Plot Monkeys

QUICK NOTE: I’m giving away THREE COPIES of BORN TO BE WILDE over at Alison Kent’s Blog. Just so you know, If you do win the book, you do have to read and review it. It’s all part of the giveaway.

And now, back to our regular Thursday blog!

After a good 12 years of wearing my hair extremely short-short, this past January I made the decision to grow it out. This wasn’t an easy decision to make, because I have naturally curly/wavy hair, and the only way to control it is with a super-short haircut. But with the decision made, and armed with a straightener (which they didn’t have back when I was growing up!), I took the plunge.

Now, for those of you who have had short hair with many layers, and have had to grow it out, you know it’s not an easy process. At least, it wasn’t for me. It was a long and frustrating process. There were so many times that I was so aggravated with that “in between” stage that I just wanted to cut it all off again. But, Don kept on telling me to calm down and give it time, (he doesn’t care if my hair is short or long, he just knew I really wanted to grow it out), and so I’d take a deep breath and keep struggling to do something with my funky hair in the meantime. Luckily I have a great hair stylist who always gave me a cut I could do something with. And considering all my short layers, she had to cut frequently to make sure it all matched up while it was growing out.

Oh, and let’s not mention all the hair products I’ve tried in my attempt to tame my curly/wavy/frizzy hair along the way. I know I’ve spent at least two hundred dollars on shampoos, mousses, gels, serums, etc, to find something that works for me. From low end brands (John Freida), to higher end brands (Steiner). I’ve taken suggestions from friends who have curly hair and I bought the products they use, but I discovered that everyone has individual needs when it comes to their hair. And what might work for one person, doesn’t necessary work for another. Though I do have to say that Carly has introduced me to some great products along the way that I do still use (believe it or not, we have the same hair type – dry, color-treated, curly, frizzy, course hair).

Eight months later, and I’ve somehow managed to grow my hair out almost to my shoulders. Now let’s go back to me having curly/wavy hair. As it’s been growing out, I’ve been blow drying it with a straightening brush (but as you can see by the picture below, my hair doesn’t straighten that easily!), then following up with my current favorite hair products (Jonathan), and a hot iron straightener, which does give it a much smoother, straighter look that I’m happy with.

However, what once used to take me 10 minutes total to do my hair, now takes me a good 30-40 minutes!

Funny story – when I was at the RWA conference and rooming with Carly this past July, I think she was stunned at how much work my hair took to get it all straight. In the past, I was the one who was in and out of the bathroom in record time since my hair only took 10 minutes to blow dry and style. This year, for once, she was the one that was ready FIRST, and was always waiting on me! First, I’d wash my hair, add straightening/defrizzing products, then I’d blow dry my hair and do my best to straighten what I could. Well, I still ended up with a frizzy head of hair, (thank you, Texas humidity! ) so I’d have to section it off with a bunch of clips and straighten it section by section by section. It was (and is) a lot of work!

But during my last haircut, my hair stylist said it was time to bring out my “natural curls and waves”, and attached a diffuser to her hair dryer. I said go for it. By the time she was done, I had a full head of natural, wavy, PRETTY curls! Ohmygod, who would have thought that I’d LOVE my curly hair!!! What I realized is that I now have a bunch of options in the way I wear and style my hair. I can go straight and sleek (if I have the time to spend 30-40 minutes on it), or I can go with my natural curls (which I can do in about 20 minutes). My hair is also now long enough that I can put it in a ponytail, and let me tell you, with our summer weather in the 105+ degrees, there are many times that I want all that hair off my neck!

So, all in all, I think the growing out process has been worth it, and now I’m having fun with my hair, even if it does take a lot more work now. On the plus side, my kids have told me that the longer hairstyles make me look “younger”. Okay, I’ll take that with a smile!

Just for fun, I took some pictures of my growing out process:

This first picture was taken in December 2006, just before I decided to grow my hair out. It’s short all over, there’s layers all over, and the sides are SUPER short!

This is what my hair looks like after I’ve tried to blow dry it straight. Seriously, this is as straight as I can get it using products and a straightening brush! Lots of waves and frizz. Ugh! I hate the way it looks like this — I call this my “Q-tip” look, because it’s a bunch of frizz on top of my head and makes my face look so big and round!

This is my hair about 20 minutes after taking the picture right above. This is the look I get after taking the time to section it off and straightening it piece by piece. I do like the way it looks straight (and my face doesn’t look so BIG now) but it’s a whole lotta work to do!

And here . . . it’s CURLY! Those are all my own natural curls! I did this myself in about 15 minutes, and it’s such a fun summer style!

So, what’s your hair like? How many of you have gone through the arduous task of growing short hair into longer hair? Share your hair woes, triumphs, and if you have any great suggestions on naturally curly hair, I’ll take them!