I’ve mentioned now and again that I have a head of Hella Hair.  While I curse it on some days, other days I feel very blessed to have the head’o’hair that I do – in fact, it’s one of my best assets, at least most of the time.

My parents gifted us kids in the gene pool with heads of very thick hair – each of us have enough hair for two or three people.  It’s a blessing and a curse – it took me all of the 13 years living here in Pennsylvania to find a hairdresser that could actually manage my hair. 

I’m able to leave her salon and not wear a hat or race home to ‘fix’ it before showing my face in public. And I don’t look like I got my hair caught in a lawn mower.  Oh yes, that’s happened.  Well, not the actual lawn mower part, but the way my hair looked after it had been butchered by different hairdressers that couldn’t figure out how to cut and style my thick tresses.

I was going to see if I could find some pictures of when I used to have a spiral perm, but the box of photo albums was cleverly buried in the shed by my hubby, so I wasn’t able to locate it….. yet.  I’ll definitely have to find it soon so you can have a good chuckle over some of my previous antics.

Meanwhile, one of my friends posted some pictures on her Facebook page that show one of the bad haircuts I had gotten at a beauty school – I had asked to add a few more bangs to the wispy ones I had, and she cut it into a bi-level.  Which is pretty much a female mullet:

Notice the double exposure going on - I have no idea who the gal on the far left is, she wasn't in the original shot. I'm on the far right, my sister Kimn is grinning next to me.

Trying to grow out my ‘mullet’ was not an easy thing to do, this is when it was in the ‘growing out’ stages:

Friends Colleen and Ronna, then me on the right

Since my hair is naturally curly, I like to wear it long because the weight pulls out a lot of the curl…except when it gets wet, then it gets curly again and the frizz happens.  I’m not crazy about the frizz.  That’s why for a number of years I would get a spiral perm, because then I could actually let my hair air-dry and have it look halfway decent.  If I put my hair in a pony tail while wet, the part held in place by the pony tail tie is still wet at the end of the day.  No matter how hot the day is.

After I decided I was done frying my hair with perms, I switched to different fry-tactics: blow-drying my hair as straight as I could, then curling it with a curling iron.  At least the curling iron would then tame my hair as much as possible – I was always envious of those who had a head of hair that all they had to do was wash and do a quick blow-dry, or let it air dry and it looked perfect.  I have to put a lot of work into mine to get it to look normal, let alone halfway decent.

Luckily I have finally found a hairdresser comparable to the one I had for years when I lived in Seattle.  My new hairdresser here in PA is a Godsend.  She herself has thick hair, and knows how to deal with it.  Now I’m able to have it cut in layers (that don’t look like a lawn mower attacked) which gives me the option of scrunching it after my shower and letting it air dry.  It only looks good that first day, though, after I sleep on it all bets are off and it’s wild and crazy.  So most of the time I’ll let it partially air dry, then finish blow drying it out to get it as straight as possible:

That’s about half my hair, I couldn’t pull it all to the front to take the picture (note to self: next time use your remote shutter, or at least a tripod since your arms just aren’t quite long enough).  Notice some of the residual curl?  I forgot to take a picture of it when it was wet, to show you how much curl there actually is.  One of these days I’ll do that for you.  Here’s a sort of side shot to give you an idea of the thickness:

See why I can’t just blow dry it and go?  Funky looking.  But now it’s ready for the attack of the flat iron or curling iron.  Lately I’ve pretty much been going all flat-iron since the alternate days I’ll go with the natural curl.  Here it is freshly flat-ironed:

Here’s a shot of the back – I obviously missed a section at the crown of my head, and didn’t do a thorough job on the layers with the flat-iron, but on a warm day it gets too hot to finish:

Sorry about the smudgy mirror – the hubby cleaned it.  ‘Nuff said.  See those layers?  When I curl it they really look cool.  They actually do blend a bit better when I spend more time with the flat iron, but I was in a hurry since I had locked myself in the powder room to take pictures.  I do spend a bit more focused time on the front and sides, because they’re easier to reach:

I have naturally dry hair, so I do not wash it every day.  I thought I was just being lazy, but apparently it’s healthier for your hair.  Who would have thought?  And for some reason, on most days my hair looks and/or handles better the day after I’ve shampooed and conditioned it – it’s like it calms down.  Unless it’s hot and humid (or raining) – then there’s no taming the wild beast because it tends to have a mind of its own, so I’ll stick it in a pony tail to keep it under control.

You know how you always wish you have the opposite of what you have?  Growing up and being a blonde, I always wished I had super straight, super jet black hair (you know, like Lois Lane in the Superman comics – with the blueish highlights).  I may call it Hella Hair, but I truly feel blessed to have the head’o’hair that I do.  It may be a lot of work, and I always have to get up much earlier than most to ‘deal’ with it, but it’s worth it. 

Is your hair naturally straight or naturally curly?  Do you wear it short or long?

This Hairy Spin Cycle was brought to you in part by Gretchen, who has graciously taken up the duties of hostessing the Spin Cycle, and who is the awesomeness of Second Blooming.  Stop by and check out the other Spinners and see what Hairy tales they’re spinning.

Second Blooming


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30 Comments

  1. It’s not to be ashamed of…You hair is awesome and only few people has it…Just be thankful and I am sure a lot of people especially the girls, will get jealous of your beautiful hair…
    Chezianne would like you to read ..How To Control Panic AttacksMy Profile

  2. Hair is a ton of work, every day…at least for me it was (past tense). Two years ago, I cut it short and stopped dying it. What a huge relief that was. Now it’s “wash and wear”. So easy and less time consuming.
    Rosemary
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  3. Hair is an important asset of anyone and I love the curly hair they have in the picture. They are lucky to have such natural hair, I was once dreaming to have a curly hair since I was young but I’m not lucky enough to have it. Thanks for sharing it Stacy. I love it.
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  4. I have wavy short hair and a lot of it, which surprises every hairdresser I ever go to. Long layers is the way to go for me.

  5. I had that same mullet looking cut…must have been the style. I fight with my curl everyday, but I don’t have the thickness you have. You have beautiful hair!

  6. My hair is fine, but I have lots and lots of it. My hairdresser marvels at the amount of hair I have all the time. I too can put mine in a pony tail wet and have it still be damp after an entire day and we have very low humidity here so everything dries out.
    I perm my hair to give it the look of natural curl for a wash, scrunch and go style. I just don’t have the time and patience to spend on my hair.
    Love the straight look of your hair. And it has a really nice blond color.
    VandyJ would like you to read ..WWTK–Birthdays!My Profile

  7. My gawd, woman – how long does it take you to flat-iron your hair? I have a head of thick, bushy hair as well and it would absolutely take me half the day to do that. Either my hair is thicker than yours or you’re much more talented at hair-styling than I am (I’m betting on the latter).

    I’m also glad you brought up the subject of not washing your hair every day – that’s the subject of MY post tomorrow. 😉
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  8. Oh girl I feel your pain! I have thick naturally curly hair, but it’s not curly enough to be those lovely corkscrew curls that look so nice just left alone and it’s too thick and long for me to dry it and straight-iron it within a reasonable amount of time. I wear it long and normally air dry or defuse it with an attachment on my hairdryer. It takes me FOREVER to find a stylist to cut it well, most don’t appreciate that it needs a lot of layers to look acceptable, otherwise it’s like wearing a fuzzy pyramid on my head! Pregnancy changed the amount of hair (way more), curl (slightly less) and texture (more coarse) so now I’m on a strict washing schedule (2 or 3 times a week max) and use that oh-so-popular Moroccan oil to combat the dryness and frizz. Your hair looks amazing in those last couple of shots! Nice work!
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  9. Your hair is GORGEOUS! Though the mullet look was unfortunate. Didn’t the invention of the flat iron change your life? It must take forever, but it looks amazing!

    You are linked!
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  10. Good post. I am also like short cutting hear. my girlfriend have it. Can you write about Facial.

    Thanks
    Alexander
    Alexander would like you to read ..online dating tipsMy Profile

  11. Wow, that is a lot of hair. Just seeing those pictures makes me want to cut all my hair off. Mine is pretty thick too, but straight and I’ve always gone pretty short–usually chin length bobs, or even shorter. When mine gets longer, I just can’t stand the feel of all that hair on my head or in my face. Yours is beautiful! I especially liked the mullet pictures, though. I had one of those in the 80s too!
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  12. I have the SAME problem with my hair! It’s naturally curly and very thick! I used to think it was cool to have short hair cuts, then I realized, when you don’t have the time to straighten, etc. – you just look really bad. I smartened up the last few years of college. I’ve learned to have no layers, and just a trim. The longer it is, the less ‘crazy’ it gets. The shorter it is, the more ‘lion’ I look. Rainy days are easy b/c I wash it & let it be. Other days, I spend 40 min or more drying, straightening or curling. I can’t just dry it and go either, it looks like a thick mess. Glad I’m not the only one who was blessed with crazy hair!
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  13. Hi Stacy, your hair looks amaaaazing!! I’m jealous, would love to have hair like yours. I cut my hair a few years ago (just above the shoulders) as it took so much time to look after when it was long. I’m always trying to get more ‘volume’ in my hair. Like you said; “you always wish you have the opposite of what you have”.
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  14. You had a great kind of hair..I like the color..I’ve always gone pretty short–usually chin length bobs, or even shorter.
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  15. Stacy, you do have nice blonde hair! I’ve always wanted fuller hair, I’ve had fine hair for as long as I can remember. I just started growing my hair out last year, and it’s slightly past my shoulders now. It gets dry at times from the frequent blow-drying, but I do skip a shampoo at least once a week on a day off. Did your daughter get your hair?
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  16. I think your hair is beautiful! Mine seems a lot like yours. If I attempt to blow it dry it’s much fuller and coarser and wilder and…. well, you get the picture!
    Peg would like you to read ..Spinning HairMy Profile

  17. My best friend (in Georgia) has similar issues. Her hair dresser says she has “ethnic” hair, which we figured out relates to her 1/8 Russian Jewish ancestry. Finding the right stylist essential in your & her situation. It’s a pain for her to handle, but I love it, of course! Your blonde is beautiful.
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  18. Maintaining a beautiful hair style is certainly not easily achievable. However, you did a fine job and I want to congratulate you on that. Your hair looks stunning. I think every individual should address their hair properly, as it is one of the first things that people see. If you are a good visual appeal then definitely you will be able to impress your boss or someone else. There is nothing negative about this at all.

  19. […]I’ve got the identical issue along with my personal locks! It’s effortlessly fluorescent and extremely solid! My spouse and i accustomed to think it turned out trendy to obtain brief locks reductions, then i understood, whenever you don’t have the time and energy to straighten, etc. – you simply look genuinely awful. My spouse and i smartened in place the previous couple of a long time of college or university. I’ve discovered to obtain simply no layers, and the toned.[…]

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