Let’s talk about our hair.
I know this isn’t the most thrilling subject, but if you and I met for coffee this week, it’s one I’d probably work into the conversation somehow because it is just on my mind a lot lately.
Here are three* questions I REALLY want to hear your responses to. (And my own answers just in case you care.) Thanks in advance!
Do you have gray hair? Do you color it? Do you plan to? How/when will you decide?
I have A LOT of gray hair. My dad was fully gray by 40, and I imagine I will be too if I let it happen naturally. I started coloring my hair a little – I’ve tried an all over wash that matches my natural color and lighter/gold-ish highlights – this year, but I don’t love it. Depending on how the light hits it, I feel like it looks “fake” – at least in pictures – and I hate that. I’m tempted to “go gray,” but the process stresses me out and – though I love it on other women – I really don’t love that look either with my pale skin and freckles. I think I’d like to go all over lighter, but I’m afraid of doing something too drastic.
What’s your daily hair routine? How often do you wash it? Do you have products or tools you swear by?
Y’all, I think I might be the only woman in the WORLD still doing this, but I shower and wash my hair every single day – pretty much without fail. It isn’t because my hair is particularly oily (although some days my bangs are a little by the evening), but really just because it is a habit, and I feel like I NEED a shower to wake me up and make me “look” alive in the morning. Based on the ten million things I’ve heard/read, I feel pretty confident that my hair would look better if I washed it less often, but I just can’t.
As far as styling and products, I use Garnier Fructis shampoo and conditioner (currently), then blow dry and straighten every day. Occasionally, I will top of my ‘do’ with some hair spray, but usually not. If my hair air dries, it is AWFUL – frizzy and wavy, but not in a cute way.
Do you have a “signature hair cut”? What about a “mom cut”? A standard hair style? Who is your hair inspiration? What would you do to your hair if you weren’t scared?
My junior year in college, while studying abroad in London, I let a (possiblyslightlytipsy) roommate give me bangs. Initially, it was pretty devastating; but, luckily, I was in a city where anything goes; and I actually ended up liking the growing out process. I have had some variation of bangs – mostly a slide “swoop,” occasionally a little more blunt – ever since. My hair also doesn’t really grow past my shoulders (except for during my pregnancy with Sam and right after he was born when it grew like crazy – it’s been the opposite with Nora), so I keep a pretty simple bob somewhere between my shoulders and my chin. When I’m feeling particularly wild, I have the hair dresser chop the back a little shorter than the front. Either way, it’s totally a mom hair cut.
My hair is coarse and thin. In other words, every girl’s dream. (Not.) I am SO envious of girls that can pull off the messy top bun or the cute braided looks, but I don’t have enough hair for that. I mostly just wear mine down and tucked behind my ears; and lately I’ve been adding a little wave with the straightener sometimes. Other than that, I’m a big fan of a low (slightly to the side) ponytail or (tiny) knot. Wild, I know.
I’m always hoping my hair will look like Reese Witherspoon’s, Jennifer Garner’s, or, most recently, Felicity Jones’s – but it a few days after a fresh cut, it usually defaults back to Ramona Quimby. 😉
When I start going crazy on Pinterest, I’m really tempted to go with a super short bob OR try the asymmetrical bob (like this), but I’m not brave enough yet. (The shaving underneath scares me too much!) Maybe one day. (What do you think?)
So, let’s chat! Leave your response to any or all of these questions in the comments!
*three questions actually = twelve questions in English-teacher speak
E
P.S. A few links from around the world wide web since we’re on the subject…
From Kendra: “Why I’m Letting My Hair Go Gray”
From Tsh: “On Going Gray in My Thirties”
From Amanda: “I’d Like to Know How Beyonce Is Dealing with This”
From Lauren Conrad: “How to Do the Non-Mom Bob”
From SNL: “The Cut”
I have super thick wavy hair & i used to keep it long.. but I was a slave to the messy bun. Every day I’d wear my hair in a bun, without fail. No one knew what I looked like wearing my hair down. So one December in 2014, I chopped it off & did a “lob” – they’re very in right now. And I’ve kept it short ever since. I even cut it to my jaw line a few months ago & I love it. It makes it SO much easier to straighten when my hair is thinned out & there’s less of it.
I only wash my hair maybe once every 3 days. Unless it gets gross in that time frame… I do work out nearly every day, so sometimes it’s more frequently but generally it’s only about once every 3 days. It’s all about how your hair reacts the best!
Love this post! Apologies in advance for the novel I’m about to write. 🙂
1. I am definitely going gray (my dad was completely gray by 30). I’m not progressing that fast, but I have been coloring because I’m still in my 20’s and just don’t feel right about gray hair right now. I found a new stylist last summer & while expensive, I have gotten more compliments in the last year than ever before. The color looks natural and she found a length that works great with my also very thin hair. I hate shelling out for the cut/color, but for now I’m able to go twice or so a year if I push it. I’m going to do that for as long as possible because I know I’ll have to go more often as the gray increases. I personally feel that gray unnecessarily ages younger women and will put off going gray as long as possible. My mom, who just turned 57 is completely gray but colors her hair, has been talking about making the switch to gray and I am begging her to hold off. She looks so young (I hope I’m blessed with her genes ha!) and I think it will age her too much. I may change my tune in a few years, though. Some of her friends are all gray and look great!
2. My thin hair has totally benefited from washing less. I can usually only go two days, but it has made a huge difference in how oily my hair is overall (& let’s be honest, that extra sleep in the morning is awesome). I have found that spraying on dry shampoo at night (a lot of it so your head is basically white) and letting it sit overnight is the key to getting an extra day without washing. It felt so strange at first, but now that I color, I’m glad I’m able to wash it less. My fave is Not Your Mother’s Clean Freak Dry Shampoo. It is inexpensive (just bought it buy one get one half off at Walgreens), comes in a travel size & they just came out with an unscented version that is great. I splurge on my shampoo and use Kerastase Bain Chroma Capitve (color shampoo). I use Oribe Royal Blowout Heat Styling Spray when I blow dry. I read about it on a blog years ago and it lasts forever and makes my hair shiny & smooth. I tend to find something that works and stick with it. I don’t like to spend a lot of time on my hair (it takes me about 7 minutes to style/blow dry).
3. I’m pretty low maintenance and don’t like any beauty routine that takes too much time. I’m never going to be the girl who curls her hair with a flat iron even though I love the look. Finding a stylist who understood my hair type & my routine/what I am willing to do with my hair everyday helped so much. The style she cuts is super easy for me to style everyday & doesn’t require a lot of products. It took me a long time to move away from “just a trim” but I’m so glad I let her make the choices she did. It’s nothing crazy, but the length & layers have made a huge difference in my overall look & helped helped me feel more pulled together. I always used to wear my hair below my shoulders, but that length really weighed down my thin hair.
1. I am almost 41, so there are a few gray strands here and there but I have lighter natural hightlights so you don’t notice too much. I am very low maintenance, so I plan on leaving it this way for the foreseeable future. Maybe if I feel like they become too much and make me “look” too old will be when I decide to color. Until then, I want to age naturally (and gracefully).
2. Like you, I need a shower to wake up, so my hair is washed every day. I have a dry scalp with our South Texas heat, so I use Head and Shoulders. A little styling gel to pull it into a bun or ponytail and I am done. I have two left hands when it comes to hair tools or any style fancier than a braid. I wish I had hair skills so I could style my hair, but especially my daughter’s.
3. My hair is between chin to shoulder length depending on how often I cut it (avg of twice a year). Because of the heat and the fact I hate it in my face, I always have it pulled back in a bun/tail when my bob grows out (which is a week after I cut..hence the lack of haircuts). My 15 month old son doesn’t recognize me with my hair down! I plan to chop it off to a short bob once school is out, but I guess I will still be rocking a “mom” cut even then.
This is great!
1. I have a few random grays, but nothing pervasive or “taking over” yet. I’ve pretty much been my natural color (with highlights maybe 3 or 4 times…ever) my whole life until this past February, when I decided to just go fifty shades of red because what the hell. 😉 I am loving it, and just had my first touch-up a few weeks ago. I don’t really have a long-term plan at this point as to whether I’ll keep dying it or go back to my natural color…just playing it by ear now! I also cut off my hair that I’ve been wearing really long for years, and now it’s a much shorter “lob,” that I also really love. I’m in a happy place with my hair these days!!
2. I have been a nighttime showerer and hair washer (every day) my whole life…until last month, when I (RELUCTANTLY) started getting up to run in the mornings. That means I have to shower in the morning, which leads to the dreaded BLOW DRYER, which I despise. And with my new shorter hair, I really prefer to ‘fix’ it everyday and not just wear a ponytail or bun (which was what happened 80% of the time when it was long), so all of a sudden I’m spending a lottttttt more time (and products) on my hair. I use Paul Mitchell shampoo and conditioner and was just introduced to “My Amazing Blow Dry Secret” (that’s actually the name…) spray that is completely miraculous and majorly cut down the time it takes to blow dry. Once my hair is dry, I use a flat iron to curl it or straighten it. It really doesn’t curl as well when I’ve just showered (too clean, I guess), but I like it better curled than straightened. It curls best if I shower and wash it at night. SO basically right now I’m choosing between healthy body (get up, run, shower, straight hair) or pretty hair…haha.
Sorry for the novel!
So my default hair is pretty much just like yours – a bob between my shoulders and chin. I’ve tried growing mine out in the past, and it got pretty long at one point, but then it was always flat on top and big on the ends, and I just wasn’t crazy about the way it looked when it wasn’t in a ponytail or bun. So back to the bob I went. It really is a good cut for my face anyway. I have been more adventurous though and done a really short bob and an asymmetrical bob, like the picture you posted! Sometimes intentionally, sometimes a happy accident. 😉 I prefer it to be just a smooth bob that hits right at my chin though. I don’t color my hair all the time, but occasionally I’ll get red and blonde highlights like I have right now. Dove moisture rescue is my favorite shampoo, and I love the Chi protecting spray when I straighten my hair!
Great post! I am curious about what other people do to take care of their hair!
1. I have some gray strands starting and they really stand out in my dark brown hair. I have no inclination at the present time to dye them, and I do not see myself dying my hair in the future (future self, remember this!)
2. I do wash my hair everyday, but that is because I work out almost every day and it gets soaked with sweat (TMI? Sorry.) My hair is really thick and has a lot of texture/curl, so I wash it at night (current favorite shampoo/conditioner: Dove), comb it out, and in the morning blow dry it straight and run a flat iron over it (it is easier to pull back post-exercise when it is straight).
3. Whatever my cut is, it has to involve a lot of layers!
1. i’ve plucked 2 greys and i’m not ready to go grey and i’m not ready to drop bags of cash on professional dye and i’m also convinced that at-home stuff looks fake. and that run-on sentence is to say: i’m freaked out about this aspect of aging 🙁 please figure it out flawlessly and let me know the results!
2. i wash my hair 2X a week. i got into this habit in college when i was in college and on accutane — which totally eliminates all oil so you are DRY. now i mostly do it bc i’m lazy and bc my kids dont care what i look like.
3. i want a lob, but i’m not sure if i can upkeep it yet. maybe in the fall 🙂
(HA! i was just skimming your post to see if i missed anything saw my link. [kissy face emoji!])