My Hair
I’ve been thinking of changing my hair for, I don’t know, 6-7 years now. Every time I think of making a change, I chicken out once I get to the salon and end up with the same style I’ve had for years and years.
A little history:
-I’ve had reddish highlights and they always faded way too fast (like within 2 weeks).
-I’ve had sideswept bangs, but they never cooperated. I don’t know if it’s a cowlick (or whatever it’s called) or what, but even with a blow drier and hairspray, they never actually swept across my forehead as they should. Here’s a picture of the reddish highlights (freshly done) and sort of sideswept bangs (the bangs have also been a bit shorter than this):
-I’ve had very very dark brown (almost black with a reddish-brown sheen in the sunlight) overall color which I really liked, but that also faded into my natural color.
-When I was little, my hair was about chin length. In all of the pictures I’ve looked at, my hair looked very fine and limp (unless I crimped it, and sorry, I won’t be returning to crimping!).
-In elementary and middle school, I had bangs. I grew to become quite a perfectionist over how they looked, and unfortunately, they became almost like clip-on bangs, they were so hairsprayed. I think they’d be easier to handle now, having a straightener, but I fear the perfectionism and the helmet-look…
Here’s what I’ve got now:
-Color is dark brown. I haven’t colored it in over a year. The last color I had was the very dark brown I mentioned above, so I don’t think there’s any noticeable distinction between my natural color and what’s left of that.
-Length is just past my shoulders. It WILL NOT grow much longer than this. I don’t really know why. I used to think it was damage from straightening, but I don’t straighten much anymore and it still doesn’t grow.
-Wavy texture – if I let it air dry with no product, I end up with frizz and pouf out the wazoo.
-I’ve always straightened it (up to this year). I like how it looks straight (it’s even pretty shiny), but it takes more effort and is more damaging to my hair.
-I’ve started wearing my hair curly this year, simply because it’s quick and easy. With a curling mousse (I’ve tried all sorts of gels and sprays and cremes – the mousse gives me the best, longest lasting result), I can get it to curl decently. I don’t know how to use a diffuser on my blow drier (or if I even should) so unfortunately, when I use product, it looks fairly crispy and wet until at least midday. By the end of the day, I have soft curls which look pretty nice. Also unfortunately, the longest part of the back of my hair doesn’t hold the curl well, so I end up with curls all around my face and in the shorter layers around my head, but a straight chunk in the base of the back. It’s infuriating. Here’s a few picture of it curly:
From the front, near the end of the day
From the back. Notice the straight bits at the bottom.
-I also have no idea how to use curlers or a curling iron. Every time I try, the curls on my right side are gone by the time I get to the left side with the curling iron. I’ve also had a professional use a curling iron on my hair for my wedding and this is me, a few hours later – still somewhat curled, but this is much looser than right after it was done:
Picture by Gina Frederick of Allan Reider Studio
As for changes, I’m fairly open. I just want something that looks good on me – doesn’t emphasize my chub, make me look stuffy, or make me look too much older. I prefer to keep the color at least somewhat close to what I have now, just because I can’t afford to maintain touch-ups right now. Also, as I stated above, my hair won’t grow too much longer than it is now, so longer than present is out. Anyway, I need ideas!
As a side note, I really dig this hair, but 1. I’m not sure I could pull it off with my face and bone structure and whatnot, 2. I’m not sure if it’s really a look for a suburban, southern, everyday life, and 3. I would definitely be restricted to straightening it (this isn’t a deal breaker, especially if it looks awesome, just slightly less convenient).
Crush from American Gladiators
Yes, American Gladiators, I know. This is why I’m a bit hesitant. But, doing my search for good pictures of her hair, I’m finding that a lot of people seem to like it! It’s kind of just a longer version of the Posh haircut. As a little experiment, I found a few pictures of Crush online (before I found the ones above from a video), and inserted my head! I mostly just thought these were funny, so I thought I’d share them:
