I’d like to be able to say that I’m not a vain person, but that would be a lie! And, while I’m not obsessively so, I do worry about my appearance.
I take particular care of my hair…
While spending a lovely couple of hours in peace and quiet at the hairdressers having my highlights done on Saturday, me-time at its best; I posted a photo of me with foils in on Instagram in response to a #widn (what I’m doing now) tag. I then used this photo (or at least a slice of it, it was the most unflattering selfie ever; and I did just admit to being vain!) as my Project 365 image. This prompted a discussion on twitter with the lovely Fiona (Coombemill) about hair, then hairdressers, then hair disasters..!
This got me thinking about the evolution of my hair, and how I reached a point in my life where I spend a small fortune every eight weeks getting my hair cut and highlighted…
I am a teenager of the mid to late eighties. To any of you who also lived through this tasteful period in our fashion history, how many of you had a perm? I did… I badgered my mother for months! And, mum, if you’re reading this, I should have listened to you!
But I was fifteen and it was the thing to do.
Sadly, I have no photos to show you. This was the late eighties remember, before digital cameras, camera phones, selfies…! Any photos I have are in a box in my attic in Edinburgh :)
My strongest memory of having that first perm; other than the awful smell of the ‘stuff’, how long it took, how it didn’t look like the magazines; is that the haircut I had before they did it was the best I’d ever had, and I can remember thinking oh, I quite like my hair now… Too late, she cried!
My hair was permed for the next three years and I started university with long, blonde, curly hair. Long, curly hair that I then dyed a vibrant ginger. I loved it! One of the few photographs of myself that I like from age eighteen; there’s that vanity thing again; is of me (looking rather startled by the flash!) with vibrant ginger curls.
But, as teenagers do, I got bored of it, the colour faded and I dyed it back to blonde. Badly. Think Bet Lynch from Coronation Street, so not a good look. Of course, permed hair is porous, and it had already been fairly badly treated – it was awful. So, I decided to dye it brown and ‘start again’. Ha!
Anyone that knows anything about hair is now saying, but you can’t go from blonde to brown, you need to go red first…
I would attest to this being true. My hair turned a sludgy, seaweedy green.
To rectify this disaster I had to have most of the curls, and therefore length, of my hair cut off and the rest dyed brown (properly!). I spent the next several months with people asking me if I was okay… Me plus brown hair equals worry about my sickly grey pallor.
In the end, as the brown natural dye that the hairdresser had used; in an attempt not to do any further damage to my poor locks; faded, my hair began to look slightly green at the ends again. I ended up wearing it pretty short for a few years, lastly in a pixie cut; just in time for all my graduation photos… Ah, hindsight, you are a wonderful thing.
In the twenty years since then it has been various lengths, always some shade of blonde; mousy through to bright via stripey (my husband, then boyfriend, and mother bonded over a mutual dislike of my ‘tigger’ phase!); and I have never attempted to dye it myself again!
In fact, when I was working in London my biggest extravagance was having my hair done at Charles Worthington’s main salon. I have seen the odd famous person, including Charles himself; I sat next to Rula Lenska one day who was having her signature red hair dyed for a role (she wasn’t too happy…); wine, vegetable crisps and little cakes were on offer alongside the tea and coffee… I loved going to the hairdresser; I would make appointments at the end of the day and chill out with a glass of wine while being pampered!
In Edinburgh I had a fab hairdresser, and it was an absolute pleasure getting my hair done. It took me months once we moved to the US to take a chance on a new salon; and that first trip was nerve wracking to say the least, but thankfully successful!
I am very particular about my hair…
I had a trawl of Facebook to see if I could find any photos of my hair through the years and I found a few (you can always rely on someone else to post dreadful photos of you on Facebook!). None of them really show any curls, although you can see the awful brown, as well as the mousy end of the blonde spectrum :) Apologies for the quality, several are photos of photos!
I like to think of myself as an assisted blonde now, hanging on to the blonde of my youth by my fingernails. But, as has been proved to me through (bitter) experience, I am just not meant to be a brunette :)
This all sounds very familiar…I’m considering what to do with mine at the moment as I feel it’s too long for a woman of a certain age (sobs) and the grey is beginning to come through…
I’m hanging on to the long hair for as long as I can, but I suspect I’ll hit that point too :)
I have had some VERY dodgy hair cuts (and colours) of the years. Due to age, I now have to go every 4 weeks – can you believe it?!
I suspect it won’t be long before my colour needs done a bit more often :)
What a brilliant post, I loved the bit about sitting next to Rula Lenska too, how glam!
Thank you :) That was quite an afternoon!
Fab post and I too love getting my highlights done but it takes some upkeeping, I actually like to see some root as it looks more natural, am due them doing though! Thanks for your comment on my pregnancy post-have commented back!
Thank you! Sadly my roots now show the grey… So getting them done has become more of a priority!
Enjoyed reading this :) I never went for the perm that many of my friends did, too, which I think was wise! I then dyed it a few times with my mate when we were in our late teens, and then nothing more until my twenties, and I’ve never looked back! I’m brunette now, my natural colour, though i like the odd highlight now and then and I was blonde in my twenties. I can’t imagine not dying it now – it makes is shiny and covers the grey!
Ah yes, covering the grey – that is definitely a requirement now :)
I have tried going brunette it is not a good look for me. I never have nice hair. It’s frizzy and like a horses mane. Truly. I never know what to do with it. It looks to me like you can pull off any color and any style! Lucky you pretty lady!
Well, your hair looks fab in all the photos I’ve seen, in fact I have had moments of serious hair envy! Blonde and ginger suit me, brown not so much, I really do look ill :)
At least you had an option of a perm in the 80s, I have naturally curly hair which my mum didn’t know how to style, so she opted for cutting it short and brushing it = a lovely, natural afro, in the wrong decade! I think if you feel happy with your hair then you feel happier in general….or is that just me? Would love to see your perm photos one day…
#AllAboutYou
I completely agree, I feel much happier when I’m happy with my hair! It’s on show all the time, it’s important to me. I may be persuaded to show the perm photos, but I’ll have to retrieve them from my attic first :)
I was a teenager in the 80s too so remember those perms. As I’ve got curly hair it’s something I didn’t succumb to, I always wanted straight hair! I’m so glad there aren’t too many photos of me from that time though, my hair was so frizzy.
The grass is always greener isn’t it?!
I loved my perm and actually wish they were still fashionable. My worst hair disaster was putting red on blonde and going pink!
Pink could be good? I think green is worse :)
A great read, I love it when a chat on twitter prompts a post. I shared that 80s long perm look and also went to uni like it but always the same shade of red, your green experience doesn’t make me want to try anything radical. I love your long blond look, so pretty and natural on you don’t ever cut it too short again or go any shade of brown!
Thank you Fiona, I certainly won’t be changing my hair colour any time soon, and I need to continue to hide the grey :)
You’ve reminded me of when my best friend got her hair permed at 14. It stank for so long because of the chemicals in it. Your hair is really lovely. I definitely need to be assisted with my hair colour at the moment!
Thank you x It’s a sad day when when it’s not just the roots that need done, but the grey too… Mine has suddenly multiplied!
Great hair! Fab post, with photos as well! You look really good on the latest photos… loving the long hair (and that dotty dress is stunning, too!). x Mel
Thank you! The dotty dress was a bargain find in Gap :)
Hee Hee us women and our hair eh! Being a redhead I’ve escaped the whole disastrous bleach / hair dye thang but oh boy have I had some bad bad bad haircuts! Yours looks lovely at 40 btw very sleek #AllAboutYou
Thank you :) It’s only taken me 40 years to sort it out :)
I am totally with you – I spend on skincare and hair – after all, it’s what everyone sees isn’t it! And if it makes YOU feel good about you, then it’s easily worth the price! Good for you, and love your sharing your hair journey (I’ve been through lots with my hair too; keratin treatment or relaxed to natural, coloured my way through brown, red, blonde, had bangs, braids, long, super-short – in short, I’ve tried it all!). Yours looks gorgeous, worth every penny, you look fab! #AllAboutYou
Thank you :) You’re so right, your hair is on show all the time!