Bad Hair Day

/ roughwighting

bad hari day, Steel Magnolias, hair salonI’ve never had a bad hair day.

I’ve had a bad hair month, of course, and even a bad hair year.

My first bad hair year occurred when the new hairdresser ignored my plea to “only cut the split ends.” But you know that sound.

Snip. “Oops.”

Snip. “Oops again! Better even it up.”

hair, long hair, hair stylist

My college long-haired look.

I was a freshman in college in Virginia, where everyone talked in a slow drawl, and the hairstylists in the beauty salons all wore teased hair and cherry red lipstick. I walked in the shop, a tiny ‘Steel Magnolias’ kind of place attached to the owner’s home;  I sported a long brunette mane  that almost reached the middle of my back.“Just a trim,” I said. “Boyfriend’s coming for the college harvest dance.”

I left the place with curly hair cropped at the bottom of my earlobe. Actually, looking at photos of it now, the haircut suited me.

But my boyfriend didn’t think so, and he tagged after my long-haired blonde roommate all weekend long.

Now, I’m smarter (and older – no long hair anymore). When I find a hairstylist I like, I stay with her, year after year after year. She becomes a member of the family, so to speak. She knows to not even approach my hair with mousse or spray or anything sticky and smelly. She knows to only cut a ‘fraction’ each time (if she really followed those directions, my hair would be reaching my rump by now). She doesn’t panic when she hears me breathing out, breathing in, loudly, with each snip.

But my man is the most nervous one during my every-6-week-salon trips.

“AGAIN?” he asks. He hates my hair when I return from the hair salon. No matter how diligent the hair stylist is, she can’t recreate the way I dry and style my hair (which includes  closing my eyes, waving the blow dryer around my head for 7.5 minutes, scrunching my curls, then leaving for work)

news anchor, hair styles

News Anchor Hair

So when I return from my hair appointment yesterday, my man claims I look like a newscaster, hair straight and bouncy, falling in place just right.

In short, not “me.”

Then he  wonders out loud with hope in his heart:  “Are you washing your hair tonight?”

Every woman knows one of the great things about getting her hair done is NOT having to wash it for a day, or two, or three.

So I ignore him, but here’s me first thing this morning.

hair salon

Straight and fluffy, not “me.”

Yes, I’m heading for the shower now.

28 thoughts on “Bad Hair Day”

  1. Makes me remember when I decided to go for a complete re-style, seriously short, on the afternoon before my 16th birthday party. Yeah – not the wisest thing I ever did. I love the description of how you style your hair and I love how much your man cares about it:-) Hugs, H xxx

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    • I wish followers could post photos on here – would love to see your short-haired 16-year-old self!
      Calling what I do to my hair ‘styling’ is a bit of an exaggeration. Ha!

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  3. My dad always believed little girls should have long hair and that you should have it as it grows, once you reach 16 then you can do what you want. So you can imagine as my 16th birthday approached I started looking at pictures, it was the mid 80’s and I decided I wanted a corkscrew perm like Whitney Houston had in the I wanna Dance With Somebody video, off I went, I explained what I wanted and it was explained that as my hair was thick I would need it layered to get the desired effect, the stylist then asked if a trainee could do my hair, ‘don’t worry’ she said ‘I will be here supervising the whole time’ she said. the trainee started cutting and the stylist kept wondering off and my concern started growing over the amount of hair on the floor but I was 16 had never had my hair layered before who was I to question it. I think a few tears fell before I left the salon but most were saved for when I got home, rather than looking like Whitney I looked like a cross between Shirley Temple and a poodle, three washes later it dropped into more natural looking curls and I had learnt an expensive lesson

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    • How I love this story. You were probably so adorable with that 16-years-long hair, but how we covet what we think we can’t have. We have to admit one thing – if something goes wrong with a haircutting session, we NEVER forget it!

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  4. Coincidentally, I just read Linda Hoye’s blog about finding the right hairdresser. About 20 years ago, I realized my hair is better short, so I have kept it that way, more or less, for years. Now, finding the right hairdresser is a whole ‘nother thing. Most ask you what you want, but then don’t listen. Speaking of, I need a haircut before my conference next week. Fingers crossed!

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    • I know a really good hairstylist who listens here in the Bay area – wish you could fly over. What fun we’d have while she snipped!
      But, instead, I’m crossing fingers for you…

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  5. Women and hair. I kept mine long until our son was 4 months old and i went and got it cut in the “Princess Diana” style….our son screamed when he saw me and I think his Daddy wanted to, but knew better! Then there was the fiasco when I realized my blonde hair was no longer blonde and had it colored. Turned out I was allergic to the hair dye and my hair turned bright pink! I was there all afternoon putting on toners, etc, but my hair was still pink. The only one happy was our then 4 yr old daughter who said “Mommy, your hair is so pretty – it’s all pink!” Then there was the stylist who was convinced my stick straight hair would be great with a body perm….we cut most of that off – that’s when I really went with short hair! Oh and yeah, there was the guy in Annapolis who after being told I did NOT want layers, cut one big hunk out and said “oops, too late now, you’ve got them!” Non-assertive me asked to talk to the person in charge and told them I was not paying for the haircut, was not coming back and would discourage friends from patronizing the salon. In PA I found Diane and followed her around 3 shop and finally to her house. When we moved to NJ for the first year I kept making the 2 hr trip back. Then I really liked a girlfriend’s hair and asked where she got it cut and found Leigh Ann. She has straight, babyfine hair like mine – tho hers is often highlighted in neon colors – and we are long past the stage where she asks me what I want – I sit down, she does her thing and we talk about her adorable boys, my grandkids and what’s going on in Pitman (yes, Pam, she lives on Holly Ave), I love her! I leave feeling good and Bruce always likes my hair when I get home! True happiness!

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    • I read this before I left for work, and I’m reading it again at lunch time and still laughing. Ah, the “Princess Diana” cut. (Much like the “Dorothy Hamel style”?). And then the pink hair – what’s not to like? Yes, we’re so lucky when we find a “Leigh Ann” in our lives, and can forgo hair drama.

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  6. Morning, You know I do your hair the best!!! Lol Loved it, made me laugh:) Have a great weekend Xo Jp

    On Apr 3, 2014, at 10:36 PM, roughwighting wrote:

    > >

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    • And I love the quote you told me about on the beauty salon’s bathroom wall: “The two people who should run the country are hairdressers and taxi drivers.” I don’t know about taxi drivers, but hairdressers are VERY IMPORTANT people in our lives!

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  7. Ahhh, hair. My dream is to realize that one perfect hair day, and magically have it remain for all time just that way. For now? Pulled back in a pony tail or bun. No frills, no fluff, no effort. Did I mention style and I have not spoken to each other in years?

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  9. Guys can be fussy as well. I’ve had a grand total of two hairdressers in 37 years 🙂 OK I’m easy – just an inch or two. Occasionally I’ll tease and suggest the latest David Beckham but Anita will just roll her eyes and say ‘just an inch or two then?’ Yes please.

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  10. This comes at the most perfect time for me. I’ve had it with headbands and hair barrettes and heading to my own life-long hair dresser tomorrow to get a new “look”. And WHY on earth do men get so sad when we get our hair fixed by a professional? We don’t get sad and down when they come back from the barber, do we? ; )

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    • A new look – a DANGEROUS proposition. I want to hear how it turns out!
      And shhhh, I now give my guy a hard time when he comes back from a hair cut (ohhh, did she have to cut it THAT short?). Turn around is fair play, right?

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  11. It’s so refreshing to experiment with hair. Men only ever want you to have it long. I had all manner of short cuts as a kid then met hubby once it was long. I’m on my second bob of our marriage and had really short hair two years ago. I think it’s a sign to be true to yourself 😉

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  12. I am sooo blessed to have awesome hair. It is course and thick, long and blond. (well it is very gray but I will blond for the rest of my life..lol) It was blond when I was younger and I have just “kept” it that way…ha ha! I did go through a phase where my hair was short and I LOVED IT!! It was so easy to take care of. I got out of the shower put a little mousse in it and went. But hubby did not like it short 😦
    Same for the times I have kept a perm in it. I didn’t touch it with a hair dryer for a year at a time! I love your hair in your profile picture and it suits you….just remind hubby next time, it isn’t HIS hair and he doesn’t have to take care of it!! LOL!

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    • How lucky you are to like your hair. We all should. I’ve finally accepted the ‘curls and waves’ and let it be, thus the problem with the hairstylist insisting on straight. Of course we should ignore our hubs when they tell us what to do with our hair, but then again, I figure they look at us a lot more than we look at ourselves. (!)

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