Do you care about your hair?

aruna · Aug 18, 2007

I had the following post on Scarlet's thread but on second thoughts found it impolite so I deleted it and started my own, with a poll (ETA oops! I forgot the add poll option. Never mind!)
I'd just like to see if I really an freak in this respect as well.

Originally Posted by scarletpeaches
So. The men probably won't care, but the women will understand - the closest relationship you have on this earth is with your hairdresser, and I'm about to step into virgin (bo!) territory with a new one.

Originally Posted by jennifer75
Guys really don't know what a stressful thing it is to deal with new salons or even confronting existing stylists.

I just had an overwhelming need to state the following caveat: NOT ALL WOMEN!!!!!!!!!!!! And (post 2) not all men!

I don't have a close relationship with my hairdresser, in fact, I don't HAVE a hairdresser. When it needs cutting my daughter does it, but mostly I just try to keep it knot-free, sometimes as short as possible. I don't care about my hair a bit, I just want it to be manageable.

One day I probably will shave it all off. I was very happy when I had cornrows as I didn't have to think about combing/brushing hair for weeks on end (mine is a pain, knots easily)!

I just am not interested in hair. So it's not always a woman thing. I think we all hate to hear stereotypes if we are the ones who don't fit in, and that's me in this case!

The "stress of finding a new salon" is a very weird and foreign world to me. ___

And I just know that these days quite a few men take care of their hair as previously only women did, and do have a stylist. So what goes with you? Are you a woman who hates hair talk? Are you a man who loves it???

What about other stereotypes, such as fashion and shoes for women, fast cars for men? Do you fit in?

Mandy-Jane · Aug 18, 2007

I'm glad I'm not the only one, because, no I definitely don't fit in. I do like shoes, but I'm not one to go out and spend a fortune (if I had one) on matching shoes and bags. I have one pair of sneakers, one pair of boots (that's working in the paddock boots), one pair of smart/casual lace up black shoes, and a couple of high heels. I don't understand all these women who have rows and rows of shoes in every colour and every style.

As for hair and hairdressers, I used to go to the same one, and I admit, it was comforting to know that they knew me and what I liked and what suited me. But I tend to like change when it comes to that, so I quite freely would just stop going to one and then start going to another. But it depends on what I'm doing to my hair at the time. If I'm in the middle of a style (growing one out or something like that), I like to stick to the same one. But if, as at the moment, I'm just growing it to get it long, big deal who cuts my hair! I go to one of those just-walk-in-off-the-street-and-get-who-you-get type salons. It suits me at the moment.

I also find that your style and your needs change as you age. When I was younger and single, of course I wanted to be right up there. The flashiest shoes, the prettiest hair, the best clothes. Now I have two young kids, and I'm just grateful if I can get out of the door with my buttons done up and my hair combed!

Azraelsbane · Aug 18, 2007

I wake up about 10 minutes before I have to be anywhere. Five minutes under the shower, five minutes to dress...30 seconds to put on a hat and sunglasses-out the door.

My husband, on the other hand, wakes up over two hours before needing to leave, takes an hour long bubble bath followed by over half an hour "styling" his hair... His hair is short, as in, not standing on end short, but close. The man is a lunatic! He uses half a jar of hair product to spike his hair in the morning!

I have about three or four pairs of shoes, my husband has over twelve.

Husband LOVES to shop, and I'd rather put a bullet through my skull and simply wear everything until the last thread unravels.

I had a Mazda RX-8, and my husband was dreaming of a mini-van.

So yeah, my family isn't normal. And no, my husband's REALLY not gay. I've asked him about 100 times. LoL

mum23 · Aug 18, 2007

Nope, I only go to the hairdresser when I have too. 2 Years of wearing my hair in a clip then decide it looks like rats tails. I'm not a preener, don't spend hours infront of the mirror, I have kids!!!

Long soaks in the bath? What's that?

My obsession is what to cook that's different for tea. I love to cook.
When I shop, I only buy what I need. If I need new shoes I buy the ones I like, not go from shop to shop. That's my idea of hell.

aruna · Aug 18, 2007

Mandy-Jane said:
I have one pair of sneakers, one pair of boots (that's working in the paddock boots), one pair of smart/casual lace up black shoes, and a couple of high heels. I don't understand all these women who have rows and rows of shoes in every colour and every style.

That's me all over! I loathe the "women und shoes" cliche, because collecting shoes is just about the last thing on my mind. And I hate "shopping". And detest the notion of "retail therapy".
So there!

akiwiguy · Aug 18, 2007

A lot of hair topics lately. I still have a full head of hair and no signs I'll ever lose it, yet have chosen to buzz it to about 1/8 th inch. In fact if I have a care about it now is that I keep it that short because it seems to look better and feel so great. Jokingly I encourage friends to run their hands over it to feel how delicious the prickly feel is. I purrrr.

Part of the reason I like it too is that my hair grows and looks scruffy quickly, and I actually got sick of the frequent visits to the hairdresser, and it can become quite an annoying expensive.

If I've ever had an attachment to one hairdresser it was a few years back in another town we lived in, and she had the most incredible way of continually pulling at my hair as she worked that felt devine, like a massage. I know that might sound odd, but I've never struck anything like her particular touch. By the end of however long the haircut took, and she just seemed to do everything at a slow relaxed pace, I felt so good.

I personally hate the feeling of hair. When it's starting to hang over my ears or worse still flick in front of my eyes. Ewww, just irritates me.

If we're talking aesthetics, I guess it's what ever suits, but I actually have quite a thing for really short (almost shaved) hair on women. I mean, it obviously would depend on bone structure etc, but it can be stunningly beautiful. I seem to recall posting this elsewhere which is why I still have it in my photobucket, and I have no idea whatsoever who this woman is, but to me she astonishingky beautiful. I don't say that in a pervy way either, it's just an image that I can't help appreciating...

aruna · Aug 18, 2007

She is indeed beautiful. I want to wear my hair that way too, but it won't do as long as I live in Europe. If ever I move to India, that's the time!

scarletpeaches · Aug 18, 2007

Imagine that. aruna being so polite as to refrain from derailing my thread. And if anyone deserves a derailment, it's me.

I hate shopping, by the way and I'm not fussed about shoes. The only reason I'm so precious about my hair now is because it's the longest it's been in years and I can't imagine cutting it for a long, long time.

I honestly never used to be so vain about my hair, but only in the past two years or so, since I went blonde. Oh well. We each have our little vanities I guess.

akiwiguy · Aug 18, 2007

scarletpeaches said:
Oh well. We each have our little vanities I guess.

It's not really vanity necessarily, we just like to feel good about ourselves. Because I work at home it is pretty easy to get a bit sloppy in terms of clothing or not bothering to shave the odd morning, and if I have to skip out to the supermarket or something like it I feel like crap. In fact I can actually feel like crap in my own home if I get too scruffy.

Often I don't know that we try to look good for other people, or at least not directly, but want to feel good in ourselves... I feel then as though I'm projecting myself in an overall sense in a more positive way. If that makes sense.

mum23 · Aug 18, 2007

Totally true. I always wanted long hair but always seemed to stop at a certain length. Then while preggers with my last child (3 years ago) it was down to my lower back. Never been so long. What have I done now? Had it cut to a short bob because I thought long hair on a woman of my age looked just stupid. Growing it a bit now though. Miss the hair slide lol.

Sophia · Aug 18, 2007

I had long hair when I was younger, which was cut to about shoulder length in my teens until I was 20. It is frizzy and shapeless - I think of it as a wanna-be Afro, but sadly lacking in the character for it.

I noticed that close to my scalp, it was just about straight and almost lay flat, and considered cutting it, but in those days I used to use my hair as a shield around my face and was too anxious about losing that. I eventually bit the bullet when I was around 24 and had it cut to about an inch all over, and it was wonderfully freeing. It took no time at all to wash, dried almost instantly and styling it involves putting on a hat for a few minutes before I go out so that the little frizz it has is smoothed out. I do have the problem now though that I have to go to a hairdresser every month to trim it properly. When younger, my Mum used to just cut it straight across the ends with a pair of scissors and that would be it.

The other problem with short hair is that my family hate it. I know it's not traditionally feminine, but I don't have nice sleek shiny hair, and to have it be the way they think women's hair should be would involve a trip to the hairdresser and loads of straightening etc. every day. Even if I could afford it, it's not in any way worth the time just to be able to conform. Luckily, hubby loves it short. It took me a few years to mentally adjust to and accept not looking 'girly' anymore and having to change my clothing style a bit to suit it. I feel overall that manageability and acceptance by those closest to me trumps beauty-in-the-eyes-of-others.

I'd love to look like that women in the picture you posted, akiwiguy. What a gorgeous image.

mum23 · Aug 18, 2007

A bit like demi Moore in GI Jane. That woman looks amaxing, long hair short hair, pregnant. She's just got it all.

larocca · Aug 18, 2007

I've never much cared about my hair one way or the other, which is probably a good thing considering what a wreck it is. And no, I don't think the two are related. :tongue

When I was a little boy, it was reddish and super-curly, so I heard all that "girly-man homo" crap. Now it's gray, which is a marked improvement. Still nappy, though. I was just reading The Autobiography of Malcolm X and, just like when I saw the movie, I wondered how to get my hair conked.

And to think I started by saying I don't care about my hair. Well, I did shave it off. Photos on my site, along with a hilarious story about (1) explaining this to a Chinese barber, (2) much much incredulity, and (3) a massive audience as they shaved the nappy-headed white boy.

I wash it daily and it's curly even when wet. I comb it and don't know why. When it gets too long, I get it cut. It grows fast, so I always want it shorter than the barber does. And some fool somewhere decided men's fashion means cut the sides and back but leave the top long and stupid, so I have to talk them into finishing the job. Then I go home and chop the bangs myself because they think they have to hide my receding hairline for some retarded reason. It's impossible for me to get a bad haircut because no two hairs point in the same direction, thus nobody will notice if it doesn't line up just so.

Loyal to barbers? Not me. I'm loyal to the concept of the barber, since I'm an old redneck, but the hair stylists are running them out of business, dagnabbit.

Rolling Thunder · Aug 18, 2007

A thread about stylists? Um...my hair is 'wash and wear'. Next year, when it gets a bit longer, I'll go to the barber. For those of you who don't know what a 'barber' is, it's a guy who simply cuts hair off. I'll get a nice crew cut like I always do for $7 and the hair will go to one of the cancer charities to be made into wigs for children who have lost theirs from chemo.

My morning hair care regimen is: 1.) Wash 2.) Rinse 3.) Towel 4.) Comb 5.) Endure loathing of those who read this.

rhymegirl · Aug 18, 2007

Yes, I care about my hair.

When I was growing up I had terrible hair unfortunately. It was very fine, thin, very limp. I can remember on my graduation day from high school that it was a very humid day and I had curled my hair for the event. Well, my hair never took a curl very well, and after only fifteen minutes or so the curls were gone.

Something happened to my hair when I was pregnant. That's the only explanation I've been able to come up with. (my hairdresser agrees that hormones can change the texture of your hair) All of a sudden I had more body, more volume, more shine to my hair.

Anyways, my hair is important to me. It makes me feel confident and feminine. I think people need to do whatever makes them comfortable and happy. I would not be happy bald. If for some reason I lost all my hair due to illness I would definitely buy a wig.

PattiTheWicked · Aug 18, 2007

My hair is really thick and grows fast, but I hate going to get it cut. I only go about once every six months to have it trimmed professionally -- the rest of the time I whack at it with a pair of sewing scissors.

I only wash it about twice a week, the rest of the time I run a brush over it, slap some product on there to spike it, and I'm good. It takes me all of two minutes to do my hair.

Unique · Aug 18, 2007

PattiTheWicked said:
My hair is really thick and grows fast, but I hate going to get it cut. I only go about once every six months to have it trimmed professionally --

oh, yes. Me, too. Only every six weeks or so instead of six months. sigh.
I've got too much hair.

MattW · Aug 18, 2007

For 28+ years, you could count the number of good haircuts I'd had without taking off your shoes.

On top of that, my hair is so thick and grows so fast, I need it cut every 8-10 days to maintain the same style. It goes wavy when it's long, and will puff out more than anything.

My solution? $50 hair clipper kit I've used every week for over a year, keeping my hair no longer than 1/4" Keep my beard tight and shaped, and I'm well pleased with my easy (and cost saving) look.

seun · Aug 18, 2007

Hair?

kristie911 · Aug 18, 2007

I love my hair and I'm very particular about it. However, I'm a "do it yourself" cutter...I love to cut my hair. When it annoys me, I trim it. But it's really curly and even if I mess it up, I don't really care. But styling my hair, well, I'm pretty particular about it, though I rarely spend more than 20 minutes on it a day. It's definitely NOT wash and wear! I have a fair amount of gray so I color it regularly, but usually it's close to my natural color.

I hate shopping and shoes and I'm not big on fashion. Everything I own is pretty much jeans and some form of t-shirt. My hair is my only vanity.

ETA: I HATE finding a new stylist...there are very, very few that truly understand curly hair. You can't simply cut it the same as straight hair.

rhymegirl · Aug 18, 2007

Not many women can carry off this look and still look good.

In my opinion. You have to have the right face for it.

Unique · Aug 18, 2007

The men probably won't care, but the women will understand - the closest relationship you have on this earth is with your hairdresser, and I'm about to step into virgin (bo!) territory with a new one.

I understand that.

I won't let mine move away. I'll follow him. I don't care where. But he's from here - so for now ... I'm here too.

The_Grand_Duchess · Aug 18, 2007

I am extreamly vain about my hair. It's midnight raven witch black and long. And all mine which is extremly rare in my neck of the woods. Hell yeah I'm nervous about new hairdressers! I have so much hair! They always want to mess with it. Dyes and cuts! I'm a playground for them!

And if they don't know what they're doing? They'll ruin it!

Look, I don't need a bunch of extra crap. I don't need a super perm. I just need the normal stuff. I know its a lot of hair and it looks like it needs extra but it doesn't.

scarletpeaches · Aug 18, 2007

I had two women doing my hair yesterday and I said to Kim (the stylist I'd booked with), "Next time I think I'll go for platinum blonde all over, with lipstick red stripes," and the other girl said, "Will you be my client? I LOVE doing funky colours!" So they were fighting over me!

And Kim said, "You can have whatever you want. You're adventurous with your hair, and I'm happy to try different colours." Plus, she says she wants to follow me around all day making sure my hair's sitting nice.

And she's decided to copy the colours I have just now onto her own hair as apparently, I'm really good at choosing colours that go together.

So looks like I've found a hairdresser to really suit me. Yay!

Siddow · Aug 18, 2007

I'm obsessive about my hair to the extent that it's 80% silver, and I'm only 37. So I color, very often, because it grows really fast.

And I'm picky about hairdressers. I've yet to meet one who can duplicate the same cut she gave me last time. The one I'm seeing now has cut it twice, and I'm happy with it, but like the others, I'm just waiting for that time she royally screws it up and I'll start looking for a new one. Again.

Do you care about your hair?

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