Dirty Clean Hair

Hello and Happy Friday!  Actually I have to admit I'm actually not happy that it's Friday, because we have been on vacation this week, and so this is my last vacation day from work, which is way beyond depressing.

One of the things I did this week was get my hair cut.  I had originally made an appt for cut and color, but since we have been investing a lot of dollars into Dug's rehab therapy, I changed it to just a cut.  I was hoping that my gray hair would work to make it look good.

Well, I am pleased with my haircut - nice and short for the summer, and I don't have to blow it dry unless for some reason I want to (you know, a state occasion like someone's wedding or something).  But my gray hair has let me down, I'm afraid.  There's not enough of it to make the rest of my hair color look OK.

Growing up, I had blonde hair.  By the time I was 30, it was not the light blonde of my earlier life, but more of a dark, muddy blonde.  I used to get highlights, which helped a lot in making the rest of the muddy color look acceptable.  Then a few years ago, I decided to try getting all-over color, since I keep my hair short and the highlights grew out too fast.  My stylist at the time talked me into a shade of red, and not only did it look great, but it grew in just fine, with no weird-looking roots.

The last time I had my hair colored was about six months ago, when I had a falling out with the guy I had found and originally liked who was cutting and coloring my hair.  He insisted on doing what *he* wanted, and I was not pleased with the result.  So by the time I went to get my haircut on Wednesday, it was all grown out.  I had a nice splotch of gray in the front, and then other gray throughout, and it broke up the dull.

Sadly though, most of the gray got cut out.  And I'm left with sprinkles of gray, but 99% of my head is the color that my blonde hair used to be when it was dirty!

The good thing: I'm really the only one who cares.  I have finally realized after a bazillion years on the earth that 99% of the people I see don't notice me, or my hair, no matter how good or bad it looks.  Plus, at some point, I will have a ton of gray hair, and hopefully it will look nice.  In the meantime, I can save my $$ so that the next time, I can get some color.

The bad thing: I own mirrors. ;-)

Gray Hair

I started getting gray hair in my early forties.  No big deal, since most people I know and have known have gotten gray hair eventually.  At the time, my hair was still naturally a pretty light blonde, so if anything, the gray gave it some highlights.

Then my light blonde hair started to get darker.  Not really any color, just a darker, dirty-hair looking blonde shade.  It made me look sad, frankly.  (The Tim: "I don't understand why your hair always looks dirty, when I know you wash it."  This from a man who *very* seldom says anything about my appearance that is not a compliment.)  As an adult, I've more or less always had short hair, because in spite of my imagination, I do not have thick, lush, wavy hair.  I have always had thin, fine, straight hair that is so soft, it barely holds a part.

So I decided that since I wasn't able to do much style-wise with my hair, I'd be adventurous and try getting it colored.  I wasn't going to try to do it myself, because I am just not good with things like that.  Plus, I wanted someone else to blame if it all went south ...

The hairstylist I'd been going to was willing to experiment with me.  The end result was a) a cute short cut, and b) an amazing color that was a deep red/brown, but looked like my own hair.  As a matter of fact, when I showed up at work that next Monday, a co-worker said, "Oh you went back to your own hair color" and would not believe that I'd always been a blonde!  Anyway, this worked really well for a couple of years, and then much to my dismay, that hairstylist retired because she had a second kid.  (Don't these people realize their professional obligations???)

Over the next few years, I tried different people and places, with varying degrees of success, but never quite the "click" of the original person.  Over the last year, I've tried several places.  One of them was pretty amazing, but I was so grossed out by the stylist's filthy workstation, I just couldn't make myself go back.  The next time, at a different place, I was pretty pleased, because I thought I had finally found a good fit with a new stylist.

Fast forward to last week.  I had made an appt to have my hair cut and colored this past Saturday.  Actually I spent most of last week deciding whether or not to get it colored.  For whatever reason, I was feeling that since my 60th birthday was coming up, I should just see how much gray I really did have, and how it looked.  But then I decided that I would get it colored one last time during my 50s, and work on revealing the gray after that.

The new stylist referenced above?  Turned out to be a real bully.  He refused to listen to what I wanted as far as color.  I should have just said, "Forget the color, just cut it," but in an attack of eejit-ness, I let him talk me into his idea.  Which on the surface, sounded good.  On my head, though - not so much.

Oh well.  Hair grows (mine grows really fast), and I've already made my next appt for a cut someplace else that was highly recommended to me, and is even closer to my house.  And since I'll be the apparently magical 60 when I go, I'm gonna let the color grow out until I see how much/what kind of gray hair I have.  I'm hoping for a head of gray hair like one of my sisters' has, or like The Tim has - lovely, bright, silvery-white gray.

I'm thinking I'll look a lot like this:

'Cause, you know - I look like this all time just sitting around the house ...

But deep down, this will probably be closer to the truth (except shorter):

I'll keep you posted.  :-)

Hair Happy

Well, I went to the salon last week, armed with my picture and determination.  I told the stylist that yes, I did understand that the woman in the photo had really thick hair, and so my fine, thin hair would be different, but that I just at least wanted the "idea" of that cut.  I also wanted to get my color refreshed, since a) it needed it, and b) we were heading home over the long weekend to visit family and friends.

I also considered this the last chance for this particular stylist, as she has been hit or miss lately.

I am really pleased.  I got a cut that I like, and the color looks great.  She seemed to understand just what I meant, and went out of her way to try and get it the way I wanted it to look.  I cannot tell you how happy this makes me.  Let's face it, you wear your hair every single day, and if you are unhappy about the way you look, it definitely makes a difference.

Yes, I am vain.

But right now?  I'm also pretty happy about the whole thing.  No more Hair Dread!

No More Trauma ... For Now

Well, I have survived both the trauma of my hair and the saga of my hair.  Earlier in the summer, I thought I had finally found someone who "understood" my hair issues and desires. And overall, she did.  The problem was, that she insisted that the couple of times I went to her, I *needed* additional products or services - you know, a gloss, or some special styling product.  Even though (at least during the summer) I keep my hair very short and don't blow it dry, so it never really has a "style."

I got really frustrated, and when I went to make my next appointment, the person on the phone asked me what "additions" I wanted.  Now, I'd noticed that it wasn't just my stylist, but it appeared to be the M.O. for the salon.  I said I wanted a cut and color only, but she kept insisting.  So did I, and eventually she gave up.  A few days later, the stylist called me, explaining that there would surely be things besides just a cut and color that I needed, and after a brief discussion with her, I just said I wouldn't be returning.

Then I was faced with the problem of just where to go.  After some thought [a ridiculous amount to be honest], I made an appointment someplace I'd gone before, that I decided needed another chance.  I even found a picture that showed the cut and color I wanted, so I figured if the stylist didn't get close, I'd know that I should try yet another place.

I handed her this photo.  She said, "Oh that would be great!" (good sign), and got started.  Now don't get me wrong, I like this woman, but I'd gone to her a couple of times before, and though my hair was always OK, it was never exactly what I'd hoped for.  But the salon is really close to my house, and though not inexpensive, it is reasonable for this area.  And I actually first met this stylist when she was a customer at a yarn store where I worked part-time.  So I figured she had first chance to get another shot at things.

The result:  Except that I do not have the face or neck of the woman above, I have her hairstyle and color.  EXACTLY.  And I mean exactly.

I am so happy and relieved!  She was thrilled with the results as well, so I think we might have really hit that happy balance between stylist and customer.

Now I just have to make sure that she doesn't move away or something ... :-)

Have a lovely Labor Day Weekend!

The Continuing Hair Saga

You'd think I was a hair model, as much as I worry/think about/ponder my hairstyles and haircuts.  But sadly, I'm just obsessed.  You may remember this post, where I talked about how I had a great hair stylist, but she stopped working after her second kid.  Since then, I've gone several places, with varying degrees of success.  Fortunately, nothing terrible, but nothing WOW either.

Recently, the salon where the great stylist had worked sent me an e-mail, saying she was returning part-time, and was only going to work on Saturdays and Sundays.  Which is good from the standpoint that it's not the middle of the day on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, when I'd be at work, but could mean getting appointments could be tricky.  However, the place is on the other side of town.  Not impossible, but not terribly convenient.  Anyway.

A week from this Saturday, it will be six weeks since my last cut.  I try to go every six weeks, because it keeps me happy with the way my hair looks.  I've gone to one place the last couple of times, but the woman who has done my hair, though nice and very talented, seems like she really only wants to push me to get more products and services there.  I've observed that it seems to be the M.O. of the place.  A place I tried before then had a woman who was nice, and it was very close to my house, but the woman cut my  hair dry, which just seems kinda weird.  Yet another place I tried is also nice, and relatively close to my house, but you need two different people if you are also getting color, because they have stylists and then also colorists.

Because I am weird, I have made appts for next Saturday at each place, thinking that as it got closer, I could decide which one to keep, and call the other places well in advance and cancel.  I really and truly thought this would mean I'd be able to decide.  But of course I cannot.  Today, I've narrowed it to the original place, and the place close by where my hair is cut dry.

This is all a) crazy, b) sad, and c) ridiculous.  I need an intervention.

And a haircut.

Terra Incognita

As a kid, I had blonde hair.  As a matter of fact, it was naturally light blonde until I was in my mid-20s, when it started to turn a shade of muddy blonde.  I used to get highlights a couple of times a year, and loved the way my hair looked.  However, once I decided that I wanted my hair to be short, it seemed like kind of a waste.  A lot of the highlights would be chopped off the same day they were applied, and after about two more haircuts, they were just plain gone.

So for a while, I lived with my muddy blonde shade.  Then I started to get gray hairs.  Which would be fine, except that I'd only get a few, not enough to make my hair look gray.  So it all looked even sadder.

A couple of years ago, a stylist talked me into coloring my hair.  Since she had given me the most kick-ass haircut ever, I trusted her.  She got my hair to the loveliest light auburn shade, I LOVED it!  And it really didn't need to be redone that often, because the roots growing in were not really that different in color.  Sadly, after about a year and a half, that stylist "retired" after giving birth to her second kid.  I'd tried some of the other stylists at that salon, but was not really impressed.  Since then, I've gone from place to place, not really finding anyone who clicked.  The latest place I've gone is OK, but the colorist there insists that my hair should be light red, and though everyone tells me that they think it looks great (a co-worker even said to me, "So you decided to go back to your natural color" !!), it needs more constant maintenance and touching up.  What it boils down to is that I don't have enough gray hair still to just let it do its thing, and salon color is really expensive, and I'm trying to curtail my spending.

Which leads me to my current idea, which is that I should try to use one of the at-home color kits to do my own hair.  A lot of friends and family do it, and most of them have hair that looks just fine.  But what kind to use?  Are some brands better than others?  Can anyone truly do their own hair color with success?  I want to talk to some people before I just dive right in.  And in theory, I'd like to do it sooner rather than later, since I have a haircut appt coming up in a couple of weeks.

I do realize that all of this falls into the category of things that one of my sister calls White People's Problems.  However, since I will be looking at my hair every single day, I want to get it right - or at least as close to right as possible ...

I'll keep you posted.