Tip On How To Have Stylish Hair

It's been awhile since my last visit to the hair dresser. Almost 3 months to be exact (last hair appointment). I just love the feeling of leaving the salon with a banging new cut and fresh highlights. I want that feeling again. Even if that oh so wonderful feeling lasts only a day or two, I. Want. That. Feeling.

Since then, my cut has definitely lost it's shape. It's looking more like a shag rug landed on top of my head. The hair color has faded and I'm left with inches of root showing...inches!

Like many busy women, the last person to get pampered in my household is yours truly. Granted, H's haircuts are far, far cheaper than mine. He also swears visiting his barber is not being pampered as he compares it to the wonderful scalp massage I receive. I realize spending a hundred or so dollars on a hair cut and color is ridiculous for a family on a budget. Yes, you read that correctly, "hundred" or so dollars. Did you also notice I did not put the exact price since I live in fear H will one day read my blog?

For the price of a trip to the salon, I can purchase more sensible things that would contribute to the overall wellness of the family and not just my selfish vanity.
    1.) gallons of gas to drive the family here and there
    2.) food
    3.) preschool tuition
    4.) a birthday gift for my sister
    5.) Let's not forget the bills that could be paid

After debating with myself (and checking out the monthly budget), I will have to go another month without that oh so lovely feeling of getting a fresh cut and color.

To make myself feel better, I did discover I'm actually very stylish. Apparently, there's a hair style that's hit Hollywood. It's called the ombre. Let's make note that I'm usually way behind the styles so this could be old news. But since I'm making myself feel better, in my mind, I'm stylish and I'm rocking the latest Hollywood hair on a budget.

The Mini Makeover: Hair

As some of you may know, the beginning of 2010 was a rough road. If you weren't aware, here's a little link so we are all up to speed. As we enter the later half of the year, I'm starting to see a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel. With that said, as I emerge from the dark tunnel of 2010, I don't want to look like I've been buried in the depths of the earth this whole time.

Another reason for wanting to keep up ones appearance is due to the fact that my big wedding anniversary is coming up. It's the big 7!!! The husband and I are going out for our special dinner. Dinner that includes great food and wine. How can one celebrate without wine? Red wine, so it's heart healthy. =)

My task to give myself a mini makeover was lock, set, and implemented. First things first, hair! I've managed to let my hair go for almost 5 months. No cut, no color, no touch-up. Sooner or later, Disney people were going to come knocking at my door to see if I wanted to play a poor, tortured Mufasa for the next Lion King movie. Things were getting out of hand.

Uh, yeah! Not cute, I know. I go out in public like this.

Like a good man, a good hairdresser is hard to find. Can I get an amen?

A few years ago, I thought I finally found my perfect hairdresser. Let's call him "Abe". Abe was my man. I looked forward to seeing him. He was owner of a great salon. It was urban and hip. Abe wasn't too chatty. He would allow me to sit in that chair and catch-up on all the latest gossip and beauty magazine. His salon served wine!!!! Ding, ding, ding, ding! His staff gave the best head massages ever on the face of God's green earth. Every time I left Abe's salon, I felt like I belonged on a hair commercial. *hair blowing in the cool breeze*

Well, like the rest of us, Abe had some rough times. Divorce, money, a new girlfriend. You know all the things a good reality show is made of. His salon, his golden touch all went to hell. I tried going back to him a few times, hoping and praying he would get his groove back. After a few attempts, I had to finally say good bye to my dear Abe. My hair and I were left to fend for ourselves.

After numerous Yelp and Google searches, I finally settled on a place. The girl they recommended was a cute, young, blond gal. She reminded me of Julianne Hough from Dancing with the Stars. I started seeing "Julianne" in March 2010 (actually it was the first and only time I saw her). I told her the kind of look I was going for: low maintenance, keep it on the longer side so I can pull it up, thin it out a bit, and give me bangs but not Brenda Walsh 90210 bangs.

I was very pleased with Julianne's work, so I decided to see her again for the mini makeover. She's a bit more chatty than I'd like, but she's not annoying. The head massages are okay. I guess comparing who gives better head massages is like comparing old boyfriends. Sometimes if you can have a better relationship on a deeper level, head massages can be somewhat overlooked. 3 long hours later, I left the salon a tiny bit disappointed.

Cute cut. No cut is complete without the ponytail test.

Overall, I'm very pleased with the cut. I just feel she made the color a little too light for my low maintenance, I can only come every 4-5 months lifestyle. To be honest, it's a pain in the butt to find time to go back to the salon to get it fixed. I've decided to keep the lighter, blonder me for a wee bit. Let's see how many months I can go without a touch-up. It reminds me of the hair color I had when we got married. I figured the Mr can enjoy a new me for our wedding anniversary....a semi-new and improved Mufasa....Roar!

Maintaining highlights

A few years ago, I stopped getting highlights for my hair. I opted for a plain, low-maintenance one color hair...aka dark, dark brown/black. After the birth of my second child, there was very little time and money to spend on my hair. A typical day at the hairstylist for highlights and cut can be 3+ hours and $200+.

After months of contemplating and saving, I decided to treat myself at the hair salon. I decided it still had to be low-maintenance, but I wanted something to liven up my hair color. The lovely gal at the salon opted to give me rich caramel highlights on top of my semi-vampire hair color. The result was lovely.

Almost 3 months later, I'm still happy with the color. Granted my roots have come in, but the highlight to root ratio is acceptable. The main problem I usually had with highlights was that they became brassy in color...orangey. I explained this problem to my hairstylist. She recommended that I go to a beauty shop and purchase a color pigmented shampoo or conditioner. I took into account her suggestion, since she wasn't shoving products down my throat.

I drove to my local beauty salon shop and purchased Color Glow IQ by Goldwell in Cool Brown. I was shocked at how much I paid for it, but I wasn't going to let $200 worth of hair color/styling go down the drain in a few weeks.

It's managed to keep my caramel highlights from becoming orange. The 200 mL bottle cost me $20. I use it sparingly...2-3x a week. I concentrate the color on my roots since this is where I tend to get orange. I'm not entirely impressed on the conditioning part of this conditioner, but I purchased it for color staying power. To help compensate for the lack of conditioning, I apply my regular conditioner to just the tips.

I'm hoping I can get away from visiting the hair salon for another month or two. Let's see.