At Home Hair Makeover!

Tonight while Z was sleeping and the Husband was at school, I liberated myself from a bad haircut. To be fair it wasn't that bad, it was just not what I wanted. There are a few of things you should know before you read on:

1. We are on a fixed income right now, so going to get a haircut is a expense that is not really in the budget.
2. My hair stylist was 32 weeks pregnant  at the time of my haircut.
3. The last time I saw her she wasn't pregnant and I was!
4. Do the math=I really needed a haircut.
5. I have issues with going to a salon to get my hair cut.

All through my childhood until I graduated high school I only went to a salon once to get my haircut. I was in the 6th grade and it only happened because I won a free haircut in a Vacation Bible School raffle, random I know! All of my other haircuts were given to me by my Mom, who gave our whole family haircuts, because she went to beauty school, as they called it then. When I went off to college I had a friend who lived down the hall from me who was going to cosmetology school for hair. Some of you will remember this era of my life, where my hair color or style would change almost every week! I tried every shade of color possible and probably every short style imaginable. I started cutting and coloring my own hair, because I didn't think it was that hard and if I got in trouble I could call up my friend and have her help me fix it. I will say I have given myself many bad hair cuts and once accidentally dyed my hair a greenish tint! I found out from my friend that you can easily fix a greenish tint by putting ketchup in your hair (like you would shampoo or a conditioning mask), leave it in for 30-45 min and rinse. It looks like a blood bath while you are rinsing and it smells horrible, but it will take the green out!

When I went off to Chicago to finish college I even gave haircuts to the other students around campus who were willing to pay $10 or $12 for a cut! I still cut the Husband's hair and my Mom's from time to time, and I still give myself haircuts. If I find myself in a style rut I have gone to a salon to get my haircut. This usually doesn't go very well, I have issues like I said! It usually begins with me sweating with nervousness when I enter the salon, this coupled with all of my muscles being stiff with tension. I sit down in the chair and try to explain to the poor stylist what I would like. I say poor stylist, because they are doomed to fail and I am doomed to get a bad haircut! I either have a hard time explaining what I want or I am too picky or nervous. I have tried be relaxed and say "do whatever you think!" I have learned is the worst thing you can say to a stylist!

I don't like to spend a lot on my hair, because I never have had to. I can't imagine that people actually pay the prices the salon charges on a 6 week basis. I am more of a 6 month salon goer! I sit through the haircut and when it's finished I try to smile for the stylist, rarely it's not fake, and then I leave feeling bad that I just spent that much on a haircut that I don't really like.



So, here I am about a month later. I still didn't like my haircut, which didn't make me feel any better about myself.  Having a baby makes you feel different about yourself, it takes awhile to get used to the new you and your new baby. Six months later, I still am trying to lose the pregnancy weight, find clothes that fit and that I feel good in, and come to terms with me not feeling like myself. Tonight I decided I had enough. I walked into the bathroom and started cutting. I cut the top, the sides, and the back and when I was done I had a smile on my face. I felt liberated, free, better. I like my hair now. Lesson learned.  It was cheap, it was tension free, and it's the way I wanted it all along. It may not be perfect, but it works and I feel more like myself again.Oh, and the Husband likes it too! Priceless.

Do you have salon issues?