A love hate relationship it has always been.It’s great hair, I’ve* just done disastrous things to it or nothing at all. Bad cuts are ok as a kid, or at least you can hide them.
Eugene, OR circa 1975
Circa ’75 w/bonnet
Circa ’79 Bowl-cut w/wicker
Circa ’79 w/towel
Circa ’81
My 1st Mullet
Today. Too dark, unstyled, increasingly silver.
This pose works much better w/a bowl cut.
I am at a complete and total loss as to what to do so I sent out a plea for help. A friend sent me this (she literally uses another language):
I have greys/whites by my temples and forehead. What I do, colour-wise that works for me (and I’ve tried absolutely everything under the sun, short of shaving all my damn hair off):
It’s called “baliage” (yeah, French for “I sound really expensive and arrogant”). Any stylist/colourist can do it. I usually get an overall colour that is a version of warm light brown, but what I ask for is to gradually lighten the colour towards the ends (especially underneath).. so that the ends look like they’ve been out in the sun. It doesn’t come out looking two-tone, it looks totally natural, and without that stripy-highlights look that starts at the root of your head and goes all the way down like traditional highlights do. So the stylist covers the greys adn most of the hair with that warmer colour and then gradually blends in a lighter shade/highlight colour towards the middle/end of the hair. The bonus is that even 4 months later, you can’t see my roots grow out and I still have grey coverage, along with the nicely highlighted bits. I love it.
Plus, with my square jaw and oval/long face, I have very long layers, and this colouring style works, because it doesn’t look too “done” and fussy. It works with any colour really, as long as the hair isn’t too light blonde.
Then I wrote to my cousin who is a Redken wizard. I sent this:
Ok, here’s a pic. The last time I got it done I asked her to make everything the color of my roots (a dark, ashy brown yikes) and to add a bit of red. The stylist made it that dark brown that looks purple in the sunlight. I hated it. So now I am wondering if I should go back to something lighter. The silver hairs make me sad. Also, it seems to be getting kind of wavy and unruly. I have a little cowlick on the front, today’s part is to the middle which is unusual. I am liking the length, but I get so jealous of women who look like they stay on top of their hair, I want it to look somewhat polished because of my job.
Ugh, I’m a mess, huh?
She responded with this:
First off you’re beautiful and not a mess!!!!
What I am hearing is you’re ok with the cut but if your color was right you would be over the moon!!!
She took you a bit dark.. No worries
Tell her you need a bit of demention
Would like your base to be a level 6 nbr!!
That is natrual brown red!! You look like a 5 or even a 4 right now so she should be able to put some light bits in under your part line and lift you a bit!!! Tone your light bits to a high 7 and you should feel better!!
Your cut is nice very hot right now I would take you to a texture bob!!!with a slight swoop bang!!!
Too bad I am so far away I would glam you out!!
Good luck send pics:)
Xxoo
W
I think I may share this entire entry with the next person to do my hair. Think it’ll translate? Scratch that, keep me company and tell me your hair woes.
*Note I do not hold my mom accountable for the cuts. xo
In the fourth grade all of my friends were boys and to fit in I spiked my hair…think short spiky boy-cut, everything short of those razored stripes above the ears. It was BAD. I am not cute in very short hair, a lesson I should have learned in the fourth grade but sadly, did not.
These days I go for flat and formless. Also bad, but doesn’t take as long to grow out. I have no idea what any of your friends are talking about (oy, the hair terms!), but my gray hairs are starting to make me sad, so let me know if it all works out!
I love the swoop bang idea! Since moving back I have been to four different stylists because finding just the right one is so tough. But really… how hard is it to cut long layers??? I have been tempted to do the side bang also but wasn’t chancing it with someone I wasn’t comfortable with yet. I have done the highlights but they are just way to hard to maintain for me right now. Also did the red thing and was never really happy. Red never lasts as long so the cost to up keep never fit into the budget either.
I am kinda jealous that your hair naturally does the curly thing. You have a lot of versatility that way. There are stylists out there that specialize in curly hair and is even something called the “Diva” hair cut with a version for people who like to blow out their curly hair straight.
I know I have said this before but I want the InStyler! I want my flat straight hair to look like Julia Roberts’ while still being able to run my hands through it. Too much product in my hair makes me nuts!!!
I also love the swoop bang idea – I had that before I cut my hair short last august and I miss it SOOO much. *sob*
I hope she meant dimension, because demention you may have in spades. :p
Actually, I think you are gorgeous, regardless of your hair color. Your hair is so thick and healthy
Ok, friend. Settle in for a reeeealllly long comment. It seems that we may have something besides the-mutual-respect-of-the bananus in common. Hair drama. I swear, if I’m not struggling to get the cut I want, I’m fighting tooth-and-split-end to get the color I want. I actually told a friend of mine recently that I think I really pissed-off the hair gods at some mystic juncture. Sigh.
So, my last color treatment (back to my previously colored light blond) damaged my hair so badly that many pieces around my hair and crown broke off. Now, in the sunlight, I have a really short, frizzy halo encircling my head. At least I look angelic??? And because I usually blow dry and flat iron my hair (it’s really curly), I can’t because of the breakage. So I’m loving my look now. Blond, halo-frizz afro. Super.
I think you and your hair are gorgeous. Wanna switch?
Ask your husband what I looked like when I was in 8th grade. My Ukrainian electrified afro short hair was NOTHING compared to my lovely, silky-haired unshaven legs. Oh, and once when I was 12, a stylist cut my hair into a mushroom shape and left some oh-so-fashionable rat-tails to dangle attractively at my neck. Remember those? Yeah. Rock on.
Mine is falling out. Seriously. It’s gotten so thin and fine if I don’t part it on the side you can see through to my scalp sometimes. There is nothing quite like thinning hair on a woman to make her feel like crap. Sigh-h-h …