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
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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”