The woes of trying to grow your hair :/

I hate to admit that I started this blog some time ago, thinking 'oh maybe it'll be fun', and I have neglected it horribly ever since. Blogging is not really something for me, I fear, but today I have something to ramble about and nowhere else to do so. I figure that because nobody reads this but me, I can be moany and grumpy about superficial things without anyone hating on me for it. So here goes...

I hate going to the hairdressers! I cannot be the only one (in fact I know I'm not the only one) who goes to the salon with gritted teeth and comes out wishing they'd spoken up more. Why do hairdressers seem to have such a power over us that we become meek and mild, nodding timidly and saying "um yes, it's lovely, thank you..." when our hearts are really sinking and we know only too well we're probably going to spend the next couple of hours sobbing over our newly chopped locks?

I'd like to take a moment to say at this point, there are some fantastic hairdressers out there. I'm sure of this. Not for one minute do I presume to think I could do their job, and a lot of the time they do know best. I suspect if they always did exactly what we ask, we'd end up looking rather silly. I respect that their knowledge regarding hair is far greater than mine is likely to ever be, and many of them are very considerate and good at their jobs. It probably frustrates the good hairdressers when people who are often disappointed, such as myself, tar them all with the same brush. It's like any generalisation, it's going to offend somebody. To all the good hairdressers out there, I take my hat off to you; but my God, there are some people out there giving your profession a bad name. And even if they're not doing that, they're still capable of reducing hundreds of women to a secret snivelling mess every 6-8 weeks.

I've been going to the same hairdresser for a few years now, and for the most part she's the best I've had. She's absolutely lovely, and to some extent I have begun to consider her a friend. It took me a long time to trust her after my past experiences and she was very considerate about this. As I've gained more confidence with her though, she has also begun taking liberties I'm not fond of. I take her opinion on board and will often ask her what she thinks as I appreciate her throwing a professional take on things in the mix, but when I say I'm trying to grow it and would appreciate it if she didn't do anything to make it look thin, I do wish she'd take me seriously. No, I do not want more layers, no I do not want to change up the style a bit more, and no, I don't want to go back to my crazy colour days. I feel she's getting bored with doing the same thing to my hair all the time (which I can understand, trimming can't be that much fun as it doesn't really allow her to get creative) but surely what the customer wants should be the most important thing? Especially with something so personal as hair. I know it's only superficial, and it grows back, but it means a lot to me none the less. I've gotten quite precious about it over the last year or so, and I'm beginning to feel like a nightmare client because I can't bring myself to relax when I'm at the salon. I feel like I have to rule with an iron fist to get something resembling what I asked for. She always seems to  be encouraging me to change it more, to keep it the length it is rather than trying to grow it etc. To me this has started to beg the question, do hairdressers dislike clients with long hair?

My hair is not what I'd call extremely long by any means. Until my recent trim (hence why I'm feeling sour!) it was bra strap length, and now it's back to just above this. My goal is waist length, and whenever I bring this up she tries to put me off the idea. She's always saying "But it's already long! Why do you need it to be longer?" ... "It might not get past this length you know, why not just keep styling it this way?" ... "Gosh your hair takes a lot of dye nowadays". Going to get a haircut has really started to depress me. I feel like ever time I go I take three steps back in the growth process. I do still have it dyed which I know is a bit of a sin but it's one of my guilty pleasures. Besides that, I've worked very hard over the last three years to grow out a pixie cut. I've cut down on heat massively, have started to use better products and treat my hair a lot more kindly. The condition has improved tenfold. It's only just got to the point where I can think about growing it out to more serious 'long hair' lengths, yet she continually seems to try to put me off. Last time around I asked for some very subtle layers just to give it a hint more body, but nothing too drastic. I left with very distinctive, chin length layers which I had to tell her over and over to leave alone this time around. It's all very well and good when my hair is straight, but it's naturally very wavy (which is how I've been wearing it up till recently to cut down on heat) so these new layers spring up into almost spiral curls. Of course the lengths of my hair are pulled down and thus are much straighter. I warned her of this and even asked if it was even a good idea to put layers in hair like mine, but alas I have still been left with hair that resembles a mushroom when left to dry naturally. Joy. I really hate to come across like a picky, difficult customer, but at the end of the day I am paying for a service and am fed up with politely paying upwards of £60 for a style I'm unhappy with time and time again. Is it really such a crime to want to give your hair a chance of becoming luscious and long? I mean she may be right, I may never get there (I'm all too aware of the potential for a short terminal length, this prospect frightens the life out of me whenever I think about it) but I'll never know if I don't give it the chance. Hair can't thrive if every time it grows half an inch she cuts off two... (Side-note, do hairdressers have their own version of inches or something?! I swear they ALWAYS take off more than you asked for even if it's not necessary >_< I'm all for getting rid of damage, I don't like ratty ends either, but my God!).

So this has been a very long ramble. Too long for any other outlet than one I will only ever see myself I suspect, so if you have somehow come across this and read through it all (if so it's probably because you yourself have similar frustrations, and if so I give my condolences) I thank you for sharing my grump with me. A problem shared is a problem halved after all, and what better way to vent about things that don't really matter than on the internet.

xx

The Face!

The most useful thing you will ever learn from the internet ;)



Genius!

Random things...

I love keeping things like this ^_^ Random bits and pieces from back in school, some more recently. I know most people keep funny little things like this in scrap books, but I thought you know what, I'm gunna keep 'em in a frame! So yeah, the above picture is the midsection of a frame full off odd little scribblings from friends and my boyfriend, post cards, birthday cards and odd bits I've picked up from art exhibitions and museums from all over the place.. photographs, newspaper clippings, train tickets, gig tickets, theatre tickets; you name it. I like being able to look up at my wall and take a little trip down memory lane.

Funny the things that make you smile eh. Just thought I'd share :)

Well, I'm pretty new to this. Honestly, I have no idea what this blog is going to be about! Probably just this and that, everyday nonsense. I guess for now we'll just play it safe and say it's going to be about me. Or at least certain elements of me ^_^ All I can say is I will do my best to make it pretty!

...Though it might get a little err.. 'ranty' in parts, knowing me :P Yeah...

Hey look, I took a picture of the sun!