PANDEMIC HAIR UPDATE: two years and counting!

I cannot believe that it has been nearly TWO YEARS since I had a professional hair cut. I was cutting it myself for a while, with a razor comb, and for a WHILE it looked OK. . .then when it stopped looking OK, I was surprised to find there were things I liked about it (along with things I DIDN'T like about it). This is as close to blonde as I've ever been since early childhood. I have more than two months to wait to get it cut, and by then I should be wearing it in braids.

UPDATE TO THE UPDATE! YEAH! I got it cut! NOT radically, as I went to a brand-new stylist, which I haven't done in 20+ years. But I figured I must have been a very low priority to my former stylist to put me off for ten weeks or so. You'd think there would be a tad more loyalty displayed to a 20-year customer. I told the lady who books appointments for her, "I only need a cut", thinking that would get me in sooner - but it was the opposite. She has filled up her schedule with ornate "dos", perhaps in anticipation of Christmas, and a mere cut doesn't bring in much revenue. So it seems I went to the bottom of the heap.

Meantime - I walked into Superstore, no appointment, went to the salon which is part of the store, and ten minutes later was having an expert cut and hearing about how GORGEOUS my hair is (I'm only quoting!), and how I shouldn't get it coloured or cut too short (which I didn't!). "You have grey hair with highlights? Is this natural? I've never seen that before. No, I mean it. It doesn't even look grey, it looks blonde, with lighter-blonde streaks." She did say it, readers, that's verbatim. 

I haven't felt this good about my hair in - ever, I guess. THEN came the ultimate compliment: we went over to my son's house for dinner, and my VERY style-conscious 16-year-old (blonde) granddaughter Erica looked closely at me and said, "I like your hair." She has never said anything like that before! Though the stylist took maybe 1/2" to 1" off, it now has some shape to it, and some of the heavy, dense "flop" at the back is lighter - meaning the natural curl has sprung back to life. And yeah, I DO have natural curl - but who knew?

Sorry if this sounds narcissistic, but wow! This is just a parable of how the worst thing ("oh my God, I haven't had a haircut in a year and a half and it looks DREADFUL") can come out better than you hoped. And this is as blonde as I've ever been in my life. For 30+ years, I covered it up because stylists INSISTED that grey was the enemy, grey was ugly, grey made you look "older" (the WORST thing that can happen to a woman!), and I had to pony up and have them cut it and colour the daylights out of it. Now I see how much of this was and is economically-driven. 

Dye jobs cost. Perms cost, Straightening costs. So does curling. Taking the curl OUT, putting the curl IN. This lady said, "Oh, you have such nice hair!", then neatened up the back and tapered the ends and made it into a hair style. It cost me $30.00, including a 20% tip. Lesson learned? 

This whole thing reminds me of renovating an old house that has had nothing done to it for decades, then ripping up the rotten old "wall-to-wall" carpet that used to cover up the "ugly"  flooring - and discovering gorgeous, glossy, nearly-new-looking hardwood underneath. But in my day, a million years ago, hardwood meant you were "poor" and couldn't afford to look luxurious. It was as if hardwood was just compacted dirt. Now we see things kind of differently.

🧓 IS IT OK TO GO GREY? 🧓

I guess it is!

PANDEMIC HAIR: stages of grief

IN THE BEGINNING. Unable to see stylist. Taking matters into my own hands, began to trim the ends off with a razor comb. Colored it with something called hair mascara. Did photo shoot with cat for Facebook page.

 

Quite a few months in. (Already lost track of time.) Not happy about my attempts to keep it short. Natural colour showing through (grey or blonde or what??). Keep thinking about making an appointment, and not making an appointment.

 

PANDEMIC PONYTAIL. More than a year in. No more razor combs, no more hair mascara. This is what it looks like. First, I haven’t worn a ponytail since I was eight. I haven’t seen my natural colour (whatever you call this - I will call it blonde, but in natural light it looks grey) in over 30 years. It is a totally different texture, the annoyingly tickly cornsilk of my childhood. I wore the same side part and barrette when I was five years old. I think my stylist would scream if she saw what has become of me, but if the entire world changes, so does your identity.

Acceptance?? I look ten years older than I did a year ago, but then, a lot has happened, and NOT happened, and my hair is the least of it.

I am back to my five-year-old hair. But at least I look happier now.

Pulp Riot Hair Colour!

Though I don't think I'd ever have it done (conservative me), I was surprised to see how cool some of these are. The multicolor/rainbowy ones are most appealing, and some have a kind of silvery/metallic sheen to them. I'm most taken with the ones that look more like - well - hair. Long tumbly hair that has a kind of kaleidoscopic effect when it moves. Shaven looks have never appealed to me much, but even that grows out, doesn't it? I can see my grandkids getting into this, to the consternation of their parents. But it does wash out eventually, doesn't it?

UPDATE. Just went to spend Thanksgiving Sunday with my daughter's family, and saw Caitlin's new hair: strawberry pink! It looked lovely, with many different shades of rose, pink and auburn skilfully streaked and blended through her naturally chestnut hair. With her red-haired skin coloring, it looked great. Then Shannon told me the price tag - somewhere around $300.00. Luckily, she "knew a guy".