Friday, April 13, 2012

I need a haircut.

In college I started going to a hair salon down the street.  I started with a junior stylist named Fawn, and when Fawn left and went to another salon, I went there too, and when Fawn started her own salon, I went there for the next fifteen years.  As we ping ponged around the state to north Jersey and south Jersey and back again, I kept going to that salon, even though by then it was over an hour away.

After I had children I found that it was becoming nearly impossible to make the trip--a haircut and highlights was usually at least three hours time in the salon, plus two hours driving there and back added up to a prohibitive amount of babysitting time, plus the cost of the services.  I got recommendations from friends and tried a number of salons closer to home.  None of them were very good, and some of them were truly terrible.  After the world's most horrendous mullet, I gave up.  I kept going to Fawn, although instead of every six weeks it became more every four or five months.  I gave up being blond and went back to mousy brown/just cover up the gray color, which lasted much longer between visits.

Last week Greg found a picture of me from a few years ago, where I had a shorter, edgy blond cut and was wearing makeup.  "Hey Mom! Look! Its a picture you when you were pretty! That was before you had kids, right?"

I have been thinking lately that I need a haircut and my gray hairs need some covering up.  I guess that was the confirmation I needed.

Unfortunately, this means I have to try a new salon. My luck in that department for the last twenty years has not been great.  I am dreading getting a new cut and color.

There is a lot of Very Nice Hair here.  I notice, however, that nearly everyone has Very Long Hair here.  Not even medium long hair.  Its not quite Krystal Gale hair, but its definitely middle of the back, long, shiny, healthy, lustrous hair.

I do not have long, shiny, lustrous hair.  I have medium-ish, thin, scraggly, split-endsy hair.  Clearly I would prefer shiny, lustrous hair, but as Greg so aptly pointed out, my children stole both my youth and my hair.

Getting a portrait of your own hair from the back is not all that easy.


I generally wear the Ponytail of Defeat most days.


Have you ever had a keratin treatment on your hair?  You know, the Brazilian Blowout kind that gives you cancer?  There are no lengths I will not suffer for beauty, unless of course it involves wearing makeup or uncomfortable shoes or pants that are not sweatpants, but still, I am willing to pay lots of money for pretty hair.

Do I just cut it off? I have spent two years growing this mop out, but am less than thrilled with the results. I want to walk into John Frieda and say "do what you will!  Give me a haircut that makes me HAWT and disguises my large posterior!" but rumor has it that John Frieda charges $750 for haircuts.  Although I would totally pay $750 for a haircut that makes me hot and disguises my posterior.

Advise, invisible internet friends.  

10 comments:

  1. All that Very Long Hair in SoCal can be attributed to extensions. Go for it!!!

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  2. Usually I go to Yelp, find the highest rated Aveda place closest to me, look for the person who gets the most good comments, make an appt with her, and then say "FIX THIS PLEASE." But I have a pretty good idea of what style looks best on me and so I kind of know what to tell them to do.
    I too dream of long flowing thick lustrous hair, but what happens is that I spent six months growing it out, it's fine, limp, and sad, I put it in a ponytail all the time, and then I go and get it all cut off, and then feel sad about my mom hair, and start growing it out again. I will say though at least a good hair cut helps a cute bob feel less sad.

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  3. Ha! I love "the ponytail of defeat." That made my day actually.

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  4. Ah, here's something I know about - the good news is, you're in the land of Good Blonde Hair (and even some that's not long, though that's the cultural preference). You won't have to travel an hour to find a good spot, though if you felt so inclined I'd have a few good San Diego rec's.

    As far as finding a place, in addition to online reviews I'm not shy about accosting total strangers with suspiciously nice highlights & cut. All's fair in the name of good hair, right?

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  5. You are so cute! Instead of the POD, blow your hair out with a big round brush, then take the middle section and put it straight back in a barrette. Like a half ponytail? That, plus threaded/waxed eyebrows will make you even more cute!

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  6. Are you kidding, I can't figure my own hair out. I have no idea, but the last hairdresser I found that I loved (also before kids) was by asking a woman with stunningly beautiful hair ....where do you get your hair cut? Good luck!

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  7. What @kim said - they're wearing hair extensions.

    I bet you have the skills to rock the at-home hair color, if you so desired.

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  8. Welcome to Orange County, where there is no limit to time or money spent on looks. Unless you are willing to take time to "do" your hair everyday don't spend the money on an expensive haircut. Find someone whose hair you like and ask them where they go. Most likely it will just be the local salon. Ask the stylist to show you how to do a good blow out and buy a round brush and a straightener. Be careful though, pretty soon you will also be wondering how to get that healthy sun-kissed look and those perky breasts! ;)

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  9. I have had the keratin treatment, and if you can get past the first 4 (!) days of dirty, glue-like hair, then it is wonderful!!! Soft, shiny, and beautiful! BUT, the volume of your hair will decrease dramatically. I have a ton of hair so it was allright, but for someone with less volume, i have heard that they feel like their hair looks too thin. They have some you can do at home too.

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