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View Full Version : an observation...or maybe I just watch too much reality tv



relizabeth
January 9th, 2009, 10:11 AM
In general (I admit, it's a very broad generalization.), on TV, people don't seem have great hair.

I was watching Top Chef on Wednesday night, and noticed the host, Padma, had very damaged looking APL hair in a half up/half down style. She's a gorgeous woman who's made a career, at least partially, from her good looks. If she can't look good with conventionally styled long hair on a TV show...

I see conventional styles on TV, and for the most part, unless it's on a scripted show where the hairstylist touches up the actor in between each take, the hair doesn't look great. I'm beginning to believe that the only hair that can withstand the rigors of modern styling and products enough to look good most of the time is exceptionally hardy and strong. And my hair does not fit that description. It's not super fine or super thin, but heat styling and wearing it down every day wears my hair down to the point that it must be short to look healthy.

I tried many different-length conventional styles over the years, and the only one that looked healthy and well maintained every day on me was a super short pixie. I guess that's why I returned to it over and over.

At some point last year I decided it wasn't worth the effort of maintenance to have longer hair that looked good for five minutes in front of the mirror every morning, and went downhill all day afterward. I decided then either to wear my hair in a pixie the rest of my life or grow it out, take great care of it, and wear it up to protect it almost every day. It seemed limiting at first, but as I've started observing the hair around me more closely, it seems more and more the right choice for me.

sahiba
January 9th, 2009, 10:30 AM
Welcome to the the world of LHC :D

Euphony
January 9th, 2009, 11:16 AM
hahaha yep! I have found that I wear my hair up probably 85% of the time now. Those 15% that my hair is down though, my hair looks inordinately healthy, thick to the bottom and untattered for apl hair - not a bad accomplishment for hair that's at 'can I call this tail bone' length :D Thank you LHC!!

Carolyn
January 9th, 2009, 11:18 AM
I agree with you. Maybe it's that standards of what "looks good" have changed. People are more easy going and casual now that they were years ago. If you think hair in general on TV is looking bad, just take a walk around your local WM :p You'll see it all there. The good, the bad and the ugly, most of it being bad and ugly :D

inspiral
January 9th, 2009, 12:36 PM
imagine how much heat and chemical styling that tv personalities have done to their hair!!! most of the long beautiful locks you see on tv are fake hair, in almost every photo shoot that you seen in a magazine with an actress or model the hair stylist puts some fake pieces in to make it look longer, fuller, and healthier, i know this from experience!

Islandgrrl
January 9th, 2009, 12:55 PM
The rigors of modern styling are decidedly not hair friendly. Which is why there is the prevalence of fake hair in the entertainment industry (and, more often, in everyday life) and the overabundance of badly abused hair out there.

In a world where your hair must look perfectly up to date as the fashion trends change, no one's natural hair could possibly keep up with that! Long one year, short the next, then long the next....etc....

jivete
January 9th, 2009, 01:47 PM
I wonder if our standards of what perfect hair is has changed too. If we're so used to seeing air-brushed hair or fake hair, maybe we expect too much from normal hair.

I'm not saying there isn't a lot of damaged hair out there, but no matter how healthy my hair is, it'd never look as shiny or sleek as some of the hair I've seen, fake and real.

relizabeth
January 9th, 2009, 01:50 PM
I wonder if our standards of what perfect hair is has changed too. If we're so used to seeing air-brushed hair or fake hair, maybe we expect too much from normal hair.

I'm not saying there isn't a lot of damaged hair out there, but no matter how healthy my hair is, it'd never look as shiny or sleek as some of the hair I've seen, fake and real.
That's a really good point. Maybe that's why I always feel crunchy when I see one of those makeover shows where the subject has a nice, natural look with unprocessed hair, and they go and put on all this makeup and styling on her. Maybe we humans have forgotten how to look nice in person and we're all grooming for TV. Deep thoughts :)

C_Bookworm
January 9th, 2009, 03:46 PM
It seems like even on shows where there is a stylish touching them up every take, their hair keeps getting shorter to cut out damage, or they end up with extensions. One show that really kills me is american idol, year after eyar you see girls come in with pretty, natural hair, and by the time they leave, it has been strainghtened, curled, colored,etc so much that it has to be cut shorter and it isn't in as good of condition

Sissy
January 9th, 2009, 06:17 PM
imagine how much heat and chemical styling that tv personalities have done to their hair!!! most of the long beautiful locks you see on tv are fake hair, in almost every photo shoot that you seen in a magazine with an actress or model the hair stylist puts some fake pieces in to make it look longer, fuller, and healthier, i know this from experience!

Yeah, they must put through their hair through an awful lot... extensions, straighteners, frequent washings. Eeeekkk! The girls in magazines always have the most fantastic hair... it must be touched up or else styled to death!

Teazel
January 9th, 2009, 06:26 PM
The other day someone posted a link to a YouTube video of long-haired women at the turn of the century, and looking at it, I wondered at how thick and healthy their hair was. The hair I see on TV and in daily life tends to be so ratty... razored layers ironed straight, bad dye jobs, product-laden... I stand behind people at the traffic lights and eye their short, split, frizzy straw.

And then women look at my hair and complain, "Oh, I can't grow my hair longer than shoulder-length!"

SimplyLonghair
January 9th, 2009, 06:55 PM
Yes madison ave has done a job on all of us, we no longer know what is good for us what looks good ar what ever unless we are informed by them.

savi
January 10th, 2009, 01:11 PM
I wonder if our standards of what perfect hair is has changed too. If we're so used to seeing air-brushed hair or fake hair, maybe we expect too much from normal hair.
I have wondered about that too, but also about the flip side as I've seen rather many people whose hair has been.. honestly messy just calmly fluffing it up some more. It seems as if there's a big line between the normal casual and rather messy versus when people dress up. Yet the amount of time consumed in hair care doesn't seem drastically different. (Wash, blow dry, straighten/curl - pretty much the same, it seems. I follow people too much. :o)

Friesiangirl
January 10th, 2009, 09:48 PM
Hmm, this is true. One girl in my science class was sniffing heads (we're a weird bunch, but it's high school) of her friends. She noted that two of her five friends hair smelt like burnt toast. I pointed out that if one straightens their hair everyday, that's bound to happen. Funny though, because my hair smelled the best (she was trying to guess shampoos). My routine at the time and now again was water-only. Haha.

I don't groom for anyone but myself. I'm recovering from eating issues too because my whole body perception was incredibly messed up. It's funny how one can so easily believe that the world we see on TV is what the world is. It's so far from the truth, because the real world is beats a HD television any day. Around every corner is another beautiful sight, humans included. I think people who are more natural are incredibly beautiful, but those who are not are following their own path. It's a path that takes too much time in the mornings for me!

Hayley

DiyaC
January 10th, 2009, 10:10 PM
"It's so far from the truth, because the real world is beats a HD television any day. Around every corner is another beautiful sight, humans included. I think people who are more natural are incredibly beautiful, but those who are not are following their own path."

Well said, Friesiangirl. I completely agree.

Debra83
January 10th, 2009, 10:39 PM
After seeing all the pics here and the healthy, beautiful hair...it's amazing how the hair on t.v., or workplace, or out and about jumps out at you as being "inferior" to TLHC hair. I want to walk up to everyone, especially longhairs, and tell them about this site. sigh. I've only told a couple of people (strangers) though and a few friends in passing.

GlassEyes
January 11th, 2009, 03:20 PM
I think her hair looks fine, actually... XD;