5 Weeks: The Haircut

I have been a slacker-mcSlacky-ton about posting.  Between hunting for jobs, redecorating the house and pretending to unpack, I confess I haven't been much in the mood.  But!  The time has come!


So, as we noticed in my travel picture, my hair had been turning a very strange blue/gray with glints of purple and pink in it. Yeesh!  I spent some time cruising Yelp looking for a good hair salon and found one I thought had enough positive reviews to justify the expense. 


I have a really hard time paying more than $25 for a haircut because I am never happy with the results.  Oh, this haircut cost me $8? I hate it.  Oh, this haircut cost me $120?  I hate it.  So why bother?  But I decided to give it another try. 

So this is my hair before I went to get it cut.  You can see that it looks a little brown-er probably because I had about 1/2 inch of my natural color coming through.  I compared it to my Day 1 picture and didn't really see that much difference length-wise. Most of the growth I see is in the sides.  


I went to Rumors Hair Studio in Silverdale, Washington and was set up with Kristi.  I told her that I feel like my hair needed some texture and she agreed vehemently.  She described its current look as "heavy", which makes sense because though my hair is straight, it is obscenely dense.  So we decided that maybe some trimming around my ears and a bit of texturizing through the top would make a lot of difference. 

Then came the discussion of color.  What color do I want it? Good lord, I don't know.  You pick.  So she chose a nice warm brown that has glints of gold in it when it hits the light.  And the final result.......

I like!  My bangs aren't sitting flat across my forehead like Russell Crowe in Gladiator anymore, so yay for small victories.  When I put product in it and fluff it I can get some height without looking like Johnny Bravo.

Now I'm really looking forward to allowing the length to come in.   I made another appointment for 8 weeks from now to get a cleanup so we'll see how it goes. 

Day 20: Travel Times

I've been moving across the country for the last week. Without internet for about 40% of it.  How did we live before the internet? 

I brought my awesome wig along with me, but honestly with traveling for 8+ hours a day, I barely had the energy to put on makeup, much less take care of a wig, so it just sat in the cab of my truck.  How do you keep up with your beauty routine when you're traveling?

Some days weren't so bad.  Here's a  picture of us at the Bean in Chicago.  Some Covergirl Outlast lipstick in Ever Red-dy and a coat of black eyeliner made me look pretty presentable for some touristy city activities.  I just combed my hair with a deep side part to give it some style beyond my "anime character who has been shocked by Picachu" look I usually have when I wake up in the morning.

I'm looking far less presentable here.  We'd driven for 10 hours, then sat in traffic at Bozeman, Montana for 45 minutes due to blasting and paving. I think I may have managed to put on some eyeliner?   I will say this picture emphasizes how key accessorizing can be to feeling feminine while your hair is short.  The combination of the scarf (a Christmas gift from my best friend) and larger earrings keep me from looking a little too butch-y.  Also, why does it look like my hair is turning gray? Oh, right. Because in spite of the fact that I used a protein filler when I colored over the bleached-blonde, it is still bleeding dye.



So my husband will likely leave for a three month deployment within the week.  The question is: do I have it cut again to get rid of the awful (supremely unhealthy) bleached parts? After all, he'll be gone, so its not like he'll be upset over my Bootcamp Standard haircut.  Or do I put one more layer of dye over it to cover that faded black?

Day 11: I Am Wigging Out!

After discussing it a bit with friends and my ever tolerant-of-my-hair-adventures husband, I decided to look into buying a wig.  If you've ever considered purchasing a wig, I say you should do it. It's just another fashion accessory in our arsenal of headbands, hairclips, nail extensions and padded bras. 
Here's the other thing: an inexpensive synthetic wig with proper care should last you roughly a month.  Also known as the amount of time it takes for me to get bored with my hair and begin chopping and/or dying it into nonexistence.  Why had this never occured to me before?  When I want to be a redhead, I'll be a redhead!  When I want to have long flowing blonde locks, I'll go buy them!  When I want to have a short, sophisticated brunette 'do for work, I shall put it on my wig-capped dome! And my poor abused hair can finally get some rest.  And maybe we'll see what color it actually is all by itself!

Now I know that there's some weird stigma about wigs, but I've never understood why.  Extensions are acceptable, what is the difference other than one doesn't end up giving you alopecia and requiring you wear them for the rest of your life.  So!  I bought a wig.  And considering all four of my best female friends have the most gorgeous curls, that's right, I bought a curly one. 

The last time I hated my haircut, in desperation I went to buy a wig... A chin length dishwaster blonde one, because I wanted to be able to fool people.  I never wore it because it was HORRID.  But this one, this is a thing of beauty.  So I give to you: Jackie from Freetress.  Thoughts?

Day 6: Short Hair & Skin Care

Are you the type who frequently falls asleep in their makeup?   Who forgets to put on moisturizer in the morning or sunscreen when you're about to spend all day outside.  Let me just say: if you're not willing to change these habits a pixie haircut may not be for you.

There's no fall of hair to cover an outbreak of pimples, a sunburn or that heinous mark on your neck left by a man in your life.  You absolutely have to take care of your skin. This is especially hard for me because when I get a zit, I cannot leave that shit be.  Ugh. But I'm trying to get better.

My skincare routine consists of mostly Burt's Bees.  This is because if I try to change moisturizers, I will break out, so I'm stuck with what I started using several years ago.  In the morning, I use the day moisturizer with SPF.  My BB cream or foundation for the day also usually has SPF in it.  At night, I use Cetaphil to remove my makeup, then layer on Burt's Bees Night Cream pretty thick, with their eye cream to keep the wrinkles at bay.

What does your skincare routine consist of?  Do you take care of your skin or deal with the issues the next day?

Today's look: The headband I rocked for my wedding, a bit of Paul Mitchell texturizing cream and a brown smokey eye. Yay for warm colors and fall!  I changed the direction of my part to see if the cowlick behaved better.  Lo and behold, I have the same cowlick on the other side.  Sigh.....

Day 3 of Haircut: Headbands Are a Girl's Best Friend

I need more headbands.  Three, four hundred more headbands.  They add sparkle, color and texture to hair that can feel one dimensional and boring.  So at the risk of looking like a MySpace outtake, I took a high angled picture of my current headband and so you could see some of the other fun perks of having short hair.

Look how thin my face is! What a dream come true. Anyway. So this is a cute plastic tortoiseshell headband I picked up at Stop & Shop while grocery shopping.  I'm also rocking my hair product free, and so, super flat.

You'll notice that there's a bobby pin holding my bangs down.  That's because I have a super fun cowlick that works great when I want to pouf it up, but is less than stellar when I want it down.  Hairstylists have always told me that if I pin it down every day, it'll eventually "train" into the spot I want it.  Since I've been old enough to buy my own bobby pins, I have found this to be a lie. I can only pin, flat iron, and product it into submission for one day.

Another fun part of having short hair is showing off your outrageous earring collection.  Now is the best time to wear those long, swingy chandelier style earrings because they won't get caught in your fabulous bouncy hair. 

As a final note, I still am sometimes surprised when I see myself in reflections without makeup or... you know.... effort put into my appearance.  Who is that fat little boy?? But, maybe this is a semi-good thing, as I will remember to do my hair/makeup after my morning workout.

Day 1 of Haircut: I Been Pixiefied

Auburn at the start of the year

How many times in the last year do you think you've dyed your hair?  I'm not talking about touching up at the roots or refreshing a color with a semi-permanent... I'm talking full on "new me!" hair color. 

Well, since January of this year, my hair has been auburn, highlighted blonde, chocolate brown, light brown, bright purple, pink lemonade, bright red, and now...... a black that is way more blue than originally intended.  This is because I have dyed my hair so many times by this point, it can no longer hold color.  Even a sulfate-free shampoo will cause the water swirling down the drain of my shower to mimic the color of my hair.

Blonde

 

 In protest of the constant fading to a washed out version of my hair color of choice, I have chopped it to an extremely short pixie.  And because I have done this before, I know it is frustratingly difficult to find ideas on how to style your hair, how to apply makeup to work the look to your advantage and even how your clothing style may change. Especially when you are not the waif-like celebrities who you admire rocking the pixie style in most blogs and Pinterest.

Purple and short after a highlighting incident

 So my hope is that I can help people who are trying to style their hair, their makeup, and their clothes after they've left the salon, whether its because you've destroyed your hair like I have or because you love your new short hair!  Please feel free to email me if there's something you'd love to see, advice you need, or your own adventures in pixieland. I'd love to pretend this blog will be about me embarking on my journey through healthy hair by cutting off all the dye and never doing it again, but anyone who knows me knows this is just not possible.  I will be growing it out, with possibly one more trim in a month or two to get rid of the remaining bleach portions and subsequent trims styling it to avoid the danger zone of mullet territory. 


And now the moment we've all been waiting for....  day one of pixie haircut.

I worked in some FX Surfhead Extreme Texturizing Paste into the top of my hair for some faux-hawky goodness.  Today I used a picture of Katy Perry to inspire my makeup.  For the eyes, I used MAC Rondelle on my eyelids and under my lower lash line, Rimmel Soft Kohl in Pure White on my waterline, Eyeko Skinny Liquid Liner in Black for my top lid, Benefit They're Real Mascara in Black.
On my cheeks I have MAC blush in Peachykeen  and my lips are MAC Plushglass in Fulfilled.