not straight

For the dinner outing last Saturday, I had my hair done. Trimmed. Uber-spa conditioned (long enough for me to tear through a bunch of chicky salon magazines). Blown out and ironed straight.

I love having straight hair. Especially when the salon does it. It hangs like silk.

When I try to do it myself, it looks less shiny and healthy. It's obvious that I'd been battling with it, and possibly singed a little. As another curly-haired person quipped, it looks like curly hair pretending to be straight. (This is apparently closer to the results of permanent, chemical straightening, which is why I've never really explored that route.)

So, er, between that, the frigid temperatures, the low humidity, and, unlike most naturally straight hair, mine doesn't have to be washed every day, I managed to go for an entire week without washing my hair. (Which got me to resew a button on one of those hair-twist-towels, so I could protect my do from the curlifying humidity in the gym jacuzzi.) After a few days, sure, my scalp itched sporadically. Except, I could run a comb through my hair without constant tangling and turning it into a ball of frizz. Made it all better.

But, I couldn't hold out any longer. Not when today's workout caused sweat to actually bead on my kneecaps. (I totally slimed the stairmaster, too. I haven't used one of those in years. Usually if I'm in the mood for stairs, I just skip the escalators at Porter. And yes, I wiped the machine down when I was done. The gym policy on that is ever more OCD. I've had to de-slime enough treadmills before my workout to understand completely.)

To sum up, my hair's back to its usual curly self, maybe a little shinier than usual. The week off seems to have helped. I need to do the salon thing more than once or twice a year.

not straight

For the dinner outing last Saturday, I had my hair done. Trimmed. Uber-spa conditioned (long enough for me to tear through a bunch of chicky salon magazines). Blown out and ironed straight.

I love having straight hair. Especially when the salon does it. It hangs like silk.

When I try to do it myself, it looks less shiny and healthy. It's obvious that I'd been battling with it, and possibly singed a little. As another curly-haired person quipped, it looks like curly hair pretending to be straight. (This is apparently closer to the results of permanent, chemical straightening, which is why I've never really explored that route.)

So, er, between that, the frigid temperatures, the low humidity, and, unlike most naturally straight hair, mine doesn't have to be washed every day, I managed to go for an entire week without washing my hair. (Which got me to resew a button on one of those hair-twist-towels, so I could protect my do from the curlifying humidity in the gym jacuzzi.) After a few days, sure, my scalp itched sporadically. Except, I could run a comb through my hair without constant tangling and turning it into a ball of frizz. Made it all better.

But, I couldn't hold out any longer. Not when today's workout caused sweat to actually bead on my kneecaps. (I totally slimed the stairmaster, too. I haven't used one of those in years. Usually if I'm in the mood for stairs, I just skip the escalators at Porter. And yes, I wiped the machine down when I was done. The gym policy on that is ever more OCD. I've had to de-slime enough treadmills before my workout to understand completely.)

To sum up, my hair's back to its usual curly self, maybe a little shinier than usual. The week off seems to have helped. I need to do the salon thing more than once or twice a year.