I have a rather dysfunctional relationship with my hair.  I love it.  I hate it.  I like keeping it long.  I want to cut it all off.  I am fiercely protective of it.  It binds me.  It shields me.  It defines me.  It annoys me.

I have a lot of hair.  (On my head.  In case you were wondering if my knuckles scraped the ground.  They don’t.  Yet.)  I wear it long not necessarily because I can, but because it actually makes it a little bit more manageable.  I know what you’re thinking – “But long hair is so much work!”  It is, but the sheer weight of it pulls out the natural curl/wave that I have.  It helps to get to the goal of having it nice and straight instead of wavy/curly and frizzy.

I’ve been neglecting my hair as of late, though, and I really need to do something about it this week, since I’m going to the SITS Bloggy Bootcamp in Baltimore this Saturday.  I don’t want to show up there looking frumpy.  But I’ve had trouble finding a hairdresser here in Small Town PA that can actually handle my head’o’hair.

It’s been hacked and whacked and razored and only half the haircuts I’ve had since I moved here have ever turned out even half-decent.  I have been an extreme challenge to every hairdresser locally who have put shears to my hair, and so far none of them have been able to figure out what the hell to do with it.

Isn’t it interesting how us women tend to be ’emotionally attached’ to our hair?  I’ve always wondered why that is.   I cringe when I see pictures of myself that friends have recently started posting on Facebook.  Here, you can laugh at with me about some of my funky ‘dos from the 80’s (and these pictures were all before I decided to get braces as an adult):

That was when I kept it shoulder-length and permed it.  I don’t know why I thought adding a perm to already unruly wavy/curly hair was a good idea.

My sister Kimn (on the left and yes my parents added the extra ‘n’ to her name) has just as much hair as I do – we’ve exchanged many hairdresser horror stories over the years.  Too bad my friend Collen (on the right) doesn’t live near me – she went to beauty school and I used to let her use me as a guinea pig.  But she never screwed up my hair like some of the hairdressers here in PA have.

Notice how I sort of had a female mullet going on?  I went with a girlfriend to a beauty school to get a haircut, but the gal that was working on my hair was intimidated by it, so she asked her teacher to cut my hair instead.  The teacher was too busy talking to pay attention to what she was doing until she finished one side of my haircut – I was mortified that she had cut my bangs to somewhere in the neighborhood behind my ears.  Her response was that it was a bi-level and everyone was wearing bi-levels.  My tearful sarcastic retort was “But I’m not everyone!”  She had to cut the other side to even it out, but didn’t charge me for the cut.  Or I refused to pay for it, I can’t remember.  I do remember I left in tears, though.

This next picture is pretty much how I’ve worn my hair since eliminating the spiral perms I used to get with regularity.  In fact, in a couple of months this picture will be 12 years old!  Time sure flies by way too fast.  Currently it’s waist length and not quite as bright blonde as it is in this picture:


For the most part that is how my hair has been for years.  I blow dry it straight then tame it with a curling iron or a flat-iron.  I’ve tried to get hairdressers to cut it into layers so it would look like this when I curl it:

But instead they hacked it into oblivion and ended up cutting the layers off so it would grow back out and I could start all over.  Needless to say I haven’t had my hair cut by a ‘professional’ since last June.  Here’s hoping I find someone with magic fingers this week – I’ll keep you posted.  Wish me luck!

Meanwhile, the question I have for you is how do you communicate with your hairdresser to convey what it is you want them to do with your hair?   Do you have any hairdresser horror stories?  I have the impression that they have a language all their own, so I’m thinking that’s where I might be running into issues with explaining what it is what I want, in spite of the visual aids.

.

Edited to add:

Linking up with Jade’s My Memory Monday:


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34 Comments

  1. I always have issues with my hair…I love it and hate it all the time LOL
    Mine is naturally like you showed on the picture, I’ll pull it all out to make it strait LOL I’ve been doing that for the last 14 years LOL
    .-= Firefly would like you to read ..The Evil Evil Skunks =-.

  2. They always mess my hair up as well. I have finally just left it long because it is easier that way for sure.
    .-= Margaret would like you to read .. =-.

  3. OMG! I love the old pictures! It brings me right back to hair metal and high school memories!

    I don’t have too much of an issue with getting my hair cut.
    .-= Otin would like you to read ..The cold =-.

  4. Ha I’m weird when it comes to my hair too! I have straight hair…straight straight straight…but i never did much with it.. because all the hairdresser stories i had were all horror ones.So i decided to do nothing with it! Bangs never worked for me and short do’s don’t go with my long face&neck.. so i kept my hair long and straight forever! I finally got courage to go to a new hairdresser here in Germany where we live now…and oddly enough the guy did a better job than anybody by now!I always thought dudes were better at this job! I had pictures with me.. but sadly for me the bangs i was hoping for didn’t match the way my hair falls naturally ..plus i have thin hair and that wouldn’t work for me.. so instead i just trimmed it and layered it! It looks a little better but i still have trouble finding different styles to wear it!
    Anyway.. Happy Monday!
    .-= Niky @ Design It Chic would like you to read ..Spring and hammer pills… =-.

  5. Yes, they do speak their own language. I had a hairdresser who’d totally do whatever she wanted to despite how specific I was with her. But, I have the best hairdresser now–she is a FRIEND of mine and I feel like because we are friends, my hair becomes more personal, and she knows me better and knows what I want. Hair is personal, and it’s one of the first things people see when they meet you!

    Not sure if you subscribe to my site, but all of my followers lost my feed when I made the switch to WP last weekend–so if you can go to my blog and re-subscribe or re-add yourself to my Google Friends, I’d really appreciate it 🙂 http://www.lifeasaceo.com

  6. I took the leap and cut off my long locks. I too always hid behind them and was fearful of anyone trying to cut my curly locks. It may be worth a drive to another town to get a decent haircut though 🙁 Good luck!!
    .-= Kat would like you to read ..six word saturday – bring on spring =-.

  7. Good morning, just stopping over from SITS – happy Monday!

    I’ve had pretty much the same hair style my entire life, I’ve got just below the shoulder, straight dark brown hair – always. I’ve tried layering and some other slightly different things but it’s pretty much the same all the time! At least that means I have no embarassing pictures!

    I’m hosting a Monday Memory link up today, you’re welcome to link your post up, if you’d like to.
    Jade
    .-= Jade @ No Longer25 would like you to read ..My Monday Memory: Edinburgh Botanic Gardens =-.

  8. My hair is also very thick and very wavy/curly/frizzy. I have so much hair, though, that blowing it dry and taming it with a flat iron would take literally hours every day, so I just chopped it off at the shoulders, have a few layers, put some stuff in it to help it “curl” and not “frizz” and call it good. Well, decent, anyway.

    YOUR hair is gorgeous!
    .-= Jan would like you to read ..Boston Cream Pie =-.

  9. I’ve been going to the same hairdresser for 6 or 7 years. I’m very clear with her – texturize there, razor here, cut it close here, less bulky on the sides, etc. I have really thick hair and she knows it pretty well, so she nearly always does a good job.
    .-= jenni would like you to read ..Right and Wrong =-.

  10. Oh my gosh! I’m going to bloggy boot camp in Baltimore, too! I hope we get the chance to say hello!! (And I hate going to the hairdresser – she always cuts my hair too short and I have a massive hairlick in the front that sticks out. However, I always do better if I have a picture that I can show the hairdresser…)
    .-= Lynn from For Love or Funny would like you to read ..Hand me that. =-.

  11. Thank you – I’m honored to have never screwed your hair up. Remember the “stack” perm I gave you?? My “40 year old hormones having babies and going thru menapause” have made my hair soooo thin. If/when you get it cut – send me some hair – k?

    Colleen

  12. I can’t remember the last time I got my hair cut, which is probably a bad thing. I think I was pregnant with the twins. I really need a trim and a style, it’s just there… but I’m so afraid if I go short and get something I have to maintain to look nice- like layers or bangs- I’ll regret it because I never have time to do hair… I shower, comb, and throw it in a ponytail every day LOL
    .-= Jayme would like you to read ..I Heart Faces Hilarious Outtakes. =-.

  13. Good luck!!!

    I had someone I loved cut my hair for many years. I would sit in the chair and she would do her magic. But she no longer does hair and I have yet to find anyone I like. I keep looking……but no luck yet.
    .-= Lou Ann would like you to read ..Blogger Award-Big Thanks! =-.

  14. When I retired a year and a half ago, I decided after 35 yrs. in corporate America, I was going to grow a pony tail- and I did! Long hair is kind of a pain!

  15. What great pictures. What beautiful blonde hair you had/have/have had. Heehee. I would love to have long hair but don’t enjoy the maintenance. Someday when I get a stylist maybe…

    (Ok, so never!)

  16. Oh I loved walking down “hair” memory lane with you! I agree with you, why is hair such an emotional thing for us girls? I used to cry after EVERY hair cut I got, wether it was 12 inches or just 1. What was wrong with me?!

    I don’t really have any horror stories, other than as one fellow blonde to another, never, I repeat, never dye your hair dark brown and expect to be able to just bleach it back to blonde later.

    It falls out!
    .-= Pooba would like you to read ..Puppy Love =-.

  17. Oh, I had some giant hair back in the day. You do have a gorgeous hair color in every single pic. I have only a few bad hair stories..thankfully. I have really long hair now and have had it super super short like Posh Spice..egads. Long hair is so much easier for me! And I LOVE my stylist who I have been with for years. I even wanted highlights once and he said NO WAY. That is trust. lol.
    .-= JennyMac would like you to read ..Skimmers =-.

  18. Your hair is beautiful. I went through the perm years for a long time. After many years of not having one I went to a very exclusive salon and paid ALLOT for a perm that I thought would be perfect. Just simple waves. NOT!
    It was the worst perm ever. Anyway I have a guy I like allot now and when I try new things I bring him a picture. Pictures really work! Have fun at SITS.
    .-= Debby would like you to read ..STRESS AND OLD AGE = A MESS =-.

  19. So glad you decided to stick with the straight hair! It’s gorgeous. Perms. Ack. Growing up I always wanted to get my hair permed and it was one of the only things my mom ever refused to let me do. I’m grateful now actually. She wasn’t so lucky. 😉 Love the old photos though. Even with the fluffy hair.
    .-= Mrsbear would like you to read ..When the Going Gets Tough, the Not So Tough Eat Cookies =-.

  20. OMG Stacy, I remember those days. Ay! Perms were the worst. I had my hair fried, literally fried and the guy was like, “well what do you want me to do?” I could have killed him.

  21. I am terrible at communicating with my hair dresser! I just kind of shrug and say “I dunno, what do you think we should do?”. Lately I have been keeping things the same, but I love to try different colors too. Thanks for the sharing your hair flash-backs. I’ve had some interesting looks myself. Can’t wait to hear what you decided to do!
    .-= Teri would like you to read ..look =-.

  22. You have really nice hair, not frizzy like mine. I’ve been keeping my short, above my shoulders lately. I went in to the hairdresser and said to cut it as short as it would possibly go and still fit in a ponytail. Probably not what you’re looking for..

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