Saturday, December 27, 2014

Letting My Hair Down

Hair is beginning to show up in my life. I’m now vacuuming it off the rug. I’m wiping up wisps coiled on the bathroom counter. During a slow moment in my writing group I’ll look down to find a half-circle on my sleeve.

I can’t blame the cat. He went to that golden napping spot in the sky last September. Also, he was all black except for the white spot on his belly. He didn’t use my brand - Excellence 8G, Golden Blonde.

Bottom line, I haven’t been to the hairdresser’s since the middle of September. Now that it's getting longer, I guess I’m going to have to re-learn what it’s like to have hair long enough to clog the drain.

This wasn’t really a conscious decision, more a result of inertia.

I did get it cut the week before we went on our trip to Italy at the end of the summer. The idea was that I’d have something easy for travel. The reality was that since I didn’t like the cut very much, when we finally staggered back to the hotel room, instead of collapsing on the bed like any other sensible tourist, I was in the bathroom fiddling with my hair, trying to get presentable for dinner.

We returned, and I pretty much just went from day to day.

October passed.

November arrived. I went in the bathroom and lopped a good two inches off the back all by myself – and it looked pretty good.

November passed.

Here we are in December and if I work a little magic with hair spray, I can still see where I’m going.

But I did call the salon and make an appointment with Albert on the 30th. We’ll see what happens. Albert has a tendency to give me the Mature Lady #12 haircut. You know the one. Every woman over 60 has it.
And it’s probably not helpful that every time I’m sitting in his chair, he remarks how similar my hair type is to his mother’s. (She's in her 80s.) 

Another issue is that he’s been my guy for about 15 years.
Divorce would be a cakewalk compared to the guilt of finding another hairdresser.

I’ve always wanted to be one of those elegant women who spin their glowing grey hair into a sophisticated French twist. Unfortunately, I will never reach this level of urban chic. When my hair was long enough to attempt this, it either came crashing down or gave me a headache.
Additionally, since I come from a long line of red-heads whose hair turned a sickly yellow-grey, at 82 I will still be shopping in the CVS hair color aisle

So what’s my hair wish list? Hair longer than my husband's, but:
*The ability to pick something up off the floor without a mane in my
   face.

*The ability to dine in the outside seating without being
  Heimliched because I’ve swallowed my hair.

*A hairstyle individual enough that my husband can find me in a group of
    60-something women.
    (Since I’m now a blond like every other AARP female,
       the poor man already has enough trouble spotting me.)

*A style that accommodates both my wonderful malleable
     winter hair and my evil Lil’ Orphan Annie-like summer hair.

                                   Wish Albert luck.  







23 comments:

  1. good luck. if the guy can't give you a cut you like after 15 years, I'd say it's time to find a new hairdresser. I love the lady that cuts my hair. I told her I want a short wash and go cut that didn't try to make my hair do something it was not naturally inclined to do. and she did.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You have a point, Ellen.
      The definition of insanity comes to mind. . .

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  2. hair is a pain, somedays I feel like chopping all mine off. Maybe you need one of those fancy makeovers:)

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    Replies
    1. I like both of those ideas. Except one of the conditions of the makeover is that they'd swing by every day to put me together.

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  3. Let him read your blog post before he starts to work. Not every woman of a 'certain' age wants to look the same.

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    Replies
    1. You're singing my song, Delores. It's bad enough we become invisible at a certain point.

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  4. That picture of you on the sidebar looks good, not old lady-ish at all. :-)

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    Replies
    1. Thank you, DJan. I guess I'd better not point out that both pictures are three and four years old.

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  5. My friend and I share a hair stylist. We ask for completely different things and still come home with the same haircut, what we now call the Jenny Cut Ala Mode. I hope you and Albert are on the same page on the 30th! It's nerve-wracking, isn't it?

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    Replies
    1. So much simpler when I'd stand in the bathroom and my husband would just try to cut a straight line across my back.

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  6. When I worked I kept my hair short and easy; wash and wear. When I retired I decided I would let it grow down my back, in a fat pigtail. That lasted to my shoulders, whereupon I donated it and went back to wash and wear. Hair is just the bane of our existence.

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    Replies
    1. It's hard to have the patience for the growing-out stage.

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  7. You could show Albert the pictures in the sidebar.

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    Replies
    1. To be fair, both of the cuts were his, so I haven't always been dissatisfied.

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  8. I lost my great hair dresser decades ago and have to rely on whomever is available in my new town. I get the little old lady cut with a bit of my own innovation and I just live with it. I do not turn heads, and probably never did in spite of what I remember.

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    Replies
    1. Yes, a snip or two in the bathroom and strategic styling at home and we can sometimes defeat the little old lady cut.

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  9. I HATE that mature lady haircut!!
    Which is why my hair is now past my shoulders and getting longer every day.
    I clip it behind my ears to stop it hanging in my face and tie it in a ponytail if I'm going out in the wind or scrubbing the toilet.
    I am letting the grey take over and now it's a silvery light brown.

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    Replies
    1. Good for you, River. I suspect you were blessed with "good" hair.

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  10. You tickle me! I also don't want the little old lady look. That silver grey, short, permed hair that gets washed and set once a week. I'm probably ten years older than you and my hair is down past my shoulder blades. I do keep the sides clipped up and off my face. I have never been one who could fix hair!

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  11. Sadly, I have dry hair to go with my very dry skin and weak nails. I spend quite a bit on conditioners, but less than I used to when I was colouring it. Also I don't bother with blow-drying or any other treatments. I believe the best thing I ever did was to stop colouring. My hair is softer, smoother and I haven't had a single split end in ten years. Colouring and other treatments such as blow-drying and hot rollers, perms etc are bad for the structure of the hair when used continually for many years. The difference between your winter and summer hair tells me dryness caused by treatments may be part of your problem.

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    Replies
    1. Nope. Coloring my hair has no effect that I can see. Shiny and bouncy here. My problem is summer humidity, when waves and curls attack.

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  12. I cannot relate! :)

    (I'm pretty much bald and I shave my head every two weeks or so!)

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    Replies
    1. You have no idea how many women secretly envy you.

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