Whoooooooo Hoooooooo . It's Friday again which means that if I survive until 5pm I have two days off to look forward to. It also means it's time to play Favourite Things Friday again. I'd love to see your Favourite Things this week so feel free to link on up and shamelessly tell us all about one of your Favourites.
When I was little I had very dark, very straight very shiny hair, and I took it totally for granted. I used to stay out in the sun without a hat , and use non coated elastic bands. My Mum used to wash our hair with shampoo only and then let it dry naturally into shape by sticky taping it to our foreheads. I guess they didn't have blow dryers in the dark ages. And my hair always bounced back. Those were the days my friends- those were the days. I didn't realise how good I had it.
In my teens I got a mullet...I don't want to talk about that. In my own defence - it was the fashion at the time. Yes -I have pictures. No - you cant see them.
In my 20's I started torturing my hair with cutting, colouring and perming. I also found my first grey hair (on my 29th birthday no less !) I ditched the sticky tape and started using a glob of mousse and a blow dryer-every single day. And I used whatever shampoo they had on special at the supermarket. 99 cents for a whole bottle is a bargain. And still my hair remained shiny and gorgeous and dark and sleek with very little effort on my part.
In my 30's I discovered the joys of hair product. Lots of hair products in fact . I got sucked in by the marketing hype. I allowed my hairdresser to upsell me to teeny tiny expensive bottles of salon shampoo and conditioner. I added shine serum to my repertoire. I ditched the mousse and started using wax and paste and anti frizz rinse . I lashed out on hairspray and finishing spray. I bought curling irons and hair dryers worth mega bucks with diffusers that looked like the exhaust of one of the Apollo mission shuttles. My hairdresser became one of the most important people in my life. Yes folks I turned to the dark side. I became a convert to the "Thou shall spend approximately 3000 bucks annually on your hair to look gorgeous " camp because my hair was less shiny and less straight and less gorgeous than before.
In my 40's hormones and living have taken a toll on my once dark sleek shiny hair and the only way I'm going to get that effect now is by using copious combinations of very expensive, probably head cancer causing hair products. My hair is downright kinky and not in a good way. The only shine my hair gets is straight from a bottle. Colouring my hair is no longer a fashion statement - it's a necessity. My morning ritual has gone from "I'm using hair products to enhance my hair and look utterly gorgeous" to "If I don't use enough hair product to sink a battle ship someone's going to ask me if I'm the scarecrow out of Wizard of Oz". And since one of the joys of my life is having a good hair day, and if I don't use all this crapola on my hair these days the chances of that happening are remote, I'm happy to worship at the altar of Matrix or Redken or Juice on a daily basis. And if that means I have to take an extra suitcase away on holidays to fit it all in and hide the hair product receipts from Mr. P- then so be it. Men just don't get it because usually they would be happy to wash their hair in dish washing liquid.
I'm a firm believer that the Good Hair Day Gods only visit those of us that buy ridiculously expensive hair products and a great shampoo and hydrating rinse (notice they don't call it conditioner when you buy the high end stuff ). From time to time I get the shits on with paying 80 bucks for a bottle each of shampoo and "hydrating rinse" and then I remind myself of what happens when I use the cheap stuff. I don't want to take that trip to Scarecrow-ville.
So now that you all know how shallow I am I dare you to link up with some meaningful and sentimental and well thought out posts about your Favourite Things this week. I'm off to pimp my hair.
39 comments:
Hahahahaha! I love it! I love hair products too, but we're on a pretty tight budget over here - having to dye my own hair these days - ack! But for $7 instead of $75 I'll do it. (More money for fabric) I buy cheap shampoo and expensive products - I don't think that makes sense, but that's my life. (I love it when I come home from work on Thursday and you remind me that it's nearly Friday here!)
Tee Hee! I agree and hence I look like I look this morning. I remember the sticky tape on the fringe. My daughter has "nursing home instructions" for when the time comes!!!
You go girl! I also am in the "necessity" stage of good hair product....and those 6 week die jobs are now needed in more like 4 weeks to prevent seeing those shimmering grey roots. Ah well. I won't tell Mr. P what you spend on hair if you don't tell my Hubs...
Isn't it amazing that if your hair looks good , you FEEL good ( and even glamorous !!)? I have to perm my hair every 3 months in order for it to look "natural" and the last two weeks before a perm are murder.
Your hairdresser is either your best friend ... or your worst enemy!!
Cheers
Helen
More comment later, but I want to say that when I saw the picture of you and your sister (?) I thought the post was going to be about your sister! :)
I love that photo....you are so cute :-)
Well what can I say about hair??
Cute picture of you and sis! Well, hey, whatever works. A gal's gotta do what she's gotta do. I hear you on the loss of shine, unless it's within a couple-week window from new color. From there on, things go south. I'm too cheap to buy salon products and am content with Fructis for now. But if you were my sister and I came to visit, I would so borrow your shampoo. ;)
You are hilarious. Loved your "hair autobiography". And YES - tomorrow is Friday, which means I can stay up later tonight because I dont' really need to be totally awake all day tomorrow at work right? Bernie
That is exactly the reason why I cut my hair short. Did it help? No..I need to go to the hairdresser more often and still have to use high end products...and I cannot make a ponytail simply to hide from bad hair days....what a waste
And why, why, why do grey hairs seem to want to be wiry, icky, kinky hairs when the rest of my hair isn't? Can't do FTF this week because not even able to attach photos to my blog at the moment (thank goodness I did some pre-written posts before I came on holiday!). Back next week when my favourite thing will probably be my bed!!!
Shay , This post is Brilliant!! That's all I have time to say, I've got to go and do something with my hair!
As my hair never plays nice - not even for the hairdresser - I just use the buck shampoo and conditioner and the towel and air dry method at home.
Way cute pic of the you as a little person.
Interesting to hear about the hairstyles and be reminded that they have changed a lot since the 80's - someone just forgot to tell my sister that - she still wears her hair the same as she did in high school!
Gray hair at 29 - thats nothing, I was in my teens and have had to dye regularly since my mid 20s. My roots are almost white when they grow through and it has to be done every 4 weeks or is really noticable.
Conditioner is the big thing for me, discovering it changed my life. I don't do top end, but don't like cheap either. I use loads of it. I have a lot of straight very fine hair so it used to tangle like mad!
My hairdresser that I had been going to since high school told me she was stopping hairdressing via text about 3 years ago... i tell you it was like I had been dumped by the love of my life. So then I thought I'd try the girl where I have my nails done.... big mistake... I always hated the way she did my hair and the way she juggled two people at once but I was stuck because I was going to the nail girl..That is why my hair is halfway down my back and I am lucky to have a hair cut every 6 months. She has now moved her salon to her house so I told my nail girl what I really thought and asked if she would do my hair. My hair has always been a hassle (really oily) but I have changed to new products and now it is pretty easy to take care of and I can even go 3 days without washing. I don't like gel, hair spray or "product" in my hair i like it to feel natural lol.
Love that pic of you and your sister, I see you haven't changed, talked lots then too, lol.
I had the same haircut too, probably everyone growing up in the 60s had that haircut.
Humidity makes my hair flat and limp, I live in a very humid climate, hmmmmph. I am constantly fighting with the humidity to try and make my hair look half decent. I love winter as it's not so humid. I need lots of product and really good shampoo and conditioner, which costs a fortune.
I found my first grey hair at 17 and had to stop putting bright colours in it in my twenties as the greys turned the colour to hot pink, bright orange etc. Not quite the look I was aiming for.
Great post. Had me in stitches. I must confess here, that my hair gets a wash every day, conditioned once a flood, and a bit of mousse. And that's it. But, in my defence, I don't dry it with a hairdryers (although I have abused it in the past.) Also the ONLY advantage of being a ginga is that I'm going grey, therefore don't need hair colours!
Oops, that should be NOT going grey.
You are hilarious Shay! I really wanted to see the mullet. You are such a party pooper. I dont think any amount of money could do anything for my hair so i just dont worry about it LOL!
Show us the mullet...
show us the mullet...
show us the mullet...
show us the mullet...
that is all :)
LOL...
and PS now that I have short hair I practically have to use superglue everymorning along with copious amounts of straightening to keep it from snapping into an affro!!
LOL! I'm one of those who just washes her hair, let's it dry, and it's good to go. I sometimes used to yearn for straight hair, but I've learned to love the very forgiving nature of my very wavy hair.
That said, I did color it for the first time a couple of months ago. Just an attempt to tone down the gray. The thing of it is, I used a color very close to my natural color. I was afraid of the shock. Guess it worked. No one, except my cousin realized I'd colored it. Eric, who sees me EVERY DAY, did not notice. When I brought it to his attention a few days later, he said, "It's been so cloudy, I thought I just hadn't seen your hair in the sunshine for a long time." LOL!
LOL - you sound like me 25 years ago. Nowadays, I settle for a good hair cut, conditioner and just regular care. When I jump out of the shower, I dry it, run a comb through it and let it dry on its own. Much rather be quilting.
My hair is a bit fluffier than I'd like but I need to use head and shoulders to keep the dandruff away. The goop I use to make it look better is only $10 a bottle, but I do have to go to Coles to get it since we no longer stock it at Woolies :( I think the biggest expenditure on it is the GHD - It's so much quicker and easier than any of my other straighteners.
I hate spending the money, but know that the more expensive stuff gives better results. So lets just open up our wallets.
Honey I'm pass all that the years you know will do that to you....... well you don't know that yet....I just wash hair put a brush threw it and go it'll dry just fine....I have very short hair just for this purpose....my old arm give out you know. lol Trish
You're funny! And we need pictures, yes, all of them! :-)
Laughing hysterically as I try to type a witty reply. I have none. You're too funny...and your hair is gorgeous! ☺ Thanks for the giggle! Happy Saturday! ☺
I've never had long hair. Once it gets to my shoulders it gets ratty, and I've always been jealous of people who can grow their hair. Oh, and I too had a mullet in my teens - I feel it's almost a right of passage.
oops I forgot
You can't mention the mullet and not show us a pic, that's not fair!!!!!!!!!!!
I have naturally curly hair that if left natural goes fluffy so when it comes to big hair, I could give Diana Ross a run for the money. Hence I too spend copious amounts on product (thank god for product!!). Since giving up shampoo for good, my curls are much better and I actually quite like them now - some days more than others!
I also colour every 6wks (should be 4wks but who can afford that??) and would love to just go grey but can't work out how to get around the two-tone look while growing the colour out. Strangely whenever I've mentioned this to the hairdresser, she has no helpful suggestions - doesn't want to see her cash cow walk out the door, never to return!
As for the cost, I often check out eBay and Catwalk. Even with postage it can work out cheaper than buying from the hairdresser.
i must be the only low maintenance diva out there ..... 7 minutes from the time my head leaves the pillow and I'm rolling outta the garage!
ever notice the those with curls like straight hair and visa versa ... although the gray seems to be straight!!!!!
OMGosh! You and your little sister look just like my kids when they were little. I'll have to dig out a picture. I had exactly the opposite hair. Mine was really wavy, AND my mom used to perm it, so I had a big frizz ball on my head. She also used that pink sticky tape on my bangs, but the ends that didn't get stuck down curled up around it, and looked like they belonged on Pippi Longstockings. Ah, memories.
Love the picture of you and your sister. Love the post. When I had to start leaving the house at 5 in the morning with a 1 year old in still in the crib, my hair got washed and it dried on the way to work. After 6 years on that job, I decdied why change? However, now that there is a preteen swimmer in the house who has naturally curly hair (who wants it straight like Mom's), she gets all the exspensive chlorine removing shampoo and conditioner.
Oh you make me feel very either remiss or lazy...OK I admit it I'm lazy...I blow dry my fringe so it sits somewhat where it is supposed to and that is about it...my hairdresser (who told me off for letting my fringe grow out and declared that wasn't allowed to happen again!) knows it has to go in a ponytail or it ain't gonna happen...at my age I probably should have short hair but the thought of having to get it trimmed on a regular basis, style it every morning, require a bank of products and not be able to just chuck a pony band on and run out the door (I wait to do the ponytail thing until I've driven the 15 minutes to work on days when it is still wet) about renders me immobile...mind you I do have one new product...Moroccan Oil...tames the frizzy and adds shine...takes about 5 seconds to apply, just about my attention span for hair styling...
Oh and the sticky tape thing...never heard of that one before and the picture in my head of a community of little kids running around with their fringes stuck down to their foreheads is amusing me greatly...
You make me laugh! I have some of the same issues with my hair which is why I've had most of it cut off. My grays are harder to see when they're short!
The best part of being SOP is that I have the pics that QIMP doesn't want to show you.
Love ya sis (really) x x x
never heard of the sticky tape method before....your hair is simply beautiful, like the hair shampoo commercials.
right now I can be pretty lackadaisical about my hair...I usually cut it myself and use the $2 shampoo. BUT...I'm starting to find grey hairs. you're making me nervous about how much money I'll have to start dropping to keep shiny hair!
my girlfriend has dark hair and gets hers colored every three weeks. eeek.
I have fine blond hair! Yes, it's blond with some highlights otherwise I would fade away I think.
I must use mousse and hair spray. Takes about 5 minutes to blowdry, to make it look ok, and I must spray otherwise, I look like a flathead I also must wash everyday and let me tell you humidity for any type of hair is bad...I had thicker hair,or maybe it was more of it before the mentalpause thing. I'm not unhappy with my hair as I love my hair dresser. I'm so happy to be back here, what with all the computer problems for the last week.
I had hair like that . NEVER had a mullet........... now like you spend heaps on my very grey hair, gave up colours when my friend was diagnosed with breast cancer.
My hair is stick straight and won't hold curl any more. I blow it dry and then run some hair taffy (which smells delicious and I really want to taste just to see if it tastes as good as it smells) through it, do a little back-combing for some body, smooth it over and I'm on my way. I do like to use nice product, but things being what they are, I'm more middle-of-the-road on what I buy. Except for the hair taffy. It is $17.95 for a little pot of it. It lasts a really long time though.
I wore a mullet in 8th grade and had really big hair all through the late 80's and into the 90's. I had spiral perms and acid perms and got my hair pencil-weaved. These days, I'm much more low-maintenance. I hate to spent more than 10 minutes on it.
xo -E
Post a Comment