This morning, after my shower, when I was drying and styling my hair, I realized how relieved I am to have it back to my usual style. I have always loved long, flowing hair--on guys, on women, and I used to have long hair. So, a few months ago, I decided I’d tried to grow it long again, hoping that by putting in layers, it wouldn’t just hang heavy and straight.
Well, it
didn’t work. It didn’t work in a bad, bad way.
A. I am
NOT Farrah Fawcett, so stray, wannabe feathery
wings NOT make me look like her. I never even aspired to look like her. Not
that I don’t think she was pretty, but I’ve never aspired to blondness. If I
were blonde, I’d be hideous. I’m just not cut out for the pale hair/pale skin
look. And her hair style? Does NOT flatter my face.
B. I used
to have waist-length hair. It had tons of split ends. It gave me headaches. My
hair grows fast, very fast, and it’s thick. The minute it gets beyond a certain
point, I lose the volume and wave in it (I do have a natural wave—hey, my hair
has curves, just like me!). And it hangs there, pulling on my scalp. But at a
certain point, between medium and long, it has the “That Girl” flip to the end…and
again, does not work on me. Especially with the pseudo-Farrah Fawcett feathers.
So, by
last week, about twelve weeks into trying out the new style, I was avoiding
mirrors and cringing when I had to go out to a store. I looked older than normal,
my hair made me feel frumpy and messy.
I tell my
husband I need to go to the hair dresser because I hate my hair.
Samwise: “You
look beautiful. I love the way you look.”
Me: “No, I
do not look great. I look frumpy and I feel like I look older.”Samwise: You look beautiful.”
Me: “Um, you may think so but I don’t. I feel frumpy.”
Samwise: (just keep repeating the above until I just smile and kiss him and go call the hair stylist)
So
Tuesday, I head to the salon and my hair stylist, Marta (a genius) takes one
look at me and says, “I see what you mean. Yes, we have to do something about this.”
Relieved
that someone finally *gets* what I was talking about—and the one I most needed
to understand—I smile and say, “Take me back to normal.”
Half an
hour later, I am back to my usual, semi-cheerful self. And I’m not cringing
when I look in the mirror anymore because my hair is no longer pretending it’s
Animal impersonating Farrah Fawcett.
And my
husband? He looked at me as I got in the car and said, “You look beautiful.”
This time,
I just smiled and nodded. How does your hair affect your moods? Or does it?
Yasmine
10 comments:
Everyone loved my long hair. Especially my mother. It was beautiful, thick, wavy, a stunning array of brown, gold, and red, especially in the sun.
I hated it.
I'm transgender. I do not feel good when I'm feminine. There are few pictures of me with long hair that don't make me cringe. My body doesn't fit what I feel I should look like, but the hair I could fix.
Now it's short, and I'm so much happier. A proverbial weight is lifted off my shoulders. People make comments, and about my piercings and tattoos, and that I don't dress like a girl, "Oh, but you could be so beautiful..." but I don't care. I get to look more like ME now, and I think that happiness is more beautiful than any supermodel.
I love my long hair. I have had it long since I was a teen. I went through a period when my kids were small when I had it short and colored. I thought it was the thing to do, how I should look. But it wasn't me.
I am now back to my long hair, that is thick, natural color of every color mostly blonde in the summer, and I love it. It is me.
I love my hair it is a dark brown, but sometimes it looks black inside and it the sun it has some reddish highlights with my blue eyes it is a awesome combination. I'm trying to grow it out longer to mid back right now it is just above my boobs. I have never put any color in my hair it is completely virgin, my hair color can't be found in a bottle so I wont color it till I start getting grays. I was the lucky one out of my sisters and got naturally straight simple hair and I love it. My hair and eyes are my favorite features.
One of the man ways my Leonine nature shows through is that I am very vain about my hair. Right now it's just beyond shoulder length, and I've finally learned how to get my curl into overdrive. It's also about as long as it will grow--just past shoulder length.
Also, Sam is a gem.
Bah, I need to learn to sign.
-Soli
My hair has always been a big issue. Everything was fine until puberty hit. Then it got super thick and frizzed like crazy. I've tried just about every anti-frizz product out there and nothing worked (not even mixing various products).
Finally I took the plunge and tried Wen. Mainly due to all the hype about it, but also because I was beginning to have some allergic reactions to shampoos and conditioners. I must say it has changed my life.
The frizz immediately was decreased by like 50% and by using a tiny bit of the styling creme and the new Pomegranate finishing cream my frizz is down to about 1% and only on really humid days.
Of course now I have to deal with going gray at only 25. It's interspersed throughout my whole head and very noticeable against my natural medium brown color.
And I agree that long hair is beautiful. After a horrific experience with a bob back in middle school I have kept it long, despite having to deal with snide comments about long hair from my one Aunt every holiday.
I had an unhealthy relationship with my hair for years. I used to put relaxers in it, curling irons, flat irons, whatever; all to achieve that "good hair" look. What I was really doing, though, was destroying my natural hair. It was a dry, crunchy and just horrible looking.
Finally, in a fit of rage, I grabbed a handful and chopped it off. After realizing what I had done, a friend of mine cut it down to a short Afro.
I let my hair grow out and ended up locking it. Now my dreads are past my shoulders, healthy, thick and full. I love it :)
I have wild wavy/curly hair. It does whatever it wants no matter what I do...si I just let it go. Finally I have learned to love it...but it has to be at least shoulder length or it puffs out llike clown hair. Short hair is bad hair for me.
well i have been dyeing my hair as long as I can remember with only short periods where it grew out to its natural color. I decided for my 50 birthday i will let the color grow out and see how much gray there is and if it looks better then the lighter washed out hair it usually looks like when i grow it out. I had lovely hair when I was young the color that is the hair itself looks better now. so 6 months and counting to no more dye. well until I see what it looks like. and my solution to long hair is Hair extensions. Expensive ones are really the only way to go but they give you lovely long healthy looking hair without the headaches and split ends.
Thanks for asking about hair. It is an issue for so many of us. During my teenage years I had long super-curly hair, when the current 'fashion' was stick-straight. So of course I destroyed it by straightening, ironing (with an iron!) and sleeping on orange juice cans rolled into my hair. Yak. Happily, those days are long over.
Once I started getting some grays I colored my dark auburn hair with synthetic dyes. After about five years of this I delevoped a SEVERE ALLERGY to the toxins in dyes. Yikes. Now what? I didn't want to let the gray out because it just made me look old. I love silver-white hair, but mine is nowhere near that yet. Ahhh, what to do?
Then the heavens opened and I discovered henna. Hallelujah! Now my hair is gloriously nourished by this wonderful gift from the Goddess. It looks better than ever and the color lasts and lasts. I'll always be a redhead now. (interested in learning more? go to http://www.mehandi.com/
The henna here is vastly superior to other commercial hennas and the dye content is, (tee hee hee,) to die for.
Also I have to mention Deva Curl products for curly girlz. Can't do witout them and my curls are nourished and well-defined, never frizzy. Henna and Deva Curl products have saved my crowning glory!
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