a fistful of nine different types of hair product and a tight-fitting baseball cap, and at least an hour before leaving the house for work. Humid days? Forget it and deal with the curly-top.
Inspired by Liz and her wide-open love of women with short hair, I made my appointment. Ohio summers are mostly humid, a fact I became ruefully aware of in yesterday’s 80 degree steam when I walked out of the salon minus about 8″ of hair. I just spent the last hour digging through my clothes in search of a tight-fitting baseball cap. I found a knit cotton John Deer skullcap that’s a size too small, so maybe there’s hope. My stylist didn’t want to cut it super-short pixie (she’ll chop more on Saturday if I insist I can’t make this cut work,) so there’s a couple of inches on top, and a wispy hint of hair around the back instead of the tight shave I got before.
Right now I look like Kramer, but I’m about to stick my head in the sink and see what I can do with this style with the help of some hair mud and my knit cap. I think I like the cut. But I’m not sure. I might need to go all the way short. Is it sassy enough? I’m in dire need of some sassy, and new beginnings. I may even try to finagle a color treatment next week. (Here’s what I love about Ohio as compared to NYC: double process hair coloring= $45.) I used to spend $120-$150 for the same thing. My cut here? $25.
So here’s my before and after. All I can think is, Holy crap! Who knew I had such a big face!
…and also: Hair grows back.
…and also: Fuuuuuck.
Technorati Tags: Muppet, short hair, pixie, Kramer
"All through the long winter, I dream of my garden. On the first day of spring, I dig my fingers deep into the soft earth. I can feel its energy, and my spirits soar."
~Helen Hayes
May 26th, 2006 at 10:46 am
Your new cut is fabulous! You don’t look a bit like Kramer, either
May 26th, 2006 at 10:59 am
looks faboo, very sassy. I envy anyone who can wear their fair that short, I look like a total dork.
May 26th, 2006 at 11:15 am
Thanks, Mary. An hour with a hat on my wet head took care of the Kramer look, amen.
Aw, Steph. See, now, I think I look like a total dork. A double dork, dork.
May 26th, 2006 at 3:48 pm
Aw, come on. You don’t look a thing like Kramer! Every now and then I think I’ll go short-short, but my cheekbones are sooo high and wide (thank you Cherokee grandma!)that I don’t think I can rock the look. You definitely can, though. Rock on!
May 26th, 2006 at 6:54 pm
Very cool cut. I’m debating going short, but afraid I’d look like Charlie Brown. I’ve also got about a foot and a half of hair.
Cool mirror.
May 27th, 2006 at 5:45 am
Don’t you know that in before and after pictures you aren’t supposed to smile or wear make-up in the before picture and then smile and wear tons of make-up in the second picture? That’s the key! Everyone is right you do look good!
May 27th, 2006 at 5:47 am
My sister-in-law says that a product called Frizzeze or Frissease or something like that does wonders.
May 27th, 2006 at 12:00 pm
Some of us were never meant to have long hair- I had long hair for a while but it never was romantic, just a mess-o-split ends. A monthly hair cut is a small price to pay for looking and feeling neat and tidy. And you look very neat and tidy. Plus, you’ll get great ventilation this summer!
May 27th, 2006 at 2:26 pm
Blair, you’re too kind.
Heather, I think you should be the one to herald the Charlie Brown Look for 2006! Do it! The mirror was a gift from my very cool brother. Thanks.
Elise! I thought that very thing after I put up this post. Makeup in the before? Not so much in the after. A-doy. I do use an anti frizz product, along with a few drops of about 5 other things that keep it in relative control. Wish I could afford the Ouidad, they’re the true curl tamers.
Emily, I’m not sure I want to settle for neat and tidy when I was going for supah sexy! wink.
May 27th, 2006 at 4:15 pm
Did I say neat and tidy? I meant supah sexy! For the record, I meant that as a compliment… for me, neat and tidy is an achievement.
May 27th, 2006 at 5:33 pm
Oh, no worries Emily! I took it as a compliment, just annoyed that I didn’t come out of my haircutting appointment looking like Halle Berry like I requested! Bwahahahahahah.
May 28th, 2006 at 6:03 pm
You like the dramatic cuts too I see!! And, damn, my haircuts never make me 5 inches taller like *I* request.
May 31st, 2006 at 6:40 pm
Late to the party here, but I just had to say — give it some time for the shock to wear off. The hair in the second picture is WAY cuter, but the green underlighting isn’t doing you any favors. Get someone to take your picture outside, then you’ll see!
May 31st, 2006 at 8:17 pm
OH, I wish I had an ounce of your bravery! I am going in for a cut soon myself (I keep saying anyway!) and I am losing at least 1.5 feet of hair! I would love to have your curls! The cut is cute!
June 1st, 2006 at 9:04 am
Eve, I’m thinking of going back for more drama! Boy short!
Rachel, you’re so right…the indoor shots are always just the pits — must ask for a speed flash for the camera for next xmas!
Gina, will you be donating your hair? That length will make a gorgeous wig for a hair challenged human! The hair is always greener…I’d love to have straight thick hair that I could make chunky and funky.
June 2nd, 2006 at 5:29 pm
Are you kidding me? I think it looks beautiful!!! Your face is so pretty you could get away with baldness, lady.
November 3rd, 2006 at 4:36 pm
I have never been on your site before and actually just stumbled upon it today. And I must say, I am very very happy I did, simply to empower you in that damn cute new do’ you are now sporting.
I am a hair stylist in Orange County, CA (and, no, now one here ever says “the OC”, it’s actually just OC., as in ” I live in OC”), a beautiful place (be at the beach after snow skiing in under two hours) but horribly infamous.
But yes, there is money and incredibly gorgeous people, so you can imagine what a hairstylist is facing daily.
Doing hair for 20yrs now (I’m 37, which is 27 in So Cal), with very hip clients and some celebrities that need up to the minute, at any minute (or hour of day, for that matter) style that will not only knock on lookers off their feet, but one that everyone hasn’t seen a million times in every mag on every page.
That being said, I am also an advocate of loving what you were given. Having fine but a good amount of very curly hair naturally, I have had my share of bad, bad haircuts. I also think I killed some years off my life just in the search for some good products that don’t get hard or flaky, don’t give me a jeri curl look (no offense to those who are going for that look), or don’t somehow disappear the second I apply them.
I won’t even go into trying to blow dry it straight only to have fog, overcast mornings, humitity, rain, or even that silent killer, mist, jack up my shiny straight hair I just spent 45 min. getting.
So, I ask you, Do you think God, or whoever your creator my be, would give you something He thought you wouldn’t look good in. NO Work with it people, not against it. You have curly hair. It’s not going away, no matter how much time and money you shell out. No matter how many wishes on a star you make. It’s not going to happen. Work with your hair, not it with you, and you with be happy most every day. Once you learn to #1 never never brush, pick, play, towel dry, or fluff. NEVER!!!. Get that towel off your head RIGHT AWAY, apply your product ( a light gel mixed with a shine serum works best for most) by starting from the ends first (all the ends, regardless of length) because this is where you get frizzy first, right? Encourage your curl to form it’s natural form and curl size, do not scrunch (over manipulating, BAD). And keep applying concoction until it has been evenly distributed from roots to ends. This means if you run out before you got to the other side, apply more. Your hair is very wet at this point so it isn’t as consentrated and heavy as you might think. But on really dry days, your hair might eat up product. If you stop at this point before all of your hair got the same love, the hair you neglected will pay you back by being a big frizzy tumbleweed. and you know, there is no fixing it. TIP once the hair curl is formed( in gel applying stage hopefully) you can not reform it. It won’t get curlier when you dry it nor with that lazy section perk up at a later time. Get your desired curl when applying product. PERIOD At that point, the hard part is done. The sooner you defuse it (by letting the dryer do the work, not your hands) the bouncier the curl, the more you let it air dry, the more relaxed the curls with look. Either is good, change is wonderful. JUST KEEP YOUR HANDS (AND THOSE OF YOUR BOYFRIENDS) OUT OF YOUR HAIR… I MEAN IT. YOU TOUCH IT FAR MORE THAN YOU MIGHT REALIZE. so become aware. be patient, keep the dryer on low, but heat on hot. and it will look good everyday. Good luck
December 29th, 2006 at 7:28 pm
great blog…
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April 27th, 2007 at 12:20 am
The longer hair is SO much more youthful and sexier on you, honestly. Hope you’re growing it back. This time, keep it growing! Good luck.