julliams
December 21st, 2011, 06:36 PM
Hi everyone,
Well, I finally made it to hip. I have this little safety pin on my stripey top that was my ultimate goal and when I took my before shot yesterday morning, I realised I had made it. It was short-lived because I was off to the salon that evening.
I had chosen the salon because there was one stylist who was written as specialising in curly hair and I had read some good reviews of both her and the salon in general.
It was about a 40 minute drive away to a very swanky part of town. When I walked in, the salon was bathed in a soft blowfry haze as there was about 6 stylists all blowdrying their current clients. I could smell a heavy scent of dye and other chemicals in the air and I was so pleased that I was having none of that.
I met my stylist who was absolutely lovely. She was very complimentary about my hair saying that it was just beautiful and she was keen to work with it. She seemed to understand what I wanted and I felt comfortable with her.
Then I went to have a shampoo with a lovely girl who I must say really didn't know what she was doing. She was new to the country and I would guess new to hair as well. She shampooed my hair, then asked the guy next to her to check that she had done a good job (???) then asked what treatment to put in my hair. I responded that I didn't think I needed one, so she went to check with the stylist who told her "no, shampoo only" so she took that totally literally, and sent me on my way. I got to my chair and told the stylist that she had not put conditioner on my hair, so back to the basin I went. She conditioned it, massaged my head and then proceeded to take AGES to wash it out. And I mean AGES. By the time I was done I had been at that sink for more than 20 minutes. then she towel dried it (by rubbing it - ugh!) and then started combing it out. I could hear her ripping it and I wondered how to approach this so I told her that I didn't have many tangles so she didn't need to comb it. She didn't quite understand me so went to ask the stylist again. My stylist came to my rescue and said I didn't need a comb and that she would do that herself. Phew!!! I know I could have told her to stop but I didn't want to embarrass her as I knew she was having trouble with the language. She was sweet but she has ALOT to learn.
Anyways, now I was back in the chair. The mirrors only allowed me to see my hair from collarbone length up so I double checked with the stylist how much she would cut off and she showed me what looked to be 2 inches with her fingers. I was happy with that - no biggie for me.
Then she cut. Because she was cutting layers there were some longer 4 inch pieces left on the floor and for a moment there I wondered if I was going to have one of "those" experiences where I would stand up and discover I was BSL again.
But it was not that way at all. In fact when I stood up, I realised I was in fact still past waist and the layering was very subtle.
My hair feels alot lighter and when I put it up in a ponytail you can see just how much layering there is because it's alot shorter but that's ok because I don't wear it in a ponytail anyways.
I don't have a "verandah out the back" where they cut the top canopy layer to your shoulders - thank goodness for that. I told her I specifically didn't want that and she liked my metaphor.
At the end she put a palmful of product (curling solution) into my hair which I said was alot but she said I needed alot because I have such thick hair. Then she sat me under a heating lamp for a while to get it a little dryer having clipped it up. Did nothing really. There was so much product in my hair, it was gross really.
When I got home I took pictures but they just look like wet hair and I'm not going to post them here.
This morning I couldn't wait to wash it (AGAIN!!! - that's the 4th time in 3 days!!!) and get all that gunk out. I think the product is probably fine - just not that much of it.
I washed my hair as I'd done yesterday and here are the results. First pic is the before shot. Yes, I know it does actually look better. But it was an awesome day for airdrying hair. Not a cloud in the sky, no humidity and just a perfect day. Today, it's raining and totally humid - something that gives me instant frizzies. So yeah, yesterday's hair does look better but that's the curl pattern thing.
So looking at the shape - I think it's better now (I think...) In any case, I'm happy. It's hair - it will grow and I'll be back to hip again in about 2 - 4 months. I was exactly at this stripe in early November so I think my hair is having a bit of a growth spurt at the moment being warmer weather and the like. Plus I've been drinking alot of Rooibos tea and I think that might be helping (who knows...)
So here are the pics - before and after (not quite dry because I'm over waiting...):
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7031/6551774529_c46fc17649.jpg http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7168/6551774685_f9907de122.jpg
So I know alot of you will be thinking that I shouldn't have done it. But it's done now and honestly, when I go through my hair, there aren't any splits that I can see and it was so split like crazy. So that has to be a plus. I know it looks ALOT shorter but as you can see from the stripes, it's only 2 inches off the overall length which is exactly what she said she would cut. I think the shape is better. My hair is OVER being washed so I'm going to leave it be for a couple of days and then I think I will slather it with olive oil.
Well, I finally made it to hip. I have this little safety pin on my stripey top that was my ultimate goal and when I took my before shot yesterday morning, I realised I had made it. It was short-lived because I was off to the salon that evening.
I had chosen the salon because there was one stylist who was written as specialising in curly hair and I had read some good reviews of both her and the salon in general.
It was about a 40 minute drive away to a very swanky part of town. When I walked in, the salon was bathed in a soft blowfry haze as there was about 6 stylists all blowdrying their current clients. I could smell a heavy scent of dye and other chemicals in the air and I was so pleased that I was having none of that.
I met my stylist who was absolutely lovely. She was very complimentary about my hair saying that it was just beautiful and she was keen to work with it. She seemed to understand what I wanted and I felt comfortable with her.
Then I went to have a shampoo with a lovely girl who I must say really didn't know what she was doing. She was new to the country and I would guess new to hair as well. She shampooed my hair, then asked the guy next to her to check that she had done a good job (???) then asked what treatment to put in my hair. I responded that I didn't think I needed one, so she went to check with the stylist who told her "no, shampoo only" so she took that totally literally, and sent me on my way. I got to my chair and told the stylist that she had not put conditioner on my hair, so back to the basin I went. She conditioned it, massaged my head and then proceeded to take AGES to wash it out. And I mean AGES. By the time I was done I had been at that sink for more than 20 minutes. then she towel dried it (by rubbing it - ugh!) and then started combing it out. I could hear her ripping it and I wondered how to approach this so I told her that I didn't have many tangles so she didn't need to comb it. She didn't quite understand me so went to ask the stylist again. My stylist came to my rescue and said I didn't need a comb and that she would do that herself. Phew!!! I know I could have told her to stop but I didn't want to embarrass her as I knew she was having trouble with the language. She was sweet but she has ALOT to learn.
Anyways, now I was back in the chair. The mirrors only allowed me to see my hair from collarbone length up so I double checked with the stylist how much she would cut off and she showed me what looked to be 2 inches with her fingers. I was happy with that - no biggie for me.
Then she cut. Because she was cutting layers there were some longer 4 inch pieces left on the floor and for a moment there I wondered if I was going to have one of "those" experiences where I would stand up and discover I was BSL again.
But it was not that way at all. In fact when I stood up, I realised I was in fact still past waist and the layering was very subtle.
My hair feels alot lighter and when I put it up in a ponytail you can see just how much layering there is because it's alot shorter but that's ok because I don't wear it in a ponytail anyways.
I don't have a "verandah out the back" where they cut the top canopy layer to your shoulders - thank goodness for that. I told her I specifically didn't want that and she liked my metaphor.
At the end she put a palmful of product (curling solution) into my hair which I said was alot but she said I needed alot because I have such thick hair. Then she sat me under a heating lamp for a while to get it a little dryer having clipped it up. Did nothing really. There was so much product in my hair, it was gross really.
When I got home I took pictures but they just look like wet hair and I'm not going to post them here.
This morning I couldn't wait to wash it (AGAIN!!! - that's the 4th time in 3 days!!!) and get all that gunk out. I think the product is probably fine - just not that much of it.
I washed my hair as I'd done yesterday and here are the results. First pic is the before shot. Yes, I know it does actually look better. But it was an awesome day for airdrying hair. Not a cloud in the sky, no humidity and just a perfect day. Today, it's raining and totally humid - something that gives me instant frizzies. So yeah, yesterday's hair does look better but that's the curl pattern thing.
So looking at the shape - I think it's better now (I think...) In any case, I'm happy. It's hair - it will grow and I'll be back to hip again in about 2 - 4 months. I was exactly at this stripe in early November so I think my hair is having a bit of a growth spurt at the moment being warmer weather and the like. Plus I've been drinking alot of Rooibos tea and I think that might be helping (who knows...)
So here are the pics - before and after (not quite dry because I'm over waiting...):
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7031/6551774529_c46fc17649.jpg http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7168/6551774685_f9907de122.jpg
So I know alot of you will be thinking that I shouldn't have done it. But it's done now and honestly, when I go through my hair, there aren't any splits that I can see and it was so split like crazy. So that has to be a plus. I know it looks ALOT shorter but as you can see from the stripes, it's only 2 inches off the overall length which is exactly what she said she would cut. I think the shape is better. My hair is OVER being washed so I'm going to leave it be for a couple of days and then I think I will slather it with olive oil.