Frozen

Yes, this title is a reference to a Disney movie that I haven't seen yet, but I hear that it's awesome.  That being said, it's FREAKING cold outside!  Today we are having wind chills of -20... brrr.

Regardless of the weather, I was able to bundle up and make it to the salon (with some serious help from a Mr. Michael Decker because I don't like driving when there is even the teeniest amount of ice on the ground). 

Here are some side by side comparisons (please excuse the "after" hair-moistness, my hair was SO STATICY after being outside that I had to do something to prevent my head from looking like I was struck by lightening):

Front:

 Side:



Back:

 

I don't know if you can tell from the photos, but this is the first time in over a year and a half that my hair does not have weird layers (not on purpose).  It's very exciting!  And, since it's been about a year since my first post, here are a couple progress photos:

 

 

 

Happy Holidays Everyone!  See you next year!

 



I have medium length hair!

"Man, you threw off my groove!"

So, this title seemed appropriate given that my hair is officially long enough to get in the way when I am trying to accomplish everyday tasks (i.e., reading a book, washing the dishes).

I know it's been a while since my last post, but I think that just means that I'm out of the transition phases, and now I must wait for my hair to grow...that's not to say that I haven't considered ideas for once I've made my hair donation. Oh no, here is an example of a VERY extreme process that I considered:

*Donate 10in to Pantene Beautiful Lengths

*Perm my remaining bob

*Once I get sick of the bob, return to the pixie and dye it a fun color (i.e., black, blonde, blue) (ok, maybe not blue)

*then chop that all off and think about what I want to do with my do next!

It may sound extreme, but it seems perfectly reasonable to someone who has made a pledge not to change or treat her hair for at least another year.

There is an awesome bonus to my current length:virtually zero staying time! I can even let my hair air dry if I want! (Very exciting!)

(Written 10/23/13)

From a Beast to a Beauty

A tale as old as time...

"But I just washed my hair!"  I know that such an excuse does not really hold up anymore with all of the styling products available to us.  However, when you are in the midst of a transition haircut/style wet hair can cause quite a conundrum.  With my hair being as short and fine as it it, I have a very short window of opportunity to decide what I want to do with my hair before it is too dry to do ANYTHING with!  Somewhere between bone dry and soaking wet, there is a sweet spot that allows me to have a little flexibility with my hair... but only a little bit.

Damp hair "sweet spot"

The two hairstyles below are ones that I consider presentable in respectable company. Both require a bit of work (and definitely a lot of product) to achieve... but (again, since my hair is short and fine) "a lot of work" for me means that I have to spend 10 to 15 minutes beating my hair into submission.

My equipment for styling has come from various recomendations from a couple different stylists, but I would definitely recommend them:

• A blow dryer (nothing special... just something that can dry your hair and add some body)
• a Chi hair straightener (mine is hot pink)
• Osis+ Dust It Mattifying Powder (it's like pixie dust for adding texture, but a little goes a LONG way)
• Avines Sea Salt Primer (it also smells fabulous)
• Pantine Pro V Hairspray (probably any hairspray will do)
• Fine toothed comb
• Round brush

Headband and poofed

Down and poofed

To achieve the "down and poofed hairstyle", I first blow dried my hair with emphasis of brushing the bangs forward and trying my best to poof the back of my hair (use the primer before you blow dry for optimum poof).  Next, I used teasing and the Dust it to tease my hair for 2 purposes: 1) to add volume to the sides and back of my hair and 2) to encourage my hair to go where I want it to go (teasing it back instead of to the front so that my bangs are distinct).  Cover all of that with hairspray.

To achieve the "headband and poofed hairstyle follow a process similar to the one above but also pin back your hair into a sort of half up style and add a headband!  (I know, my instructions are very precise)  

Let's see if I can hold out a little longer before I get my next haircut.  I'm hoping that my next milestone will be when my hair is about even with my chin... but I'm pretty sure the uneven-ness will require maintenance before then!

Happy Summer!

Tangled IRL

I think that I have a new goal

Let me explain the title of this little note.  In the movie Tangled, Flynn Rider (Eugene) is forced to cut Rapunzel's hair in order to save her life. Perhaps less dramatically (though, no less heroically) one of my friends donated her locks to make wigs for children in need through the Locks of Love program: http://www.locksoflove.org/. 

Fawn (my friend who donated her hair) graciously let me share her photos from the event! This is the third time that Fawn has donated her hair. (Can you imagine donating 30in minimum of hair?)

I have become fairly certain that when I've met my hair growth goal that I'm going to cut my hair off again (returning to the pixie). However, I've decided to extend my goal for shoulder length hair to hair long enough to donate to this awesome program. Why waste the hair if I've spent the time growing it? The minimum length of hair for donation is 10in... I don't think my hair has ever been that long! I'm guessing that I'll still have another 2 years or so to grow before it gets that long. Wish me luck!

Thanks for being my inspiration, Fawn!

Something princess-y!

I finally made it to a bob!

It's a very short bob, mind you, but it's a bob none the less!
I took some fun photos of my hair in the couple days before this most recent haircut.  Those are below.  Obviously my bangs had gotten


Out

Of

CONTROL

Interestingly, people thought that I did that weird side bang flip on purpose.  That was not on purpose... my hair wouldn't NOT do it!  I'm not goign to miss the Bieber flip.

 

And, here you'll find the one workout hairstyle that I was able to tolerate.  Basically, I pinned my bangs back and put the rest of my hair into a headband of some sort.  I CAN get my hair into a half ponytail, but it's a little silly.  

 

We'll all of that business is over now!  Behold, a haircut that I believe can grow for a while and not look completely ridiculous (Bieber-y).  

 

Turns out that this whole time I could have been getting free 3-week touchups with Angela and G-Spot Hair Design.  I will definitely be taking advantage of that here in a couple of weeks.  Given that little fact and the progress that I've made, I think that it should be pretty smooth sailing from here on out (or at least until that stage where almost all of my hair will go into a ponytail... but not quite). 

 

Thanks for sticking with me friends.  I'll be sure to update you the next time something interesting happens.

In a pinch

I'm not proud...

But today I went to Cost Cutters in Iowa City to just get the back of my hair trimmed.  I NEEDED a haircut so badly, but I'm been very frivolous with my money for the past few weeks, and I didn't think that I could splurge on another G Spot Salon haircut until after the 1st of the month. 

The goal going into this haircut was to just have the back trimmed up and leave the front completely intact so that I Angela will still be the one desiging my hair.  (Though, I did feel like I was cheating a little bit.)  Here are some before photos (Thanks BTW to my wonderful boyfriend, Michael.  He got some awesome shots (obviously not of just me) during our trip to the botanical gardens.  I'll include a flower photo,  too!):

Front of my hair at the Botanical Gardens

Back of my hair at the Botanical Gardens

Beautiful tulips at the Botanical Gardens in STL

Below are some (poor) post haircut photos. It feels much cleaner and I'm one step closer to a bob!

RIGHTEOUS. RIGHTEOUS.

So, apparently the only surfer quotes I know are from Finding Nemo.

My hair has officially hit "Surfer Dude" stage.  If you don't know what that is, it falls directly between Justin Bieber and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (thanks, Melinda).  Here are a couple of examples of what this looks like exactly:

25th Birthday Cake

Apparently I cook a lot.

The only styles available to me currently are:

1. Everything blow dried to the left (pictured)
2. Awkward side part (will NEVER be pictured)
3. Bam Bam Ponytail on the back of my head with a headband (you may see a photo of that later)

I'll be honest, I'm REALLY struggling with this one.  People are starting to notice that I'm purposefully growing my hair out at this point, and everyone is like "Awww, why are you growing it out?  It looks so good short!"  Then I just have to say "Back off. My hair, my bidness!" However, thanks to this blog, I'm able to see how far I've come which makes the rest of the journey seem just a little more possible.  

Stay tuned for more updates. Peace.

I'm like a shooting star, I've come so far. I can't go back to where I used to be. -Jasmine

So the day has finally come. 

Today I'm getting my first haircut since I started my quest to grow my hair out (It's been about 3 months and 6 days).  Honestly, I was due for a trim about 2 weeks ago, but I tried to hold out as long as I could.  (I also got to go to Disney to run in the Disney Princess Half Marathon, so a haircut wasn't really in the cards at that point). 

Last night at my kickboxing class, I got some cool before photos to share.  A shout out has to go to Kim Anderson for taking my photos and to the MMA dummy (my Iowa City boyfriend... don't tell Michael) for modeling with me. 

Kim Anderson took this photo.  We are at STRIKE Martial Arts in Iowa City, Iowa.

Kim took this photo, too.  (She wanted to be credited for her photography) This is me and the MMA dummy.

Here was an attempt to show the horribleness that was the back of my head... alas, the photo did not really turn out.

As you can see, my bangs are beginning to be a bit unruly and don't even talk to me about the back of my hair!!!  Mullet city.  I'm anxious to see what Angela from G Spot Hair Design (Iowa City) will be able to do with my hair in this truly awkward stage.  I'm hoping that my hair will be able to be shaped enough to grow into a proper bob, but I'm not really sure.  (I have weird short areas around my ears and the back of my hair may require a little more maintenance before it leaves the threat of mullet-ness). 

Pre Haircut Data
Current length ~5 inches at the crown
Change since the start ~ 2.4 inches (I'm learning that it's nearly impossible to be precise)
Inches to go 14-5 = 9 inches left to grow at least

Only time will tell... but you get your results NOW!

A little later that day:

Tada!

Me at G Spot Hair Design in Iowa City

I feel SO MUCH BETTER.  Angela was able to trim up my bangs, tidy up the "side burns," and hack away all the needless hair on the back of my head.  I think today's cut was definitely a step in the right direction (even if it's not as edgy as my hair has been the past few months)!  I'm thinking that I should be able to achieve a version of a bob the next time I go to visit (probably in May).  

As always, leave any comments if you want to.  I'm sure I'll have another entry as I start to get antsy again.

Peace out, homies.    

"I tell myself that I am not afraid" -Piglet

My hair has Bieber fever! Today is the first day that I'm not having my regularly scheduled haircut (every 4 weeks) since I got my hair cut back in August.  As you can tell from my post yesterday, I'm starting to have some anxiety about what this growing our process is going to be like.  I'm currently in what I'd like to call the Bieber stage.




Who is who?

I can't tell!

It's actually quite hilarious actually since my boyfriend has been calling me Justin Bieber (or Beebz) since I got my hair cut short in the first place.  [He actually really likes the short hair, he just likes picking on me more!]  I knew the day would come that I would begin to resemble America's favorite pop star (or whatever), but I think this current length is going to require a little creativity to liven it up a bit. 

 

Oh, and I forgot to tell you, I have hair that hangs in front of my ears now and gives me this weird flip on the side of my head.  (Pretty sexy, huh?)



Me with my sexy side flip





Though I know that I have a lot of coping and looking in the mirror and saying "eh." in my future, I've decided on my next haircut milestone!  My next haircut will take place when I can get the hair by my ears to actually tuck behind them and stay there.  I think this may take another month potentially, but we'll see how it goes!

 

Thanks for sticking with me!  I think that once I overcome this hurdle, the rest of the styling should be a piece of cake (that's not to say that I won't have to talk myself out of about a million new ideas for hairstyles, but those are posts for another day). 

 

I'll have updated stats for you in a month or so, I think.  I hope this is helpful for you (it has been for me so far).  Let me know if you have any hair growing-out questions or suggestions!



I'm supposed to drink HOW MUCH water?

I promise that there will not be any pictures today!

So, I've been browsing some "How to" sites for growing out hair. Two things that I've currently implemented are drink a lot of water and taking biotin supplements.  Since this is only day 2 of the biotin, I have yet to notice any difference. 

Adding water into my day has been an interesting struggle today. 

Yesterday I went out a bought a new Camelbak waterbottle, and I pledged to keep it by my side all day at work and drink as often as I could. Today, I sat down at my desk and promptly started drinking as much as I could tolerate (which is a lot since it's so dry here in Iowa during the winter months). Now, toward the end of day 1 of my water resolution, I'm wondering if this should have been a more gradual process.  My body doesn't seem to know what do do with this extra H2O, and I've found myself running to the ladies room  more often then I'm refilling my chic new bottle.   I hope that my body will become accostomed sooner rather than later...I think some of my coworkers may start to wonder about me...(not sure what they'd be wondering, but wondering none-the-less).

[Disclaimer:  Sorry for the overshare.  I figured that I should be as forthright and honest as possible as I embark on this quest. Just so you know, I'm usually very awkward.  If you find yourself reading something and wondering what in the world is going on, that's totally normal.  You know that awkward penguin meme... it was made for me.]

  Below are a few sites that I have liked:
http://www.longlocks.com/how-to-grow-long-hair.htm
http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Your-Hair-Grow-Faster
http://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/how-to-grow-out-your-short-do/story-fneszs56-1226481399127
There are not too many links about how to grow out short hair quickly. However, there are LOTS of websites about growing out extremely long hair. I'm assuming that the haircare elements of those websites should still be useful. I think that my next post will be a reflection on some of my favorite tips from the point of view of someone with very short hair!

Here are some links to photos to ease me through the process
http://pinterest.com/bexmoi/growing-out-the-pixie/ (I love pinterst!)
http://www.blendingbeautiful.com/how-to-gracefully-grow-out-a-pixie-cut/ (It turns out there are lots of people who have blog posts about growing out their hair!)
http://www.craftinterrupted.com/2012/07/the-great-pixie-grow-out-of-2010.html

I'll try to find sites to include periodically.  Google is going to be a very important tool for me!

A dream is a wish your heart makes...

In this case, I sure hope that the title of this post is completely untrue.  Sparked by my ever shaggier hair and the season two finale of How I Met Your Mother (where Marshall and Lilly get married) I had my first crazy hair nightmare!

The dream: I decided to go and get my first hair trim since I've started growing my hair out.  I was very excited, but I was not at all sure what was the best cut to go with.  Additionally, I figured that if I was just getting a trim that it would be safe to go somewhere cheaper to get my hair done than where I usually go for my styles (which I did in real life the last time I grew my hair out)...  MISTAKE!!!

As odd as it may sound, I was completely calm through this next portion of dream.  A mullet-ed hairdresser talked calmly to me about her suggestions for someone about to grow their hair out.  For some reason she sounded perfectly reasonable and I OK-ed her plan and let her set to work. The actual haircut was a bit of a blurr in my mind until I took a peek in the mirror toward the very end.  At that point, I slowly came to the realization that she had grown the back of my hair out to my shoulders and trimmed the top of my head.

https://www.google.com/search?q=mullet&hl=en&tbo=d&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=EQsAUbGtM_SA2AXr5IGYCA&sqi=2&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAA&biw=1680&bih=901

Then, I lost my cool.  She had provided me with a mullet to match the one she had!  I was absolutely horrified.  I couldn't believe that she could do that to me, but she didn't seem malicious in any way, so I decided to pay her all the same thinking it was some sort of honest mistake... Then I immediately went to my regular hairdresser to see what she could do to fix my style. 

When I arrived at my normal salon, my stylist was forced to chop my hair back into the pixie I had been dillegently trying to grow out.  She basically demanded that I request my money back from the other salon, which I did.  After that... I woke up!

I immediately ran my fingers through my hair to be sure that my shaggy pixie was still intact and that the whole situation had been a horrible nightmare (it had, phew!).  I'm not sure that many people have growing-your-hair-out anxiety, but aparently I am one of them.  It sounds like I need to do a little bit of between-hairstyles research for how to approach my next haircut. If anyone has any suggestions or photos, I'd appreciate it. I don't think I could stand many more mullet dreams!

Just another hurdle to get past on my quest for longer locks.