Slowly, she pulled herself up atop the rocky plateau, then stood tall and gazed out across the vast horizon. It seemed like all of eternity stretched out before her. She could see for hundreds of miles in every direction, the mountains, the rivers, the valleys and forests, the endless sky and the distant sea. There were towns and cities far below that looked like little dots. Suddenly, with every fiber of her being, she roared into the great beyond: “I DID MY HAIR TODAY!!!”
Honestly, I just needed to feel a little bit more like myself, ya know? — because I’ve had it up in a messy bun all week long. Seriously, I haven’t even bothered to run a brush through it. That’s how tired I’ve been, but when I woke up this morning, I was like, “Karen, do your damned hair.”
So I did. I did my damned hair. 🙂
Here’s a great hair tutorial on using the T3 Bodywaver to get BIG curls
I was randomly cruising “the YouTube” last night and looking for different ways to use my T3 Bodywaver curling iron when and came upon this short video by one of T3’s head stylists (head as in top, haha). It shows this technique where you slowly unwrap each section of hair from the barrel in such a way that the curls retain more of a wavy pattern at the ends.
I tried it this morning, and yay! Pretty good results.
So it’s all about the small victories. 🙂
Time to stock up on Aveda
I also wanted to do my hair today because I washed it last night (and I’m so happy about that!) partly because I wanted to try some things from Aveda. I’ve been stocking up on color preserving shampoos and conditioners because, ya know…I’m getting my hair done and colored tomorrow, and I figure that since I don’t know how long it’ll be before my next trip to the salon (kinda revolves around BG’s schedule), I want to get as many color preserving products up in the mix now as I can.
Last night I started by using Aveda’s Color Conserve Shampoo ($21) and Color Conserve Conditioner (also $21).
Ah… Both have that kind of warm herbal amber and cinnamon Aveda fragrance I love, with notes of rosemary, lavender and lemon thrown in.
Smells so refreshing and abso-friggin’-lutely delicious!
I’m also breaking in some new (well, new to me) Aveda styling products, which I put in my hair last night while it was still damp.
I had this long conversation about hair with my friend Christine, who has a two-year-old named Harry, at the baby shower last weekend. She said that even after two years since Harry’s arrival, some of her hair is still falling out. She was like, “Don’t worry too much about it. Just start using products to add volume now,” so last night I added some Aveda Thickening Tonic ($28), which I sprayed on my hair after I dried it with a towel. Then I combed it through with a wide-toothed comb and used the blowdryer.
The tonic is supposed to thicken the bejeezus out of your hair (so fingers crossed!) and, um…I also used Aveda’s Smooth Infusion Style Prep-Smother ($24), which is supposed to bolster your hair against high humidity for up to 12 hours.
Now…it hasn’t been very humid here lately at all, but I’m thinking that with El Niño in the house and the really, REALLY rainy season coming, things should get super humid up in here, so this is like hair preventative maintenance. Might as well also put some of this stuff in my hair! Maybe it’ll help whatever hairstyle I do this weekend last through the rainy season.
Have you used any of these or other Aveda products lately? They’re all part of the permanent line.
Also, what’s your official position on low-maintenance hair?
What constitutes “low-maintenance hair” for you? I know that many women cut their hair short after they have a baby. I have to be honest…I wish I could cut my hair short, but every time I have short hair, it ends up being higher maintenance for me because I can’t just put it back in a ponytail or straighten or curl it one day of the week, and then just use dry shampoo the rest of the time. And I can’t braid it before bed and wake up the next morning with waves. When my hair is short, I have to style it every day and get it trimmed every six weeks, so it ends up being a bigger pain in the butt.
But maybe I’m looking at it wrong. What do you think? What’s the best low-maintenance hair?
It was a Guerlain Spring 2016 kinda day…
I actually put on a little makeup today to see my OB/GYN (gotta go every week from here on out).
I decided that I could handle Guerlain spring 2016. Here’s what I wore…
- Guerlain Météorites Base ($74) — My makeup definitely looks a little smoother with this beautiful pearlescent face primer, which I wore with NARS matte foundation.
- Météorites Voyage Exceptional Compacted Pearls Of Powder ($179) — This refillable pressed powder has a combination of corrective and illuminating shades for a range of skintones… Seems a little light for me and kinda purple. I used it as a highlighter.
- Rose Aux Joues Blush Duo Smile Blush ($62) — A really pretty blush and highlighter duo with a deep pink blush on one side and a lighter pink highlighter on the other.
- Spring Glow Buttercup Eyeshadow ($34) — I used this pigmented gold shadow with Khaki Driver, one of the collection’s two eyeliners, which I used as a base. Then I put the shadow on top on my lids.
- Le Crayon Yeux in Blackjack and Khaki Driver ($31 each) — Both of these liners feel nice and smooth. I wouldn’t call them epic, but they get the job done.
The thing about Guerlain, though? They’re one of those lines that always makes me feel good when I wear it. I’m not always sure why (could be the vibe and the packaging), but it’s true.
Happy Friday, my friend. I hope your week wrapped up on a great note. I’m looking forward to getting my hair did tomorrow, and then after that I have a lot of puttering to do around the house. I’m in full-on nesting mode now, and I have nonstop baby prep to do. Other than that, it’s the SUPER BOWL!
Who’s gonna win? Tabs wants the Panthers, of course… 🙂
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
Lookin’ good mama! Do you have a hair plan for post birth?
For me, low maintenance hair is on the longer side. I can pull it back in a ponytail or bun pretty quickly. My hair is about chin length right now and if I want it to look good, it requires drying and using a flat iron. Definitely not low maintenance! But on days I don’t wash my hair, I just have to smooth it out the top layer.
Enjoy getting your hair done tomorrow! We’ll probably be watching the kitten bowl this weekend. Everyone wins! 🙂
My official position on low-maintenance hair is that I’ve embraced it from birth! I suck at hair styling and the less I try, the better off I am… I totally agree with you by the way, shorter hair can look really messy (not in a good way) if not styled, so it’s past the shoulder line for me! And Ponytail is my BFF…
I loooove Aveda products and their scents! And I feel so fancy when I use them. I have used their thickening tonic and I like it, I also have the powder stuff you sprinkle in your roots for volume and I like that too, and I have a shine serum that I haven’t used yet.
I don’t think you should cut your hair if you don’t want to. You can always throw it up in a ponytail or bun and it will be there waiting for the day you actually feel like styling it (for me that day rarely comes but I keep telling myself someday I will use a curling iron, and that T3 one you have looks pretty sweet!)
Almost all of the mom’s I know went short not b/c of low maintenance but because babies GRAB. AND PULL. Many of the new moms I know who were determined to have low maintenance hair at the length they preferred ended up cutting it a few months later anyway.
If short hair truly just doesn’t work for you (and you’re not in the mood for hair scarves), then of course I’d say longer is a better idea, but I’d research easy ways to put your hair up and out of the way for the day.
Short hair is so much higher-maintenance than long hair. You have to start with a shower in order to not look completely unkempt. Please, please DO NOT cut your hair. When the baby is about three months old your hair will shed. A LOT. The new hair that grows in will very possibly have a different texture. If it is short, it will be very difficult to camouflage 1. the thinness when you are molting and 2. the variances in texture as the new stuff grows in. It’s true that babies grab and pull – mine was clipped up or braided most of the time – but keep your hair. You don’t want to be unhappy with the mirror and constantly fighting your hair during an already challenging period.
Lol, I have no plans to cut my hair. Longer hair is easier for me to maintain. ? Less fuss!
I didn’t cut my hair when the hair loss kicked in, and I am glad I didn’t. Short hair is much more effort to keep up with, and a high bun/ponytail are great when your baby starts grabbing and pulling everything that is within reach. And within reach is very close when you are breastfeeding…
I didn’t shed for as long as your friend, but I lost a big amount in a short period of time, so I guess the overall amount is roughly the same in every woman.
Funny that you would mention short hair being more work than longer hair. For me the low maintenance lengths are either reeeeally short, when I just use some gel or wax, or really long, when I can put it in a ponytail or bun. All the lengths in between are a nightmare to wrestle with XD
Recently I have been thinking of getting bangs again, maybe it is because I don’t really remember all the work in getting them to look polished and if I do cut my hair I will regret it for the next 6 months!
That primer has always caught my attention, perhaps because it is so pretty and it HAS BALLZ IN IT!! 😉
What are you wearing on your lips? It’s such a beautiful pink color. 🙂
I placed a sephora online order a few weeks ago, and used one of the sample codes, in the sample bag was a full size bottle of the Meteorites Base. I’d never splurge $74 on shimmery primer, but man I love it. It just makes me look so much better than I feel I do most of the time, and my foundation lasts longer. Love it!
Your hair looks beautiful today, Karen and I am glad you did something for yourself that made you feel better! And I am sure going to the salon to get your hair done will help too. I have a hair apt in less than 2 weeks too!
I am not a huge football fan but I watch Superbowl for the commercials 🙂
Meh, I have very long hair but I don’t do much with it at all. Wash, air dry, make a braid or ponytail, and that’s it. I’d say that’s pretty low maintenance. I honestly think length has nothing to do with it. And at least with long hair you can still go all out and do fancy hairstyles if you’re in the mood for it. I personally think your hair ALWAYS looks great, both when it’s styled to perfection and you’re looking like a red carpet queen and when you just have it in a simple messy bun.
My lowest maintenance hair happened like this: I was six months pregnant with my son, started bleeding, ended up in the hospital on bedrest, and COULD NOT WASH MY HAIR. AT ALL. So my wonderful stylist came in and CUT IT ALL OFF. Well, she left a tiny bit. It was a super-short pixie and it was ROCKIN’. I looked great, even when all I could do was run a washcloth over it. But you have to have a good head shape to pull this off. I kept it that way for years, I liked it so much! Truly wash and go. No styling whatsoever. Nowadays people would probably put some kind of pomade in it, but that’s it. For years my hair was shorter than my son’s (who liked what his first-grade teacher called a “Beatles hair cut” while all the other boys were sporting buzz cuts).
My second-lowest-maintenance hair is mid-back length, though. It’s like you said, you can throw it in a braid, pony, or bun really easily and that’s that, still looks good. For the last few years I’ve been keeping it longer, waist to hip length. It tends to tangle a lot and doesn’t hold a curl well, but it’s pretty dramatic, especially with the silver streaks. The major maintenance is keeping it moisturized at that length — pre-wash with coconut oil or shea butter, double-condition or deep-condition each time you wash — not practical if you have to wash more than once or twice a week.
I’ve never tried Aveda products, but I think I’ll be trying them soon, because I’m planning on going to school to get my esthetician license at a Jean Madeline Aveda Institute starting in April. So I’d love to hear how the products work out for you.
Your late night YouTube search really paid off- your hair looks gorgeous!
Tabs wants the Panthers to win, lol. I get it. I’ll just take Cam Newton. The ONLY thing I know about the Super Bowl (which I just learned is tomorrow) & football. Now, Guerlain. Since purchasing the Terracota bronzer, I feel so luxe when I wear it. Every. Single. Damned. Day! Yeah, the packaging & the luxury brand make me feel like a diva. *Shoulder shrug*. As for low maintenance hair, I’m still having a love affair with my Marley twists. I took them out for about a month to let my natural hair breathe but now that I have them back, I’m in love with them all over again. Protective styles are a natural brown girl’s best friend because our natural hair IS high maintenance. Ain’t nobody got time for that…. 🙂
I’ve had to start doing a little more hair maintenance recently since I cut bangs. I always shower and wash my hair at night, so in the morning, I re-wet my bangs and blow them out a bit because I have a cowlick. However, having the bangs keeps me from getting frustrated with hair in my face and just putting my hair in some ugly topknot during the day at work (not all topknots are ugly, just mine).
I’m trying to take better care of my hair. I have fine hair, so I probably wash it more often than I should. I don’t dye or heat style other than my bangs, but my hair does seem to break a little easily. I just picked up a cleansing conditioner (Not Your Mother’s if you’re interested – I love their long hair and volumizing lines of shampoo and conditioner) so I’m interested to see if that works for me.
I’ve been using Aveda products for a long time. Right now I have their mousse, volumizer amd thickening spray- plus a shampoo and their clove conditioner. I can’t really notice the difference between the volumizer and thickening spray- but I like them both. As far as hair maintenance I think longer hair is so much easier. Just pull it back in a pony tail and yer done!
I think I have low-maintenance hair, but that’s mostly due to the texture. I have wavy/curly/beachy hair, so a lot of the time I’ll wash, brush it out, then use Frizz Ease serum w/a little bit of hair oil (I like the one from Haus of Gloi) and then spray in Frizz Ease Dream Curl spray and scrunch in Dream Curl Air Dry foam. And then I just let it air dry.
I’ve done short hair in the past, but I get so bored of it and it totally is more maintenance. But I also can’t let my hair get too long either, because then it’s just stringy and flat.
I love Aveda products! I used to work in an Aveda salon right out of college, everything smelled so good!
Aveda styling producta can do no wrong for me! I use Volumizing Tonic for lift at the roots, and I picked up the Pure Abundance spray todat after seeing how big my stylist got my hair! I also use Smooth Infusion or their curl cream to help keep my hair smooth and frizz-free. 🙂
Gorgeous hair!!
I’m with Tabs – Go Panthers! Since I live near Charlotte NC who else could I pull for…..only the Panthers. I’m in a hair dilemma right now. Last Spring I went ahead and had it cut short, well medium short. Now I’m trying to let it grow out and it’s in that I can’t do anything with it stage….I miss mt ponytail and bun!
My lowest maintenance hair has been what I have it now – about mid-back length. I have hair very similar to yours and when I’ve had it shorter, it’s a lot more maintenance because of the thickness and waviness of it. I have not had pregnancy-related hair loss, but I do have psoriasis and it’s nice to have long hair to camoflage that hair loss when it happens. I’m currently in police academy so since my hair is closer to one length (I haven’t cut it since last summer, and I trim the splits on my own right now since it’s hard to predict what kind of time I will have to get to the salon), it’s much easier to put in my standard braided bun or French braid tuck. When it’s shorter and layered, I actually spend more time using bobby pins tucking pieces of hair in to make it look neat. I would say keep your hair closer to one length if possible with layers at the ends and just keep it trimmed – for me, just getting my hair touched up is enough to make it feel like new again rather than cutting off a ton of length.
WOW, your hair looks AMAZING! I have pretty long straight hair and most of the time I just wash it a blowdry it without really doing anything special. I love the way it looks when I take the time to curl it, but that rarely happens.
please don’t cut your hair ever..it looks gorgeous. i’m never cutting it after i have a baby.
also thanks for sharing the video. i have a curler at home inside the box still, coz honestly i can;t get it to work properly. so should try to do something. hehhe
I think it depends on the texture. Mine tends to lay flatter as it gets longer so it tends to be more of a hassle to make it look nice. When it’s around between chin and shoulders, it’s not as heavy and more of the wave comes out. It was long when I had my first, the postpartum hair fall was slightly more annoying because the hairs were so long, really clogged the vacuum roller! You can start teaching babies not to pull hair pretty early, so having it long and easy to grab was sort of a good thing. 🙂 My hair is already thinning at the front with age, so being able to pull it back won’t help hide the extra loss. We’ll see if having it shorter this time is any easier, I still have a month or so before it starts.
Your hair looks amazing!
You should do a tutorial of you using the body waver! I just got one, and I’ve only used it a few times. I like it but could definitely work on my technique!!
Your hair looks FAB-U-LOUS!!!
Your hair looks great! I have used Aveda’s Rosemary Mint shampoo and conditioner and liked it. But I prefer Pureology’s volumizing (I always need more volume at the roots). I think the post-pregnancy hair loss must depend on the person. I don’t know anyone who suffered from that. Your hair is very think so I’m sure it will still look fab, even if you do experience some shedding. I’m with you on the long hair being lower maintenance. Though, I always have to blow dry the bangs/top so as not to look like a wet rat. The rest I can air dry because it just gets curly.
A “good hair day” to say the least. Your hair is gorgeous! I use Aveda products too, but my hair just isn’t anywhere near as nice as yours 🙂