Wahsega Valley Farm

Hair pics

I was in the mood to take some hair pictures yesterday, so thought I'd post some today for those who are interested. I cut back to waist awhile back and it's just been doing its thing since then. It is currently at 34.5" and I am not cutting back or growing. That is, I don't have any plans for my hair right now. Since I cut it so I could wear it down more, I've really only had a couple of opportunities for it to be down, so it's always up. Up in the garden. Up in the chicken coop and run when I'm cleaning, feeding, watering and playing with my bird buddies. Up when I'm cooking and processing tomatoes and peppers, etc. So... the length really doesn't seem to matter one way or the other as long as I can wear it up when I need to. Which is most of the time! C'est la vie; it's okay.

The pictures were taken outside in 91 degree and very humid weather so my hair isn't as smooth as usual. (And there was a breeze pushing it around as well, messing it up.) But it's not nearly as frizzy as last summer! Ack! It was really bad last summer. I've discovered a new shampoo and conditioner that I like a lot and I think it's helping with the frizz because it has at least one cone in it; an ingredient not in my normally used more natural products. The price was right on these (around $3.00 per bottle from Drugstore.com) and I really wanted to try something different. On the bottle is says "Salon proven to moisturize as well as Aveda." I'm not sure about moisturizing and all that, but I do know that I used to love my Avenda products. But they were soooooo expensive. These products smell great and even if I have to wash twice to get out a lot of coconut oil, it never feels "squeaky clean" or stripped. And my hair feels mahvelous afterwards. If interested, you can read about the Suave products here:

Suave Professionals Conditioner, Almond & Shea Butter for Dry, Damaged Hair and Suave Professionals Shampoo, Almond & Shea BUtter for Dry, Damage Hair

Okay, okay; it's pictures you want, right?

The belt is at my waist, so you can see that it's grown a bit since when it was cut to just above waist in February. It was cut from 37" to 30" and it is now 34.5". So it's actually growing faster than my typical half inch a month. Must be the neglect and out-of-sight-out-of-mind. :)

I like this length and will probably just continue to ignore it. I talk about wanting bangs and a "style" but they just don't fit my current lifestyle of garden and chicken girl. 

I'm usually in dirty jeans and t-shirts so wanted to dress up a little for my pictures to remember that I can look nice some of the time. Still no makeup though; it would have sweated right off!

Before and after hair trim

As some of you know, Mike trimmed my hair a few weeks ago, cutting off 7 inches. I love the shorter length because I can do much more with my hair and can wear it down any time I want. I like versatility! Since I've been at these before and after lengths quite a few times, I didn't see much need for posting pictures, but some of you guys are interested, so here you go:

 
The new length is just above my waist, though in the picture it looks like it's a bit higher. I must've had my head slightly bent forward or something. I liked the way the longer length looked on me from the back like above, but I never wore it that way. My desire to cut it wasn't that I disliked how it looked down, it was that I could never wear it down. In the before shot, my hair doesn't look very silky like usual, but that was because of no flash or much light reflecting off of it. And I hadn't even combed it out after washing.

I just realized it was only a year ago that Mike trimmed my hair to this length as well, so my hair grows relatively fast.

I've noticed that buns (when I tested one, though I've not worn a single one once since the trim) aren't much smaller than before the trim. That's because what was cut off wasn't all that much hair... in thickness that is; it wasn't much volume-wise.

Now I can wear my hair down, half-up (another style I could never do at the longer length) and in different updos. I wore a version of a French twist the other day and Mike commented on how much he liked it over the buns I used to wear. I just couldn't make pretty updos work with the longer length.

Here is an after trim side shot:

 
This length is just much more complimentary for me, I think, and doesn't steal the show - if you know what I mean. It works with me to create a nice look - not totally take over.

I've been reading on some of the hair boards lately how people are emotionally attached to their hair - and I can relate. I've had long hair most of my life. I grew up in the 60's when everyone wore it long and only cut mine short once because my heart had been stomped flat and I was crazy in my head (and then immediately started growing it back out). So, I can say I am very attached to my hair and I love it long. I just never cared whether or not it was super-dooper extra long. I like my hair to complement me and when it gets too long to do that in my mind, I don't have any problem adjusting the length. But I sure wouldn't like it short. I wouldn't feel like "me"... though I'm sure I would adjust if something happened where I had to have short hair for some reason. I'm not one for big changes and when I find something I like, I usually stick with it. But a little tweak now and then is good for me and I'm lovin' my new trim. I've not decided about bangs or anything else different in the "style" yet and have a feeling I will probably keep it as-is for the time being.

An about-face

I cut my hair!

 

See?
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HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! 
 
Okay, I haven't cut my hair... but...

I don't want to grow to classic length. I changed my mind... did an about-face. I want a change and am tired of never seeing my length. I know... I know... my hair is "pretty" at the length it's at, but you know what? I look fine from behind when my hair is down and I take hair pictures, but that is the only time my hair is down. I want to look nice from the front too and updos do nothing for my face. That would be NOTHING... times 2! With no bangs or fringe or layers or anything around my face, it's just pulled straight back. I'm tired of it! I want more than my hair looking nice. Know what I mean? I want my hair to complement me - not run my life and be the main focus when people look at me. I'm not having fun with it anymore and want a change. Nothing drastic, as I love long hair and will keep it long. But, how long? I dunno.

Is this coming from from Mike's granny statement from my previous post? Maybe a little, but it's only a tiny part of what's rolling around in my head. I think a lot of it has to do with my 60th birthday coming up and being retired and having a different life now. As some of you know, both my parents died at the age of 64. I've never been bothered by a birthday before, but this one has me pondering my mortality, not just my hair or what I look like. Although I've always done things to try to prevent heart related problems, one never knows when it's time to go.

It's not so much about feeling as though I look "old" as wanting to do something different. Turning 60 is a big transition mentally for me and I'd like to shed some things from my past. Shake it up a little y'know? I've worn my hair in so few ways my whole life that I'd like a change. I'm going to have Mike cut it back to waist tomorrow and then go from there. (Note to Alex: please don't beat your head against the wall; it will be fine!)

I like the length I had when Mike and I got married. This picture is from our honeymoon in Montana:

 
The length is above waist here and my hair hasn't turned all narrow and thin looking. And I could wear it down whenever I wanted at this length. But I might want it a bit shorter than that if I decide to get some wispy bangs - or something around my face to soften the half-ups and ponytails, etc. and when I wear it down (yay!). It will certainly be long enough to wear up if I want to, but I won't have to, like now.

And, here is my hair at bra strap length. I liked this length a lot because of the styles I could do then, but mainly because I could get waves by plopping my hair. I love waves and at my current length, they've all but disappeared.

 

Yesterday, I tried on different hair styles online. What fun! (Give it a try at Instyle's "Hollywood Hair Virtual Makover".) The shortest length I would even consider at this point is bra strap; I was mainly looking for how I'd like it cut around my face. I didn't find the exact look I was searching for, but it was fun to see some possibilities. The picture I used of me was taken in the summer of 2009 at my high school reunion so is kinda recent. It was the only front-on picture I could find of my face. When looking at these pictures, don't consider the length as much as what is around my face; that is what I'm pondering more than anything. The length will be longer than what these pictures show.

This first picture is Mike's and my favorite of the choices I could find. I think I prefer myself without bangs and this one just has layers around the front of the face - but I don't know how that would help with softening ponytails and updos since I don't like longer layers hanging around my face. In fact, they would drive me nuts. Down though, like this, is nice, and the layers are long enough to pull back if I wanted to. 
 

This next picture is similar, but just with fewer layers around the face. It would just be a shorter version of my hair now, basically, with the front cut even shorter. Not much of a change except that I could wear it down whenever I wanted.

 

I had to try on some bangs too. Before I started growing out my perm and length ten years ago, I wore them for quite a few years. I don't think I look bad in them, and would like them a lot when I pull my hair back for any reason, but these are probably too heavy for me. Maybe something wispier. If I opt for bangs, it will be after I've adjusted to my new length. I also love the hair color here, but alas, for me it would be too high maintenance. 

 

Here is a look I like on Carol Alt that would allow all kinds of style options. Remember, my length would be longer than any these pictures are showing!

 

And another bang/layering around the face option that looks interesting:

 

And finally, a picture of Jane Seymour (who is also turning 60 this year) and the look I really like around the face while wearing an updo. I like her longer side-swept bangs better than the straight down ones:

 

As some of you remember, I was excited when I thought I was going to switch from blonde to red hair awhile back. Going red turned out to be way too high maintenance though, so I nixed that plan. But I still want a hair change; it just has to remain super low maintenance.

So there you have it. Feel free to comment with your opinions of any kind; I'd love to hear them. For now, I'm going to put my hair back up into this hideously unattractive updo and get busy around here.

Hair goals for 2011

I don't usually have hair "goals", per se; I just like my hair long and in good condition. To me, "long" is just above waist and beyond - and I've had long hair now for eight years or so in various lengths. But I've never let it grow longer than tailbone, or 40". I've wanted to try out classic length, but always cut back to waist or tailbone because my hair just felt too long and narrow the closer it got to the bottom of my bottom. Long and narrow hair is hard to handle when big, poofy perms of years past enamoured meso.

But I have a big birthday this year and it's time to finally give it a go. Though... since it is such a big birthday, I might want to opt for a big change. You never now what might take over me when I hit 60 in March. That's just a heckuva thing... 60. Good grief. How did that even happen?

Anyway, I am having a little bit of an internal struggle with aging and always wearing my hair up. I like it down and always have and the longer it gets, the more I wear it up. You know the drill, long hair friends. But if I don't go for classic once and for all this year, I might abandon the idea altogether.

So, here is the plan:  I joined the "No Trims in 2011 Challenge" thread on LHC, and other than dustings on occasion, I won't do any real trims this year at all. It'll be kinda hard since I like full ends, but maybe my ends will remain full... you never know. Oh yeah, here is a current picture... right after washing and drying - and before I even combed it, so it's kinda wild and wooly:

 
As you can see, I have a way to go to get to the bottom of my rear end. In this picture my hair is 36.25". Classic is 45" on me. I've been as long as 40" before, but I was working then and liked wearing it down a lot, so it just wasn't practical. Now, I'm up in the hills and alone much of the time, so giving classic a test run will be easier since wearing it up here is just practical. I won't make it quite to classic by the end of the year, but I'll be getting close if I grow my regular .5" per month... 42.25".

One thing I will like about longer hair: my buns will be bigger! My hair is so fine that it packs down to not very large buns - and I like big buns! I'm so tall I just need 'em to balance me out don'tcha know?

So... that is my hair goal for 2011. That and maybe learn a few new updos. I'm really hair lazy though and wear all of two different styles. I guess I'd rather being doing other things that fiddling with my hair. But I sure do like it long; that much won't change.

Hair decision

After talking to my old colorist on Tuesday, I've decided to axe my quest for red hair... and remain a bottle blonde.

Sigh...

It boils down to one thing for me:  maintenance. I am very low maintenance and with any type or color of red hair (henna or chemical, dark red or strawberry blonde) I'd have to color my hair way more often since the contrast with my virgin hair would be so extreme. Bah-humbug!

No can do.

Henna is unpredictable and chemical color fades. He told me that I'd have to color my entire length to keep chemical red from turning dull and brownish. My length has been colored only once with blonde and there appears to be little, if any, damage. And it never fades.

So... my short-lived dream of being a redhead is fading just like the chemical color would on my head - ha! Ah well, in the world of woes, it's a minuscule one!

I appreciate everyone's input on my red hair ramblings in the past few months. Your comments were very helpful and some were quite informative. Now that it's settled, I'll concentrate on finally growing to classic - though I think my hair is thinner than it used to be - and it might not look so great. I'd hoped that henna would help make my hair stronger, etc. to help with my classic quest. I really like waist length and might end up back there... but we'll see. Now's the time to give classic a try and I'm gunna finally give it a go... as long as it looks good and the ends don't thin out too much.

Pick a color

I'm still flummoxed about what to do with my hair... in reference to the color that is. I can't do much with it until more of my natural colors grows out, but even looking at myself with different colors is confusing. What color do I like? It doesn't help that I might not be able to obtain the color I want with a henna mix. Oh, what to do...

In the meantime, check out the colors below. Number 1 is my current hair color - chemical blonde. In most lighting it's quite a bit lighter than this picture shows though. In addition to being a noxious chemical soup I no longer want to put on my noggin, it just looks too washed out on me and I'm tired of being a "blonde".

I have a favorite of these other five colors. Which one do you guys like? (To enlarge pictures: click group picture once and then click on the "+" sign that floats on top of the pictures).

 

Testing my skin tone...

...to see if it would look okay with red hair... because yep, I'm still thinkin' about changing my color from blonde to get off the chemicals. I'm not sure about it, but Mike loves the red on me! What do you think? I changed the color in Photoshop just to see how my complexion would look. On the first picture - where my hair is straight, I think it looks pretty good, but on the wavy-haired picture, since my lipstick was a plum color, I'm not so sure. Maybe it's just the lipstick color that bothers me? I should have changed it too when changing the color of my hair. Take a look...

 
I think my pale skin looks pretty natural with the red color above, but looks too pink for it below. I just wonder which is accurate. I'll have to test more photos or go try on a wig.

 

One thing I do like is the depth of color. The blonde I have now is just so pale that it doesn't do much for me. I never intended to be a blonde, but with so much white coming in, it just turned out that way.

Also, the color red I have on these pictures is just a copper shade Mike and I both kind of liked. I don't know if I could ever achieve it with henna, but one day before too long, I will start testing. Could be I would prefer a less red color too... more brown... I just don't know yet. I just know that I want to get off the blonde!

Fox's Famous Shea Butter Conditioning Cream

I made a nice batch yesterday. See?

Fox had sent me some years ago, but I'd long since used it up as a pre-shampoo treatment. I never figured out how to use it as a leave-in back then with my half-permed hair. But I finally figured it out and it works so well! Here is the original recipe:

1 part shea butter
1 part oil
1 part conditioner
+ your favorite EOs

I made mine with unrefined shea butter (has a kinda nutty scent), virgin coconut oil (smells like fresh coconuts) and a mix of Aubrey's Organics' Rosa Mosqueta Rose Hip Conditioning Hair Cream and Honeysuckle Rose Conditioner. Once I melted the shea butter and coconut oil together, I let it cool a bit and then added the conditioners and mixed with a whisk. I then added some hair-friendly EOs: lavender, pink grapefruit, lemongrass, geranium and rosemary. It smells quite luscious. The consistency is just perfect and it smoothed out my ends without making them look greasy. It takes a very small amount to achieve this. Thanks, Fox, for such a nice recipe!

My frizz has disappeared, by the way. It has cooled off here and taken most of the humidity with it - which I think was the main culprit. Dang humidity. And the last time I washed, I used Jessicurl's Hair Cleansing Cream and Aloeba Daily Conditioner that I bought many years ago. I don't know if was those products or the lack of humidity - or both - but my hair was near-perfect once it dried. Smooth and not like my frizzed out picture at all. And with the addition of the Fox's cream on the ends, I couldn't ask for much smoother hair - unless I blow-dried it, which I never do.

I want to make a scalp oil next and am looking through all my ingredients. I have quite a few EOs that are good for the scalp, but certain mixes don't smell so great, so I'm fiddling with the ones I think are most important but also smell nice together. Plus, what combo of carrier oils I want to use. It'll be fun coming up with a combination just for my head and nose.

On the gardening front, I have sweet potatoes! Photos soon!

Hair today... ramblings and pic

Thanks so much for all the comments responding to my last post! You guys gave me some great ideas and options and it was nice to know I wasn't the only soul wandering around in the world of poofed up frizzed hair. I know I could subdue it with heat and certain products, but my fellow long-hairs can appreciate that I don't want to take that route.

Yesterday I washed my hair with a new combo that I like quite a bit, Giovanni's Smooth As Silk Deep Moisture shampoo and conditioner. Before that I'd put my hair up in a bun all day after adding some Monoi Tiare Tahiti that I'd bought back in 2001 shortly after I joined the old Network 54 hair board, at Karen Marie's suggestion when she raved about it. Ah, the good ol' days. Anyway, this was the same bottle I used back then... found when we packed up and moved here. I love it! At least I love the original scented one; the other two I tried back then didn't do much for my nose. My hair didn't care for it back when I was growing out that horrendous perm I had, but now it works very well with it and I love the smell in my hair. I just wish they sold it in larger bottles. It still comes in those little 4-ounce easy-to-fall-over-when-the-top-is-off bottles.

At any rate, I washed and conditioned my hair, using my white vinegar rinse with rosemary and lavender EOs (thanks for the inspiration Elvea Rose) and when towel dried, spritzed with my mister mix that includes jojoba and a few other things, let my hair dry a bit and then put it up in a bun. That was early afternoon and it was still very damp when we went to bed for cryin' out loud - even though I took it down and redid it several times, trying to get some air to it. For drying, it just takes way too long to be practical and I really missed the feel of clean hair drying around me, but just for helping my hair out, it might be worth it. I put it in a high bun for bed and this morning it looked like this moments after taking it down:

I think it helped with the frizz a bit, but the bun kinda got sloppy and pulled cock-eyed during the night and the waves ended up haphazard and not smooth and pretty like I've had them before. The ends look like they don't know what they're supposed to be doing and it still doesn't look smooth like my hair usually looks.

I tell you what I like about this picture though! The color!This is the color I want! The light was kind of low, thus it's slightly out of focus, but the red in my hair is because (I assume) of all the wood in the bathroom bouncing onto my hair from the light in the bathroom. Whatever, I love the color and this is what I'd like to get from some sort of henna mix. It just looks so much more luscious than my too light blonde.

As far as the frizzies go, I think I will just deal with them and see how my hair looks when the humidity here subsides. Since I always wear my hair up at home anyway (who wants a 3-foot hair in their meal?) maybe it's a moot point. And since I don't spend that much time outside in the summer since I have to avoid the sun (other than about 15 minutes a day) I guess it's not that big of an issue. But it did shock my senses when I saw that picture! My hair felt so soft and nice that day, but it looked hideous!

I'll probably be playing around with a new hair routine and will report back if I try any new products that are worth mentioning. I'm considering trying Jessicurl products again. I loved them years ago and they helped with my growing out perm frizzies, so maybe they'd help again. I might add plopping back to my routine too to see what kind of waves I can bring back to life. It's nice to have the time to play with my hair again. I'm thinking about re-joining the hair boards to help me get to classic. I've not had time to post on either of them in ages.

Thanks again for all the helpful comments and emails! 

Hair issues w/ pics

Yeah... I'm having some hair issues. Maybe some of my long-hair friends can advise.

I've always been pretty happy with my hair... the thickness, length, condition, etc. I always wanted thicker and wavy hair, but still... I liked my hair pretty well.

Until lately!

I had my first and only heavy-duty shed about a year ago. I'd never seen so much hair come out of my head when I combed or brushed. I shrugged it off because I know hair goes through "seasons" and had read about it happening to lots of others. I lost a bit of thickness and then the shedding stopped. Now I think I have a heap o' new growth because when I go outside into the humid air, my hair turns into a frizzy mess! Take a look:

 
I've never had hair frizz like this before! I know it's very humid here in the South (great for skin, but...), but this is new for my hair and I've lived here most of my life. Here is a close-up of what appears to be new hair popping out all over my head - and looking rather wavy.

 
I know I could sleek it down with blow-drying, but I've not used a hair dryer in years and don't want to start now. At first I thought maybe our well water was causing some issues, but these aren't broken off hairs, they are new - and all over like new growth coming in. Plus, our water isn't hard here. Whatever, this frizzing is driving me nuts. I'm wondering if I should use some silicones to try to smooth it down some or just keep it in an updo until the new growth grows out to a longer and less frizzy state. Any input, long hair friends?

Now that I'm retired, I'd like to go for classic at least once to see how my hair would do, but I must admit that while it's in this frizzled state I'm not sure I what to. I'm wondering if I should keep trimming it until all the new growth catches up... or what?

Then I have the issue of coloring my hair. I know some of you have beautiful silver hair and love it, but I don't love it on me one bit. I recently let my hair grow out quite a bit so I could see my natural color better and am even more convinced that I want to continue coloring. I'd not wanted to use chemical color though... and broke down this past weekend and used it since I was going into my old job to train the new person and my two-toned hair with frizz just didn't project the look I wanted at all.

Here is a picture of my natural color on the side of my head:

 
There is more white towards the front, but I didn't get a good picture of that. I think I'm going to write for some advice on the Henna4Hair and LHC forums to see what they think about my tri-color hair and using a henna/cassia/buxus mix. Since I have my natural brown mixed with the ever-encroaching white plus the chemical blonde, I'm wondering if it's even possible to achieve a relatively natural looking color that pulls all those together seamlessly. But I'm willing to do lots of testing! I'd love to get off chemical color and I really don't want to be so blonde anymore either. I think I need more color and depth - and that's what I'd like.

If anyone has any input, I'd love to hear it.

Here is one more picture, showing the length from the front:

 
  
I look happy (even with the sun in my eyes) and am, but I'm frustrated with my hair and am not sure what to do with it. And no, I don't want to go short, but I might consider waist again if I have to, or a little shorter. Don't wanna though... really want to hit classic.

All constructive comments welcome!