17 August 2007

8 good reasons to get yourself a new 'do

it's been a while already, but i love this not-that-new-anymore haircut of mine. i can't believe i cut it so short on a whim. my conversation with the stylist went like this:

him: "so what can i do for you today?"
me: "i wanna get my pink color re-done, and trim my hair. it's getting too heavy and i can't style it the way i want to." (note: i usually cut my hair every 4 to 6 weeks, because it grows out fast and i hate it when the layers start weighing down and my hair gets limp and flat. i have VERY fine and thin hair.)
him: "ok. so do you want to just keep the style or cut it?"
me: "cut it?" (the thought hadn't crossed my mind)
him: "cut it?"
me: "ok."
him: "huh? did you say ok? wah you decide really fast. so how short do you wanna go? about shoulder-length? or short like a bob? or "
me: "oh ok."
him: "hah? which one?"
me: "short like a bob. oh, but let's try something asymmetrical please."

i've since looked in magazines and see how some models dress their hair up and i almost miss my long hair, but heck, i'm totally living this short hair now! and besides, it's just hair. it'll grow back one day. but for now i think i like my hair short!! i get some odd power surge from it. weird!

i can never, EVER, understand how some people can go for months without getting their hair cut or at least trimmed. i can't! i just found out that i have a friend who only goes to the salon once a year and i was like, "WHAT?!?!?! ONCE! A! YEAR!.....??????????"

then i realise that this is the same friend who complains all the time that her hair is unmanageable!!

doh! (in a homer simpson kind of way.)

as you can see in my previous post, "10 ways to finding a style that's 'you'", a hair cut or a hair color, really does make a huge difference in the way you look. those 4 pictures there, were taken within the last year. and no, i'm not kidding. the bottom two were of me in almost the same cut, but one color was much lighter. i quite liked it though, cos i'd draw crazy eyeliner and walk around trying to be a rockstar. hee hee. then the hair became much longer and i dyed it a dark maroon purple (the official color name was wine gelare. how cool is that!!) for a while, then streaked it again, then it's pink and short now!!


eight bloody good reasons and signs, that you should get a new cut

1. you get mistaken for someone else
has someone ever tapped you from behind on the shoulder, and said, "hey! how've you bee... oh sorry, i thought you were someone else!"

is your hair style so common that just about everyone else on the street has it? take a look around you and count how many people sport similar cuts to yours!

2. your friends say "you're still the same."
this can mean many things. personality/mentally-wise, i think if you haven't changed and gotten stronger than what you used to be, this can also be a slight problem. looks-wise, it can be a real compliment if you look as young as you used to, and haven't aged a bit. but consider it bad news if you fish out a photograph from 5 years ago, to find that although you have 2 new wrinkles, you have the same haircut....worse, you're in the same clothes too!! (you need to upgrade your style and your wardrobe, just like you upgrade your computer!)

3. you have split-ends.
there is absolutely no excuse. in fact, stop reading this and go to the salon NOW.

likewise, if the ends of your hair are all dry and nasty, cutting them all off is your best solution. no amount of serum is gonna make you goldilocks. hair ends like that are a fire hazard beyond repair and you're better off snipping them off and starting over.

4. someone asked if you cut your hair yourself

there are people who
a. cut their own hair, and when people find out they go,"wow you look amazing! how do you do it so nice?"
b. cut their own hair, and people ask, "do you cut your own hair?"
c. don't cut their own hair and in fact, hadn't had anyone cut their hair for quite a while, and people ask, "do you cut your own hair?"
if you had to ask yourself, "is she talking about me?" to either b. or c., then yes, i am talking about you.

5. you spend more time on your hair than on your face
styling hair shouldn't take you that long, unless you're a fashion model who's about to walk down the runway, and even then, you don't have to style your own hair.

my regular hair styling routine goes like this:
step one: apply leave-in hair protecting lotion/creme/serum ... 3 seconds?
step two: blow dry and use fingers to style hair into shape ... 5 minutes tops
step three: stand a little distance from the mirror. stand too near and you can't judge the overall balance of your hair style! using one finger, scoop a bit of wax or rubber or mud (depending on the style i want), press onto palm of other hand. rub both hands together to spread and warm up the styling product, rub into hair. make sure to only give it a light coat and not apply too much. rub into roots, scrunching here and there.
step four: take a little more styling product if necessary. always apply a little at a time, then build up! if you apply too much at one go, your hair will just look oily and heavy and stuck together, and altogether very gross. style hair keeping in mind the overall balance. when done, twist ends of hair to form little spiky things.
step five: if extra oomph is needed, use a comb and tease hair. or if the wind is howling outside, reach for some hairspray and spritz it just a little, to keep style in place. if unnecessary, step back and look in the mirror. look left - check. look right - check.

and you're done!! the entire process should definitely not take more than 15 minutes, and if your hair isn't already wet, just 5 minutes should really do the trick. (of course, if you're adding pins or tying up your hair in a certain way, it's a different story.) any longer and it's a hint that you really aren't able to cope and manage your tresses anymore.

6. you're in a ponytail 24/7
do you find yourself pulling your hair into a ponytail, or putting it into a loose bun, or pinning it in a certain way everyday? is it because you like it that way, or is it because you're just trying to hide how dull it makes you feel? be honest now.

7. limp
a very fabulous, and very funny, and very gay hair and make-up stylist (my friend from bunka) once remarked, "limp hair, is just as bad a limp d*ck. you don't wanna go there dahh-lin', just snip it off." he meant the hair of course. snip an inch or two off, or keep the length if you want but layer like mad, then watch as your hair literally springs back to life!! "unfortunately, it's not so easy to solve the issue of a limp d*ck."

words cannot explain how hard i laughed. it was the way he said it, the expression on his face. god i miss my friends in tokyo!!

8. when you make new friends, they think you are (add your real age + 10) years old

then they get honestly surprised when you say you are really (your real age). seriously, there cannot be a better reason than this as to why you need a new cut or a new hair style!


it's a fact that shorter hair can make a person look younger, and take years off their real age. if you like your hair long, by all means, keep it long. but remember, long hair or short hair, please keep it in tip-top condition!!

oh, and if you've answered "yes" to any of the above 8 signs, take a photograph of yourself, and stare at it hard. then pick up your phone, call your stylist, and arrange to go in for a session. after all, it's the weekend!! i'm sure you can fit in a couple of hours at the hair studio! take another photo after you get your new hair style/cut/color/revolution!! isn't the difference just simply amazing?? send me your "before" and "after" shots if you want, and i'll post them up here so you can show off to the world. (or rather, the 3,000 or so people who see my blog. shucks. i wonder if i should be sad.) hee hee! <3

fabulousness

l3antha just sent me some photos of her new 'do. i've got one word: WOW!!!

before


after

how cool is that cut?? and best yet, she cut it herself!! she said, "i had been wanting to revamp the style for the past few weeks or so, and tonight, i finally grabbed the scissors and hacked away at it..." amazing. plus, i can so picture this cut in so many different colors!! besides this gorgeous orange, i think it'll look sooo cool in platinum silver, fire-engine red, brown with streaks, or super jet-black! i love it!!
go look at her blog and see more of her brilliant new cut!!


xoxo i love all 3,000 of you,
gilda