I love her

I Love her...I truly do.

when I grow up(HAH) I want to be just like her.  she is amazing.
she has brains, tenacity(read:balls), business acumen, no nonsense attitude, and SERIOUS mad skills. Yet underneath it all she is a kind and caring person who wants to help people.

Tabatha Coffey, you are my Hero in the beauty Industry.  I have learned so much about salons and hair dressing, just from watching salon takeover. I feel I am a better student and stylist because of you.  You inspire me to work as hard and as smart as I can, because someday when i own my own salon, I dont want you coming through my door(unless it is to interview me for a job...)

YOU ARE THE WOMAN!

My Crafty weekend

Whew I was a crafy gal this weekend.
At school I am in a group, making a window display for a competition. Our group is doing a Nightmare Before Christmas theme and I was in charge of making Jack. Here is our inspiration:

We have snowflakes that will be hanging down from the ceiling and one will be in Jacks fingers as he looks at it in wonderment.

So...how do you make a model using very little money? Like this:

Here is Jack in his Glory. (Obviously he is naked and will be dressed at a later date)

Once he gets dressed and in the scene he will look so good.

I am really proud of my little model.

Then a few months ago at school we had a going green/recycled fashion show.

I made some hairbows with recycled ribbon and next thing I know I had orders!

So, this week a woman in my class ordered 10 in various pinks and purples and reds for her granddaughter.

I sewed loops in various sizes and colors and secured them with thread and hot glue. Then for the center I took about 2 inches of ribbon, sewed a running stitch along the bottom edge and then pulled to make a rosette type thing and attached it to the middle.

If anyone is interested they are $3 each.

So that was my weekend.  Then of course Finn thought Jack was the COOLEST thing ever and wanted to have his picture taken with him.

So that was my crafty little weekend.  It was fun!

I am in love

I want these...BAD. These are the Kamisori "Emerald" 7 star precision shears from the Damascus collection.

Direct quote from Kamisori
"Our Damascus steel is unlike any other and is composed of 12 to 16 premium metals carefully layered together through a very sophisticated process. These layers can be seen by the cloud patterns on the shears’ surface.These highest graded "7-star shears" are world renowned as the finest and are used by famous platform hair artists all over the world. If you are a stylist fortunate enough to own a pair, you will fall in love at first cut!"
I am drooling right now.

Hand forged, 6" blades, so sharp you could cut off your own finger. Slices through hair like BUTTAH! It doesnt get any better than this.

All for the measly cost of $1300... Yes, that is THIRTEEN HUNDRED. Not thirteen, not one hundred thirty...but one thousand three hundred. The decimal goes AFTER the 2nd 0.

I guess I better get cracking!!!

what a week...and it is only tuesday

as many of you know we had a little hair color misadventure in our house the other day.
Charles ASH colored blonde hair decided to take a detour and go red instead of staying in the ash family. (he was taking one for the team by helping me out with my last grade). Using the proper color formulation and correct color and developer strength, I set abpout making him oe shade lighter than his natural virgin hair was.
It turned strawberry blonde. So to correct it I got some ash color to counteract the red/gold tones. I even bought red/gold corrector to add to the color. For some unknown reason that made it worse. His hair followed no color laws. AT ALL. It did what it wanted to do. It turned an even more hideous shade of red/gold. A very ginger orangy red. It was awful. So finally i went back one more time and bought a dark ash color with a green base(to counteract the red) and and a light double ash with a blue/violet base to neutralize the gold/orange tones.
So I mixed the dark brown ash with the platinum blonde double ash to make a mid-light ash blonde. I added some red-gold corrector to it. FINALLY . His hair is back to normal. A nice medium ash blonde that has only the tiniest hint of red(which actually looks pretty good on him)
. So that was horrible. I had to give him a hot oil treatment under the hooded dryer to keep his hair healthy and shiny and soft. Now these pictures were taken on a camera phone, so they arent the greatest.I apologize.

This picture was the first color application, where he looked like Not Gay chet from real world brooklyn.

This was the second color application where he turned into his avatar from guitar hero.

Picking a hairstyle from a current issue of sophisticates hairstyles. Yes, he is under the hooded dryer.
"Did you see that? Grrrrrllllll, her har is baaaaaddd!""Ooh! I want this hair. she's hot."

At least he was good enough to joke about it...and not go to church wearing a hat.

Then sunday night Finn started complaining his neck hurt. I asked how it hurt. He said it hurt when he swallowed. His little face would scrunch up when he swallowed and he was running a fever. Now he JUST got done with a 10 day oral penicillin treatment for strep throat. But monday morning I looked at his throat and it was gunky. I know it had come back.
so we went BACK to the doctor and he had strep throat AGAIN. So we made an executive decision to NOT do an oral treatment and just get it over with and give him the shot.
Charles said he was soooo mad. The entire Doctors office heard him yelling and screaming and hollering and raising a ruckus.
but last night, a mere 7 hours later he was bouncing around saying "i feel better already!"
this morning I asked how he was feeling and he said "my froat is fine. But my butt still hurts!"

Yesterday I started out on the clinic floor. I will be there Mon and Tues for the time being and then in about 6 weeks or so I will be out there 3 days a week. But I have to miss today to stay home with finn, who is unable to go to school until tomorrow.

This morning I woke up feeling like pooh.
i had horrible dreams about my bridesmaid dress. I dreamt when it showed up it was a lace top with a big rhinestone buckle and a chiffon skirt. Very oldschool fox-trot ballroom dancing ty;pe dress. It was hideous. And it was this awful shade of greyish purple. Kind of like a mauve, but more icky.

hopefully i can get a bit of a nap today. And go pick up my mirror my friend is donating to me and the vinyl for my wall she did. I will take pictures and post them later!

Nails Suck

I dont enjoy doing nails as much as I thought I would.

I almost went to nail school instead. i thought, hey it is only 300 hours, I will be done in a few months, how hard can it be. I can do nails and make some money quickly and be done with it. Looking back I am SOOOOOO glad that I listened to my inner voice saying:"you really want to do hair. You dont really want to do nails".

Here in NC the cosmetology licensing includes nails. However this curriculum has NOT been very fun. I honestly dont know how those peole do it 8 hours a day.

Hunched over clients all day, sanding and scraping and filing and clipping and touching hands and feet. An dont get me started on the nasty pictures of fungus'd toes and feet I have had to look at and memorize. Just after a week and a half I think I am permanently stooped like an old lady with a dowagers hump. And forget about trying to keep your own nails nice. It aint happenin'.

UGH and WHY ON EARTH do all the diseases of the feet and hands start with Onych?? How am I supposed to remember them all if they all LOOK alike??

Why cant they just call it gross toe? No they have to call it Onychiatrophia or Onychikolitosis, or onychidontgiveacrapwhatitiscallediamnottouchingthatthing.

I go to lunch everyday thinking about crusty feet and tinea pedis etc,. blech, it literally makes me sick. and there are some women out there who come in, plop their feet in right away so you cant look at their nasty toes with a gigantic thick nail. "can you just file it, it is only a little fungus".

Uh no, you need to get yourself to a little podiatrist is what you need to do. Come in here with a nasty toe, trying to give everyone else the crusty's.

Back in the early part of the decade in California there was a huge outbreak of this thing called Mycobacterium Fortuitum Furunculosis. Shops werent sanitizing and disinfecting the foot baths properly. It is a state board test question that we have to know and the shorthand for it is MFF.

Want to know how I remember it?? AHHHHH! My friggin' Foot!!!

Yes thats how I remember diseases. i give them letters and then make up things to remember them by.

Onychiatrophy is OAT- Oh, 'at toenail is fallin' off.

stuff like that. silly but it works.

yes I love getting pedicures and manicures, but i am so glad I will not be the one doing it full time. It really kind of sucks. 2 more days of nails and I a DONE with the curriculum and will be on the floor full time!

2009- my resolutions

UGH. I HATE resolutions.
hate hate hate them.
But every December 31st as the ball drops onto a new year my mind starts working.
"what can I improve on in my life?" "how can I be happier?" "what can I do to cultivate a more spiritual side?" "how can I set a good example to those around me?" "how much weight can I lose if I eat nothing but oatmeal and salad?" You know, the basics.
But every year i look at my list and it is about 476 items long. I know that I will get way to frustrated and give up if I have too many to work on. so I went through and slashed out most of them, and really focused on the BIG 10. These are the 10 things I will work on for the year.


1. Curb my potty mouth. Unfortunately I picked up a very bad habit from my mother and have struggled with it my entire life. I REALLY need to watch what I say, as my kids have started repeating some of my better epithets. I dont think my parents really believe that Charles is the one teaching them those words. Spencer W Kimball, 12th prophet of the LDS church stated "Profanity is the effort of a weak mind to express itself forcibly". Ouch.

2. Couch to 5k. One of my goals this year is to get healthier and more fit. My friend rebecca told me about this exercise program she has started called Couch to 5k. Basically in 9 weeks you train to run a 5k. It iss 3 days a week, for about 30 minutes a day. You start really slow and work your way up to 5k. It is just up my alley. You can find the program HERE. Then my next goal is 10k. Eventually by the end of the year I want to train for a 1/2 marathon. Shanda and Michelle and Alison did that this year and they look just so fantastic and healthy and beautiful. I totally hate them.(in a jealous fat girl way)And Jolin did the full marathon and is my hero. So by the end of the year I will be a fit and healthy active runner. It all starts with that first step. (plus it will help me be in bathing suit shape by our Cruise in September) I will look better, feel better and it will help me with my drooping energy levels and certainly my sleep patterns as well. I will have more energy for school as well.

3.Graduate School on my target date. I have noticed at school there are a lot of advanced students who should have graduated weeks and weeks ago, but are still there because they dont take it seriously enough to have their attendance where it needs to be. They are taking up space in the school that should be reserved for the newer students. My targeted graduation date is September 12th. My goal is to graduate on that date. If I miss a day I will come in on Saturday to make it up. I am not messing around. I am getting it DONE. I dont want to be one of those "space takers" who just come when they feel like it. Their attendance is just enough to not get kicked out.

4. Cultivate a more spiritual side. I need to do a better job of reading scriptures and praying with my kids and teaching them about the bible and about Jesus Christ. I need to do a better job about going to church and to all my meetings, not just when something is expected of me. I need to read the sunday school lesson ahead of time and be prepared to participate in the lessons. I need to magnify ALL of my callings, not just the ones I like. i need to do a better job of being a good member of the church and a good example to those around me.

5. COOK AT HOME! I like to cook. But when I am in school and come home and nothing has been taken out of the freezer, I am more apt to just order a pizza or go to subway instead of finding something to eat. I need to do a better job of meal planning and prioritizing. I need to make sure that Charles knows what needs to be out of the fridge or freezer, in case i forget. I want my kids to grow up with an appreciation for healthy, home cooked meals...instead of cheeseburgers and pizza.(Peter I am not worried about. he is a fruit and veggie nut. But Finn on the other hand has become accustomed to the fatty fast food industry)

6. Simplify my home. I have too much junk. My goal this year is to flylady my way to a clean, organized, clutter free home. I keep my house clean, but I have so much junk and knick knacks and kid clutter and STUFF. My goal is to keep my house "company ready" at all times. On her site, flylady asks "Are you tired of CHAOS?"(Cant have anyone over syndrome). Yes. Yes flylady I am tired of CHAOS.

7. BUDGETING. With the economy the way it is, I resolve to do a better job of budgeting. No more impulse purchases. No more "extras" I dont really need. I am putting myself on a cash budget and once it is gone, it is gone. I will work harder at getting the bills paid on time every month. I will be much more respectful of my money and work harder at being more financially organized.

8. Cutting out junk and pop. Everything in moderation. I know this. This year I resolve to cut out 90% of the junk food and crap I eat. I resolve to drink non-carbonated beverages only and to drink the proper amount of water my body needs. My body will thank me, and I will be happier in the long run. No more sugar slumps. No more caffeine cravings. No more dependence on sugar and pop to give me energy. Occasional sweets are fine, but not all day every day. I am also including vitamins in this. I am REALLY going to work harder to take my vitamins every day.

9. Patience. I REALLY need to work on my patience. Unfortunately i have a quick, fiery temper. I fly off the handle way too quickly. My anger is not a long-smoldering one. It is a flash fire that flares out of control very quickly. It is like gasoline to a flame. My goal this year is to find a way and techniques to keep my anger under control and to find ways to be more patient with others, especially my family.

10. Personal beauty. No I dont mean the things like showering and brushing my teeth. I already do those things. And I am not talking about vanity and always looking in a mirror. I mean always making sure my hair and make-up look their best. Always making sure my legs are shaved and eyebrows are waxed. Making sure I exemplify my chosen profession the best I can. I want to make sure my clothes are pressed and wrinkle free, and that I always look my best. even if it is jeans and a T shirt. Even if I am just running to Walmart or to the Post Office. I want to present a good and positive image no matter what I am doing, no matter where I am going. The better I look, the better I will feel about myself and the easier most of my other goals will be. The better I look, the better i will feel and the harder I will try to make myself a better person all around. The better I look, there better i will feel and the easier for me to help others around me feel the same way.


So those are my BIG 10 goals this 2009. It will nto be a cake walk. In fact I expect to really have to work hard to make sure I am changing my life for the better. No one said it would be easy, but it will be worth it.

HAPPY 2009 and may you keep all your resolutions!

Not just done, but Damn Done

100%!!

yay and phew.

the written test was really hard. Lots of tricky questions, funny wording and a few questions I completely guessed on. But I am done done done. I am "Damn Done"

When my roommate from college (Jackie)c finished her Radiation for cancer the first time, she had a "Damn Done" party.

Not just done, but "Damn done". That is kind of how I felt about fingerwaves and pin curls.

Buh-Bye.



I was looking through my computer this morning and realized I have so many great pictures from this year that I am going to do nothing but post a few pictures a day for the rest of the year,

For Christmas I am going to have a book published for my parents with all the different pictures from the year in it with little stories and descriptions

I think thats a fairly nice and reasonable gift.



Now just trying to figure out which ones I love, and which ones I hate and which ones to include so this little book doesnt turn into a $100 coffee table paperweight.

Life sucks sometimes

It is one of those mornings. Nothing is going right.

Charles and I are in one of "those" fights.
He didnt get a paycheck on Friday, the manager said he thought they mailed it, so somewhere is a much needed paycheck floating around in at the US Postal Service. So, while trying to keep our heads above water and get Bills paid, until that check shows up I have like $40 in the bank account that is not earmarked for something. Of course this is the month that school needs $5 here and $6 there and a donation for teacher birthdays and class parties and field trips. Then I get upset for him paying $10 to the library for overdue fines and it just escalated. Honestly.

I am starting a new(and difficult) curriculum at school and am a little nervous (chemical relaxers and ethnic hair care/styling). . So for the next 3 weeks I will be pulling my own hair out while trying not to chemically burn off Destiny's(my mannquin).

Peter STILL has a nasty cough that seems to get worse, then better, then worse then better.
So I have to call his pediatrician and see if I can get in for an appointment and get an antibiotic. So if I can get an appointment today I will have to leave school early and there goes my perfect attendance record for this cycle, which actually pisses me off. A LOT.

I have a giant fist hole in my bathroom wall from SOMEONE punching it in anger (tsk tsk tsk).

So to quote one of my favorite songs from when I was a kid (Don Williams Jr.)
"Lord, I hope this day is good. I'm feeling cranky and Misunderstood
I should be thankful Lord, I know i should, but Lord I hope this day is good"

just breathe.

Aced the curriculum

I am feeling very proud of myself.(pat pat pat)

For the past two weeks I have been studying and memorizing and analyzing etc. I know the difference between a macule and a chloasma. I know what a Bulla is. I know what a keratoma is. I know about 42 other various skin lesions and disorders, such as Vitiligo(and I am pretty sure Michael Jackson does NOT have it).

I know the various layers of the epidermis and the dermis and what each one does, is responsible for and contains. I put up with the younger girls laughing every time the Stratum Corneum was referred to as "The Horny Layer".

I learned how to wax facial hair. I learned how to tweeze properly. I learned how to give a totally amazing facial and how to apply make-up beautifully.

I took 2 written tests, gave 3 facials, waxed eyebrows and applied make-up. I went on a field trip to South park Mall(the Hoity Toit) and went to Dillards and Belks to the make-up counter where they were having make-up extravaganza days and giving free make overs and demonstrations and lessons. We then got to tour the Carmen!Carmen! salon and day spa and meet Carmen himself. He is a brilliant hair stylist(a bit of a diva) and I really enjoyed listening to him and he gave us lots of great advice and words of wisdom.

So with my attendance at 100%, my written tests at 100% and my facials at 98 and 99% and my make up at 98% and my waxing at 98%, I averaged a 99% for the skin and make up curriculum.

A disclaimer for the 98%...My teacher does not believe in giving 100% on practicals. She says there is always room for improvement, no matter how long you have been in the industry. So if you didnt sweep up and out enough on one pass through, or did the petrissage for 10 seconds too long, she would dock a point etc. so my 98 and 99% were for little things like my wubbie under my materials was crooked (wubbies are the paper towel type things they use in salons), or my toner cotton ball wasnt thrown away the second it came off her face.

So to keep up with my skills, I will also be offering facials and waxing out of my home to practice, the cost would be to cover the materials. So waxing eyebrows would be $3 and a classic european facial with massage and mask would be $10. (massage of the face and neck, not the body) If anyone is interested just let me know.

tomorrow we start on long hair design!

beauty school drop out part deux

Yesterday was my school tour.

I REALLY liked what I saw. I really liked the school. I REALLY liked the curriculum. They do the hair shows and expos too. They teach every kind of hair from caucasian, to latino to asian to african american. they teach extensions, weaves, cut, color, perm, chemical altering etc. They teach various techniques.
The mannequins you get are all human hair. The male mannequins come with long shaggy hair and beards, nose hair, ear hair etc. It is hilarious.
The campus itself is VERY nice and welcoming and open and bright and CLEAN. They also teach management and salon ownership and retail etc. You get the whole gamut of education.

I HATED the tuition cost. BUT there are grants, scholarships and student loans available for me to take advantage of. In NC the cosmetology licensing at Empire includes Hair, Nails and skin. So by the time I am done I will be a licensed hairstylist, manicurist and skin aesthetician.
The tuition includes everything for state boards etc. It is just such a great program and I am REALLY excited. PLUS they offer job placement assistance FOR LIFE, anywhere you may go.



I could go full time, which is Monday through Friday from 9am until 430 pm. But that would be too hard to find someone to pick the boys up from school everyday and watch them for 3 hours, 5 days a week. It does mean, however, that I would be done in about 11 months and licensed in a year. BUT I would have to quit the beading group I JUST started, I would have to find some evening classes at the Y to take and work out, and by that time I will be so tired i wont want to work out(which really is super important to my health and wll being, so I find that a huge plus or minus).

Or I can go Part time. Monday through Thursday 545-945pm.
That means no more activity day girls, no more book club. However Charles would be home from work by then and if not, my mom and dad would be home by that time and could watch the boys if needed. If I go part time I would be done in about 23 months. If I needed a long weekend with my family I would be able to take it.



So after weighing the pros and cons, i have decided that PART TIME is the way to go.
The children scheduling logistics are friendlier, the YMCA morning exercise schedule is still in place, I can continue in my beading group. It ends up working better all around.
Granted I would like to be done in a year, but time wise and scheduling, there is just no way this would work. Maybe if my kids were older they could be by themselves for 2 hours after school, but there is just no way I would ever trust them to do that. They would burn the fricking house down.



So now I just need to go back to the school, fill out the applications and financial aid paperwork and see if there are any grants or scholarships available and go from there!!
All I need to do is bring in my High School Diploma, Birth Certificate and 2007 tax forms.
Do I even KNOW where my HS diploma is?? (I think I do. I may just need to track down my old high school and ask them to fax my transcripts. Of course it was so long ago, back before paper was invented apparently...see story below)


STORY: The receptionist and admissions person who puts the paperwork into the computer was looking at my form and it asked what year I graduated High School. i wrote 1994. She looked at it. Looked at me. Looked at it again. Looked at me.
She said "YOU graduated in 1994?" i said yes, and she said "huh, we dont get many old girls who come back to school".
Apparently 32 is an OLD GIRL now. (Of course she was like 12, so of course I am the crypt keeper compared to her)
But maybe she said it admiringly, like "wow, good for you for coming back and fulfilling your lifelong dream you hag". Although to be quite honest, I am not sure exactly what she meant. she either thought I was a child when I started high school and I look younger than I really am, or she meant it like "You are too old to have only graduated 14 years ago. Are you sure you didnt flunk 3rd grade a few times??"
I havent figured her out yet.


Oh well. I am over it. Time to go to the Rite Aid and buy some Olay regenerist.

Beauty School Drop Out

Back in college i used to cut hair for free. If guys needed a trim I would pull out the orange handled scissors and trim them up. I gave some cute haircuts to my roommates and girl friends as well. I had always enjoyed doing it and thought it was a profession I would be good at. I decided that Cosmetology was the route I wanted to take. What was I going to do with a French degree?? I didnt want to teach. I didnt want to translate. Unless I was going to live in France as an expatriate, then French really wasnt a useful degree for my situation.

Soon afterwards I married, and did not have the time or money for cosmetology school as I had planned. Then a big move to Charlotte, then a baby with heart problems who took up a lot of my time and all of our money.
Then another newborn.
My life was devoted to working full time to get my husband through school, taking care of kids and juggling doctors appointments...all while trying to lose weight, keep our financial heads above water and making it my lifes mission to buy a house AWAY from the apartments with paper thin walls.
Here we are 5 years later.
The kids are both in school.
Peter had a heart transplant and no longer requires constant dr. appointments.
Charles has a full time job and a college degree.
We have a house...and a dog.
I have a cabinet full of cleaning supplies and nothing else to show for yself except a failing mastery of the French Language.

Well I decided it was time for me.
Down the road is a Cosmetology school that offers new classes every 8 weeks. They offer full time or part time. They offer financial aid, job placement, and all the other good things.
so this morning I am going to their school to take a tour and get an enrollment packet, learn about tuition, classes available and hours available, etc. See if it is feasible. See if Cosmetology school is FINALLY in my cards.

Charles says to go for it. My parents say to go for it. I have support all around and a desire to do it. i am really excited, and hope that this will be the opportunity I need to spread my wings and finally do MY dream.

HAIR WRECKERS ANONYMOUS

Hair Wreckers Anonymous

My Best Friend Lindsey and I have been through some Major hair disasters together.
Ever since we were 15 years old we have been coming up with new and inventive ways to destroy our follicles.
She,( with a series of bad perms, dye jobs and a summer of “The Rachel cut”), and I ( with bad dye jobs, and a SLEW of terrible haircuts) started our own Hair Support Group: Hair Wreckers Anonymous (HWA)
She and I are the original founding members. We are card carrying, home perm loving, bad dye job partakers of HWA. I even laminated up some fake business cards to carry in our wallet.

It started with “The Bob”...

I have very thick, naturally curly hair. When I was 16 years old, I decided I had grown tired of my long, luxurious, unsullied mane. One day out of the blue, I decided to cut off all my hair , and go with “the bob”. I went to my hairdresser Kathleen and explained my vision, to which she replied, “Oh sure I can do that” . She went to town. There were foot long pieces of curls littering the floor, down my cape, on her shoes...everywhere. She cut my hair into the standard bob, my hair evenly short all the way around, ending mid-neck…THEN she dried it with the diffuser on the end of the blow dryer. As the moisture evaporated, the hair shrunk…and the curls appeared…and my hair shrunk some more. By the time she was finished what stared back at me in the mirror was a riotous mass of curls, ending barely under my earlobes. My hair was crinkly and crunchy from the mousse and hairspray and diffused curls. I didn’t want to make a scene, so I meekly paid my money, drove home and promptly washed my hair. I let it air dry overnight and when I awoke, the bob looked little longer and the curls only slightly more natural looking.
I went to school and got a lot of “wow, what did you do to your hair” and “wow, you sure cut a lot of hair off” and “you look different with short hair”. I thought it was going rather well. People hadn't really said anything negative about it after all. THEN it happened. The first international incident of HWA:
Around 6th period art class Ed and Matt came sauntering in. Now Ed and Matt lived solely to torture me. They were of one brain/one purpose. We all sat at the same table. We all hurled insults back and forth on a daily basis. There was no love lost between me and Ed/Matt. Ed turned his gigantic noggin to look at matt and said “Hey Matt, look, it’s an up arrow!”. He said it loud enough for the whole art room to hear. Heads whipped around to see what the fuss was about...and saw Ed pointing to my hair. Laughter ensued yadda yadda yadda. For the next 4 months I sported “the up arrow”.
WHY my hairdresser thought this would be a good idea is beyond me. How long had she been cutting my hair? She should have KNOWN better than to do that.


Well it could be worse. In fact, it has been. I have been through countless hairdressers, who have all given me priceless HWA memories-

I have sported the "Jamie from Small Wonder")(Thanks Ginger)---->

<-------The Inigo Montoya of Princess Bride (Thanks Boricks)

AND

The k.d. lang constant Craving (Thanks Fantastic Sams)-------------->

WHY DO WE DO THIS TO OURSELVES??

It is in a girls genetic make-up to destroy her hair. Around the age of 10 or 11, a beast emerges and REQUIRES a girl to do terrible things to her scalp and follicles. The poor hair doesn’t have a chance. Lindsey and I have been through a lot of follicle disasters throughout the past 17 years.
We have dyed our hair the same color(meaning we buy dye to change our hair color and when all is said and done it is the exact same color we started with) , terrible colors and more. We have permed, straightened, curled, cut, shagged, highlighted and crimped. We have had to buy wiglets and hair pieces to cover up our disasters, worn many a hat in our day, and are practically sole shareholders of the ponytail holder company.

The following story is paraphrased from a real conversation:

(ring ring)
SARAH: Hello?
LINDSEY: I am going to kill myself.
SARAH: What happened?
LINDSEY: Well Kelly, my sister in law, has a friend who does hair. This girl said she would dye my hair blonde.(authors note: I could sense what was coming) So I agree and she comes over. My regular hair dresser, Sue, refused to dye my hair, so I had to go behind her back to get it done. Well the whole time my scalp is burning and on fire. It hurt like hell.
SARAH: Uh –oh. What happened?(already aware something disastrous)
LINDSEY: It turned orange!
SARAH: WHAT??
LINDSEY: Yes, so she came back to try and do a second coat on it to see if that would help. Again the burning and itching. Now my hair is fried and falling out! I cant go back to Sue, because she said she wouldn’t do it and I went behind her back. WAH!
SARAH: Can you dye it darker?
LINDSEY: I cant keep dying over it, it will make my hair worse and worse. I have a friend at Zanos. I will call her and see what she can do.”

Fortunately, Lindseys hair was (mostly) salvageable, and Lindsey(mostly) learned her lesson about backroom dye jobs and the phrase”I have a friend”.

…2 weeks later…
ring ring

LINDSEY: Hello?
SARAH: Lindsey I am going to kill myself.
LINDSEY: What did you do? Did you wreck your hair?
SARAH: Maybe…
LINDSEY: What did you do?
SARAH: Well I decided I wanted to go back to a little more red. This summer being at the pool and out in the sun so much has really killed my hair. It was all bleached out and and really light. So I went to Eckerdts and got the same dye I have always used.
LINDSEY: AND????
SARAH: Well I dyed it and when I rinsed I got out of the shower and was towel drying my hair when Charles came in the bathroom and said “You know your hair is pink right?”
LINDSEY: WHAT?? No!!, pink?
SARAH: Yes, PINK!
LINDSEY: well is it maroon pink, or is it kind of a purple pink or what?
SARAH: no its “Im coming out so you better get the party started” pink!
LINDSEY: NOOOOOOOOOO
Sarah: YES!
LINDSEY: How did this happen?
SARAH: Well I used the same color as I have always used, but the problem was I always had darker hair. This summer really lightened my hair almost to a strawberry blonde, and this dye was meant for darker hair color. I didn’t realize it would do this!
LINDSEY: OK, go back to the drugstore and get a dark brown dye. In 2-3 days color back over it with the dark color and it should balance out.

Thankfully Lindsey was right. I did however have to endure 2 days of shockingly fuchsia hair. As I colored over it, it turned to a brownish pink. Well anything was better than the pink. Gradually through being in the sun and at the pool it kind of faded back into a more normal color.
From this lesson I learned never to dye my hair without first consulting the box and not to grab “what I have always used”.

Thankfull we have been incident free for the past few months. I did 2 years ago finally find a hairdresser that i ADORE (emily at Fusions Salon in Matthews NC) and she wont let me do bad things to my hair. She does not bow to the almight dollar. She is a good, kind soul.
Recently I went behind her back and dye my own hair. Luckily it turned out well, and I wont have to go to her in embarassment and a "help me".

Lindsey has mostly been able to keep her hands off her hair. i have had no further reports of her wrecking gene kicking in.


If you or anyone you know suffers from Hair Wrecking addiction, please join HWA today.