Hair Issues

I am getting thisclose to cutting my hair.

It sucks because I have wanted it long for sooooo long (yes, even longer than it is now) but it’s driving me insane ever since the baby.

It feels like it’s always in the way—so it’s always up in a pony tail, which is an okay look if you don’t wear it like that every single day. |-| And while I love love love it straight, it does take some time to get that way—although, granted, it’s less than an hour for about a week’s worth of “use.”

You see, if I leave it curly, I generally have to put product in it, and wash it every day. That equates to at least five more minutes in the shower, plus the time to comb it out, put product in, and then letting it dry. Also, once I sleep on it, I get terrible bed head, so I have to do something with it the next day as well. Over the course of a week, that extra washing/conditioning time adds up. As well as the frustration of having to deal with it every day. And of course, there’s the length issue.

That said, if I straighten it, I spend about 30 minutes on one day to blow it dry and then it’s pretty much set for the rest of the week. I put it up when I shower (yes, I wear a shower cap!) and most times I don’t even have to run a comb through it—fingers will suffice (although if I am going out, I do comb it or maybe run the straightening iron over it). I can sleep on it to no ill effect, which is great, and I can be in and out of the shower in under five minutes (a bonus when you have a new baby to deal with). But there is still the length issue.

So you see my dilemma—as technically the time for each is about the same.

However, neither of these timing issues takes into account the length of the hair.
However, the frustration level for the straight hair (on a daily basis) is lower.
However, leaving it curly can be more of a wash-and-go hairstyle.
However, I don’t really like how it looks when it’s curly (well, wavy).

I really would love a tried and true wash-and-go style, which would seem to imply a shorter ‘do—but I don’t really like my hair short. Well, let me rephrase. I love some short hairstyles on me

See wedding photos:

but they actually require A LOT MORE styling time—meaning they are NOT wash-and-go. That hairstyle required product, blow-drying, and styling every. damn. day. Which is not what I want, even though I love the resulting hairstyles. (Since my hair is naturally wavy, any short straight style will require blow-drying [to get it straight] and styling.)

So, I signed up at a hairstyle site where you can upload a photo and test out thousands of hairstyles. (Well, that is actually a misnomer. They claim to have like 8,000 hairstyles, but really they have 400—just in 20 different colors. But that’s neither here nor there.)

Anyway, these are the 10 I liked:

If I take away all the ones that would require daily styling, I’m left with three straight (most likely a once-a-week style) and one wavy (more wash-and-go):

The more I look at them and the more I think about it, the more I am leaning towards the first one, because it’s sort of a messy straight ‘do that could either be worn totally straight OR left in it’s natural wavy state. (That said, the two on the top row could probably be the same cut, just one straightened and one left natural.)

Is it my favorite style? No. But is it the most workable? Probably.

As a sidenote, I hope to donate my hair either to Locks of Love or the Pantene Beautiful Lengths campaign—if it’s acceptable (you can donate colored hair, but not bleached hair—and I think my highlights are bleached).

Isn’t it sad that I have to give this much thought to a silly hairstyle?

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