My mother really hates my red hair.  She says she always thinks of me as a blond. I have no idea where that came from.  I've never been a blonde (genetically that is).  I have dyed my hair blonde to match my mother's expectations but it makes me look like a walking corpse.  All washed out and pale.  Two weeks ago being aggravated about several things at once I decided to darken my hair.  My hair took on so much color at once it was almost black.  UUUUGGGHHHH!!!!  This was a Friday and the next day we had an out of town wedding to attend with people I hadn't seen in ages.  All I heard all day were comments about how sad I looked or how tired I must be feeling.  By the end of the day I was almost in tears.  And besides all the negative comments my carefully chosen outfit looked horrible on me (it would have gone great with RED hair!)  I admit it, I'm a little vain.  My husband could tell I was depressed and kept trying to cheer me up.  Asking me what was wrong and all that.  I just couldn't tell him what was wrong.  It seemed so silly I could be depressed over my hair color.  He is a very understanding guy but that would have seemed silly to even him. So I got my hair color fixed.  I think of it like a hair color speeding ticket.  I won't soon repeat that mistake.  My husband is just happy that I am back to my old self.

So I resolve to once a week journal here until my hair is just below my shoulders.  That is my target length and the longest it would have ever been.  This seems a good way to track my progress and resolve my frustrations without taking it out on my hair.  It seems whenever I am upset or bored I turn on my hair by cutting or coloring it.  I need a better outlet for my frustrations.

My hair care routine:  I have been doing conditioning only followed by a weak vinegar rinse.  That has really kept my dandruff under control.  I wash about once a week or after strenuous activity that really dirties up my hair.  I use shampoo and conditioner for red hair and once a week do a deep conditioning tx mixed with about a teaspoon of henna for red hair.

My last deep conditioning tx was a homemade avacodo/banana/henna conditioning pack.  My hubby was very "upset" I put a perfectly good avacado on my head instead of making guacamole.  It worked surprisingly well except for the part about trying to get the banana out of my hair.  I kept finding those little banana strings in my hair for hours eventhough I brushed and brushed.  Think I will stick to commercial deep conditioners from now on.  Sally's is only 5 minutes down the road.

Quote:

I kept finding those little banana strings in my hair

If you peel the banana from the bottom instead of the top, you will have fewer of the "strings" to deal with.

Wow!  I never thought of that!  Thanks  :D

I was fixing my hair this morning and reminding myself how grateful I should be to have any hair after what I have done to it recently when a funny thought came into my head.  A few hundred years ago I would have been burned at the stake on general principles- 1)I have red hair  2) I have a widow's peak  3) I have two black cats  4) I am practicioner of the healing arts (RN) Guess I have more than just my hair to be grateful for.

Wow this is so cool.  But now that I've put that up there I have to stick to my diet.  I went to the ticker factory, set up my ticker and used the first box of code.  Ta Da!!

http://tickers.TickerFactory.com/ezt/d/3;52;87;0;0/c/0/t/-24/k/da9d/weight.png

I completely understand how not being happy with your hair is depressing...I have felt that way many times( I used to dye, bleach, perm relentlessly), I am just now growing out black hair color...Its only slightly upsetting. I also become quite upset when my skin breaks out. Sooo you're not alone. :) I look forward to reading your diary and getting to know you and your hair. Good luck!  :P

You are so not alone on that color part.  I  am having to deal with black hair deposits, too.  It gets me bummed out sometimes, but I just try to stay busy with artwork and cooking.

It is good to hear that you got your haircolor back on track.  I look forward to reading about your journey.

Thanks ya'll for the support.  My theory is that when I need change hair is the easiest thing to change.  Maybe next time I think of something to change that's not attatched to my head ::)

My hair is 9 inches from crown to ends.

The next date for doing something astrological with my hair is July 23, the chart says work on thickening.  I went to Sally's and bought some reconstructive conditioner that is supposed to make hair thicker so I will use that on the 23 and I bought a boar's hair brush ***oh la la*** so wonderful!!!  Much better than the plastic bristle brushes!!

wrote on Jul 21^st, 2005 at 3:50am:

The next date for doing something astrological with my hair is July 23, the chart says work on thickening.  I went to Sally's and bought some reconstructive conditioner that is supposed to make hair thicker so I will use that on the 23 and I bought a boar's hair brush ***oh la la*** so wonderful!!!  Much better than the plastic bristle brushes!!

I knew I wouldn't have time to do thickening work on my hair on July 23 (going out of town) so I did the work July 22  instead.  I used Millennia Mud reconstructor mixed with a touch of red henna to help perk up my color.  I was really amazed at how well it worked.  My hair got really big, well atleast to me and behaved exceedingly well down on the humid coast of Texas where I spent the weekend.

August 1st and 2nd are days for doing root work so I will do a little touch up work on my root color, my hair is gradually darkening to a yucky drab color so I need to lighten up the roots. (Getting older is generally been fun but there are some yucky parts  :( )Also the massage therapist I go to was intrigued by the idea of lunar hair care and agreed to do a predominately scalp massage on August 2nd.  Monday and Tuesday and prove to be long days at work so I probably do my roots Sunday night.

wrote on Jul 30^th, 2005 at 1:47pm:

August 1st and 2nd are days for doing root work so I will do a little touch up work on my root color, my hair is gradually darkening to a yucky drab color so I need to lighten up the roots. (Getting older is generally been fun but there are some yucky parts  :( )Also the massage therapist I go to was intrigued by the idea of lunar hair care and agreed to do a predominately scalp massage on August 2nd.  Monday and Tuesday and prove to be long days at work so I probably do my roots Sunday night.

I did touch up work on my hair using the new Revlon Color matching touch-up kits.  It worked well.  The next date for astrology haircare is Aug 20th--all my books say it's a good day for a haircut and I could really use one.  My hair is looking a bit scruffy a la Meg Ryan in the 90s but it doesn't make me look nearly as cute.

OOOOHHHH I'm so mad!!  I managed to grow my hair a whole inch this month and I was so happy because I could sort of put it up with a clip then I went for a trim b/c I have a couple of job interviews and the stylist that did such a great job last time took off my hard earned inch of hair. [glb]stomp stomp STOMP[/glb]
So here we go again.  My next date for work is Aug 24 for lengthening so I am going a googling to see what I can do to lengthen my hair.

Sorry to hear about that, ChiliPepper! Hopefully you'll be able to get that inch back soon. But at least it didn't take two months to grow an inch. That would have been worse.

Good luck with the interviews!

My hairdresser has bad days too LOL  so I know how that feels.  We wil chant to the moon goddess to give you another fruitful month of growth!  Then you'll be caught up. Kinda!

Cynde

Cripes, I hate it when that happens with the "too much".

I'll join in on the chanting *grow grow grow* ...g

Thanks guys.  She had long hair the last time, this time she had it cut atleast 2-3 inches shorter.  I should have skipped my appointment when I saw that, you know the old thing about how hairdresser will make you look like them... Sallys was having a sale so I drown my sorrows there.

The lunar calendar I have been following for hair lists four dates a year for haircuts.  I wonder if I could go that long between haircuts.  That really only works out to 12 weeks b/t cuts.

The next optimal date for a haircut is Sept 15th or 16th according to the lunar haircare calendar.  I am debating whether I should get a professional trim or just do a search and destroy mission for split ends.  The next optimal day for haircutting isn't until Dec 17 and I am afraid that might just be too long.

August 30th is the next day for haircare.  This is marked as a day to beautify hair so I plan to use my favorite thickening conditioner and my leave in conditioner to help maintain color.

I still haven't figured out anything to help with lengthening hair and every month has dates set aside for lengthening work.

I have jury duty coming up and I was thinking about buying at outfit that I normally would not wear.  I spent two hours in Target Thursday looking at clothes.  To my credit I didn't buy anything.  I have read that Sags have a hard time saving money, that sure is true of me :-/

Hubby said today that he liked my hair shorter and that it looked good on me.  I guess the disappointment on my face must have showed because he immediately began to back pedal by talking about how much easier short hair was to take care of, poor thing only made it worse.  I'm not really mad, just a little disappointed.

Very interesting  :) Hadn't heard about the lunar calendar for hair care yet........will do some googling later and get me more info.
:)

I do a bunch of stuff according to the moon. Really don't understand how I missed the hair care part.

Husbands and hair! They mean to say something nice and encouraging, but what comes out of their mouth is far from that.  ;D

This is the lunar haircare site I have been using.  Thanks to Greek Lady for originally posting this link in the general discussion room

http://www.morroccomethod.com/lunarchart.html

wrote on Aug 29^th, 2005 at 2:40am:

Hubby said today that he liked my hair shorter and that it looked good on me.  I guess the disappointment on my face must have showed because he immediately began to back pedal by talking about how much easier short hair was to take care of, poor thing only made it worse.  I'm not really mad, just a little disappointed.

After five years on the hair boards my hubby has finally learned what to say and how not to say it. lol

Don't worry about what he says, he may like your hair shorter, but you wear your hair the way you want to.  Work on some updos that you both will enjoy, this way you both get what you want. ;)

Thanks!  :)

Ooops. Forgot something  :o

My mother was worried the whole pregnancy that I might have red hair - like my Dad. She hated red hair. Well, I was born with black hair, like my Grandma. When I turned 14 or 15 I started coloring my hair: RED. Go figure  ::)

I've been making honey do more hair measurements.  I decided to measure it from the start of my hairline so that makes 15 inches.  *sigh* :-/

I have been faithfully following the astrological hair guide and I am pleased to report that my hair is now 15.5 inches.  I have not completely regained the inch the hairdresser cut but I feel there is progress.

I also got to open my new skin, hair, and nails vitamins this morning so I am looking forward to seeing how they affect my hair.

Now for the depressing stuff because I have been thinking of cutting my hair into layers and I know I must resist.  I want all one length blunt cut to about my bra strap.  This is the reason I have been stressing.  My mother tried repeatedly last weekend to give me $100 to go blond or brunnette, with streaks. >:(
I pulled out my photo albums from high school.  During the fall my hair was brown with red undertones but during the summer it was RED.  She went on and on about my skintone and my eyebrows and my eye color and then she got my dad's mom in on it during dinner.  My paternal grandmother is a retired hairdresser so her opinion carried alot of weight with my mother.  Atleast my grandmother was nice enough to just say she didn't like the color and leave it at that.  My maternal grandmother (the eccentric in the family) likes my hair.  My dad says they just are not used to seeing me with that color and hubby is just glad my grumpy face is not because of anything he did.  He wouldn't care if my hair was purple (and it has been once).

There, now I feel all better.  No more thoughts of cutting my hair ;D

:D  Good for you - whatever you decide should be what you want, not what other people want.

LOL  I just thought of the time when my mom used to tell me to cut my hair short.  Then when *I* finally wanted it short and cut it, she said I should grow it long.  So when she tells me something, I go "yeah, yeah, yeah."  :)

Cynde

(((hugs))))))

You have to like your hair, nobody else. Well, maybe the hubby. But if he's a good hubby and well trained he will like you and your hair no matter what  :)

On the serious side: It must be awful to have folks constantly nagging about the hair. Hopefully you find a way soon to shut them up.

Be strong, ChiliPepper, be strong. Don't give in and if that doesn't work, just tell'em that the long haired gang will visit and open a can of whoop-a$$ on 'em.  :D Give them an offer they cannot refuse.

Hey Chillipepper,

Mothers and grandmothers are a hardy bunch. I know I had to use some of that tough-love on my mum when it came to growing out. But eventually she learned to love it.

When all else fails, just remember that no one in the kingdom of faerie has short hair when they can help it.

Anais

Thanks guys.  I get so many positive comments on my hair from people who don't know me that I would never consider changing my hair color.

I had honey measure my hair last night and I am still holding steady at 15.5 inches.  If I make him measure more often will that make is grow faster? LOL!  I have not been following my lunar haircare calendar lately.  I wrote all the pertinent dates on my desk calendar so I can get back on the schedual.

My mother's main complaint about my hair is that it does not go with my complextion.  She says red hair makes my skin look too red.  I was checking out the other day and the cashier said, "I love your hair color, it looks so good with your complexion!  You look so healthy."  If I had a phone I would have called my mother then and there!!  She just rolled her eyes when I told her the story.  The few red heads I have seen in San Antonio have a red complexion so I am not worried.

Today I also had a patient ask me to tell him a story about something I had done because he was just sure red heads were wild and adventurous people.  I was not offended, I just thought it was cute.  Besides he was drugged up from the procedure we just performed.

I read the "how to cut your own hair link" and it looks simple enough.  I am going to try it, esp since I don't want a complicated style.  I like blunt cut ends.  My question right now is bangs or no bangs?  I have only grown my bangs out once in the 80s and I feel not having them made my face look long but if I grow them out it will be more hair to play with.

OOOHHH looking at my schedual my next lunar care day is Oct 4th--for beautification.  Another trip to Sally's  YEAH!!!

Quote:
Today I also had a patient ask me to tell him a story about something I had done because he was just sure red heads were wild and adventurous people.  I was not offended, I just thought it was cute.  Besides he was drugged up from the procedure we just performed.




:) LOL  :)  

We are going to Ren Fair this weekend in Plantersville.  Perhaps I should get some wild and crazy clothes to go with my wild and crazy hair so I would have atleast one good story.

You can play the "bawdy redheaded wench".   Waddaya think?

We went to Ren Fair in Plantersville this weekend, not what it used to be or perhaps its just because I was not falling down drunk like used to be in my 20s  One guy did yell at me across the crowd "God save redheads!"  Very flattering ;D  But at Ren Fair red is still a popular hair color so I don't stand out as much as usual.  My hubby said he used my hair to find me in the crowds, cute.

We went to visit my grandparents this weekend.  My grandmother is a retired hairdresser and she hates my red hair.  Just to irk her I made my hair super curly.  When I walked through the door she said, "Why don't you just put a carrot on your head?"  I have no clue what that ment but I asked her if she had one I could use.  Later during lunch she said my hair looked really nice right out of the blue so perhaps...

Ooh Ren faires - how fun!

Maybe it just takes some getting used to from your grandma.  She probably really likes it, but probably had initial color-shock.  Or, sometimes people tease you about something they actually like about you.  At any rate, I'm glad she paid you a compliment - that was nice of her!

Cynde

Is there anybody in your family who actually likes your hair the way it is?
I don't know how I would deal with folks like that  >:(

At least your Grandma said something nice later.

*************

Ren Fair sounds like lots of fun. Did you take any pictures?

My maternal grandmother (Jommie)* likes my hair.  She is a big fan of the color red--red purses, red dresses, red gogo boots  :o  and she was wearing those when she was in her 50s.  My mom thinks Jommie is eccentric but I think mom is secretly jealous because she has never been really brave with color.  I think it irks her that being flamboyant skipped a generation.

My Dad has no problems with my hair.  His opinion is, "You are a grown-up.  You can do what you want."   YEAH DAD!!

Looking back I realize what my family has said sounds pretty harsh but women in my family are known for saying off the wall things.  My mother once told me I looked good in ugly clothes.  Translation "You look good in those 80s styles that are so not my generation"  After thirty-five years I have just learned to smile and shake my head.  

We had a great time at Ren Fair.  I love giving my son new experiences and this was certainly a new experience for him.  We will see if he still wants to go in costume next year.  Just as I got done trying to explain that you were supposed to dress as a knight, king, or queen some guy walked by us dressed as a storm trooper *smiles and shakes head*

*Jommie is my maternal grandmother's nick name.  I guess I was the one who came up with it when I was little but no one really remembers now.  My mother has tried to adopt it a couple of times in place of 'grandma' but no one can be Jommie but Jommie ;D

I have been really disappointed in my hair growth lately.  It's growing but what I really want is to wake up tomorrow with hair down to my shoulder blades.  My hair has been long but I don't think it's been that long.  So anyway I decided to write what I am thankful for about my hair b/c moods like these always seem to lead me to a haircut.

1.  I am thankful that I have any hair at all

2.  I am thankful that my hair is big and giant and poofy unlike the other women in my family who have thin flat hair

3.  I am thankful that my hair is red, it keeps my life interesting

4.  I am thankful for people who compliment my hair for no reason other than they like it.

5.  I am especially thankful for my son who will say out of the blue "Mommy your hair is beautiful," just to see me smile

6.  I am thankful for the hourglass figure God gave me to go with my hair, well not always as thankful as I should be when the waist on my pants doesn't fit but I try

7.  I am thankful that my haircolor looks so good with my two favorite colors, purple and blue

8.  I am thankful for LongLocks where I can talk to other people about hair and not be considerred strange or self-centered for doing so

9.  I am thankful for my ancestors (whoever they maybe) that gave me the genetics to have red hair

10.  I am thankful to live in the 21st century where people are not superstitious about redheads

I have obviously been reading too much of NR's hair witchery because I got the bright idea to whip up a hair concoction this morning.  Well let me say, never use powdered herbs on your hair.  I rinsed and rinsed and still it was like I had dirt in my hair.  My hair felt really yucky and dry so I did a deep conditioning treatment which helped a little.  I may be a country girl but my hair is bonafied city.  When ever I put anything edible on my hair it goes bizerk.  My hair loves 'cones and long words I can't pronounce.

But on the bright side I am now at 16 inches.  Yeah!!  My husband is so happy I will not be bugging him to measure my hair again for atleast...oh, two weeks ::)

LOL! Congratulations at hitting 16 inches! :)

Thanks!! :)

Lady, I like your list you wrote  ;) Might be "just" hair, we are talking about, but........nonetheless it's obvious important to us  :)

And my favorite colors are blue and earthtones. And has been for the past 10 years or so. Before that it has been purple. Everything was purple. I remember my curtains very well: different layers of at least 5 different shades of purple. So pretty. And I had grey carpet and a grey couch. The pillows were different shades of purple again. I think, back then, I even would have colored the plants purple if I would have been able to do so  ;D

I've been wondering what to wear to the company Christmas party this year.  I was thinking something maybe in purple.  I wore black last year and I just looked so washed out, not to mention I was also covering my red with brown hair color.  I have a tradition Chinese dress in green and gold.  I tried on tonight but it just doesn't fit as well as I would like.

My big adventure lately has been arranging the company Christmas party for my administrator this year.  Our surgery center is in a very rich neighborhood and we have the party at the most exclusive country club in town.  I don't mean to brag, it's just that I find all the pomp and circumstance amusing.  I grew up in a small town where no one really had any money.

Friday I met with the event coordinator for "the club" as it is known.  I guess I must not have been like anything he sees very often.  He kept staring at my hair and taking any opportunity to comment on it.  I have to say sometimes I think there is a rule that once you reach a certain social status you have to go blonde.  Since I started this project I have seen so many blondes it's unreal.  The hair is fried but oh, it's blonde!  But I guess what has really been on my mind is his final question.  We were concluding our meeting and saying all the proper things like "Thank-you" and "I will be in touch" when suddenly out of the blue he said, "What are you doing this weekend?"

I smiled and said "I have my son this weekend so I will be at Chuck E Cheese and anywhere else he wants to go."  Yeah, yeah I know I made it sound like I'm divorsed when I am not but I didn't have my wedding ring on and (much to my mother's dismay) I will let a man believe what he wants about me if it will help me.  Then he asked if my son had red hair so we had a whole little conversation about my son before I left.

I've spent the whole weekend wondering if he was just being friendly or being 'friendly.'  He had to be atleast 20 years older than me.  I've been married six years so I can be a little slow to catch on sometimes.

My mother was trying to convince me to color my hair again tonight when we talked on the phone.  He he, fat chance!!  I happen to like older man anyway ;D

Girl, don't burn your fingers  ;)


I like'em younger  ;D Hubby is 1 1/2 years younger than me.........

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a91/agwilkerson/Project0.jpg

Me and my favorite date ;D  Anyone with little ones will recognize where this was taken.

Oh no, I would never!! :o  My mom thinks you have to be brutally honest about everything.  My motto is "More flies with honey than vinegar"

What a boring day.  I need to print my list of things to be thankful for and read it on days like this.  Oct 11 is for thickening hair on the lunar haircare schedual.  Guess I will work on my hair tomorrow morning since I don't have to be to work until the afternoon.  I will be working in the GI Lab with a new doc I need to look cute because a) I won't be wearing a surgical cap and 2)cute doctor.  My co-worker spent all afternoon telling me how cute this doc was so I would work for her tomorrow and she could take the day off.  I would've done it anyway but it will be interesting to see if her idea of cute and mine are the same.

My hair has been really crazy lately.  It's been all big and well [glb]BIG[/glb].  It's been  waving in all different directions and being flat in other places and no amount of curling iron will fluff up the flat spots.  Hairbands and clips have become my best friends.  My mother's theory is my hair is absorbing moisture from the air.  I don't know if that is true but it sounds as good as any theory.

Yes, often the hair can get puffy in area as a result fo moisture absobtion. I think perhaps your hair may be pourous?

You look so cute with your son! Heehee, I used to love going to Chuck E. Cheese when I was his age.  :)

wrote on Oct 11^th, 2005 at 12:59am:

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a91/agwilkerson/Project0.jpg Me and my favorite date ;D  Anyone with little ones will recognize where this was taken.

You're dating Chuck E Cheese??

::: runs away before being slapped with day old pizza!  :::

By the way - your son is a cutie!

Your son is gorgeous and so are you :)

;) very cute!

hee what a cute pic!!  That reminds me, I need to go to Chuck E. Cheese.  I haven't been there in a long time!

Cynde

[quote author=bikerbraid
You're dating Chuck E Cheese??
::: runs away before being slapped with day old pizza!  :::
By the way - your son is a cutie!
[/quote]

**Flings nasty old pizza with a sling shot hitting BB but missing her completely**

I haven't dated rats since high school ;D

It seems there is no end to the damage those texturizing shears did to my hair months ago.  I have been doing a quite a bit of trimming lately trying to get rid of my damaged hairs.  It is very easy to see where she hit with the shears.

My sister-in-law came with the family for a visit this weekend.  We took all the kids to see Dora the Explorer live on stage.  It was great.  I highly recommend it.

I mention my sister-in-law because she has a live in hair slave she calls Sergio (lucky girl)  Her husband (Sergio) colors her hair for her and whatever else she wants him to do.  He does a really great job--her hair was a fabulous chocolate color and cut in the cutest bob.  I think he missed his calling.  Sergio is a computer programmer in real life.  I wouldn't let honey anywhere near my hair and I think he is thankful for that ::)

I am recording for history that I was able to make a ponytale today.  It was only a couple inches long but I can barely remember the last time I was able to do that ;D

wrote on Oct 16^th, 2005 at 10:37pm:

I mention my sister-in-law because she has a live in hair slave she calls Sergio (lucky girl)  Her husband (Sergio) colors her hair for her and whatever else she wants him to do.  He does a really great job--her hair was a fabulous chocolate color and cut in the cutest bob.  I think he missed his calling.  Sergio is a computer programmer in real life.  I wouldn't let honey anywhere near my hair and I think he is thankful for that ::)

LOL! Heehee, it does sound like your sis-in-law has a hair slave (as opposed to a hair minion). She is indeed lucky. ^_^

Woohooo for the ponytail  :) Did you take a picture?

::)

No pictures of the ponytale, it's not much to see.  The 14th was for root work according to the lunar calendar but I had to wait till the 18th because of everything going on.  My hair is behaving very nicely right now, soft and curly.

I did my body fat testing today and I lost 1% body fat.  My weight is unchanged at 174 lbs so that means I lost 2 lbs of fat and gained 2 lbs of muscle.  Since I have hit my 30s I have been very concerned about how quickly and easily you lose muscle if you don't workout.  I remember when my body fat was 27% so it was a rude awakening when the trainer told me my body fat was at 37%.  I have been doing the Special K diet--a bowl of Special K for two meals with healthy snakes between meals and a balanced meal as your 3rd meal.  I have noticed a change in how my pants fit but I haven't lost a jean size yet.  (probably because I cheat on the weekend but I am very good during the week)  It's been almost a week that I haven't had a Coke, that's real progress for me :o

My next lunar haircare day is Oct 18, for lengthening.  I never know what to do for this so I usually just do a deep conditioning.

Congratulations on your diet progress!  I'm also concerned about my muscle/fat ratio.  Is that what your trainer uses?  I've been meaning to buy one of those arm calipers because I only have a bathroom scale at the moment.  

Cynde

I made honey measure my hair again and he came up with 15.5 inches, now either my hair shrank or someone has been giving me stealth haircuts.  Surely honey didn't forget to pull the hair straight when he measured? I got 16.5 inches when I measured! My next astrological date to do hair care is November 2, for beautifying.  What to do, what to do?

What kinds of things are you planning on doing for the beautifying?  I'm very interesting in beautifying my hair!!