hair today, gone tomorrow

I have a roller coaster love affair with my hair. I want it pixie short, I want it Marilyn long. I want spikes, spit curls, bouffants, flips and poodle cuts. I want the Italian Cut. I want a mohawk. it is one of the most fabulous things about having short hair; I can do just about anything with a little patience between cuts.

As a little kid I have pretty straight hair. Blond. Bangs. I did not retain any of these things as I grew up, thank goodness! While blond, straight hair is certainly a lovely thing it wouldn't be great with the shape of my noggin or my coloring.

So, back to present-ish day. I had been growing my hair out into a retro bob to suit my clothing styles. But was starting to drive me mad. Here are a few shots from right before the chop!

The de-rigeur pre-cut bathroom selfie.

After a long day of travel from MN to MA... A little poofy but feeling good.

Since the majority driving reason for my curly poof was to have my hair match my clothes I decided I'd had enough. I wanted hair that was a little cuter, edgier. Less drying time. Cause really, I live in Minnesota and there is nothing like leaving the house to scrape the car in the dead of winter and realizing that whatever effort I had put into my hair was ruined by freeing instantly on stepping into -19 degree temps.

Annnnnnnd here's the new/old me! Short, pixie, spit curls and all. 

Here's my short list of how to take care of fine, curly hair:
1.) Keep it shoulder length or above.
      Longer than shoulder length starts weighing the hair down and making curl hard to control
2.) Condition with a light weight conditioner each time you wash it
3.) Use a minimal amount of product and try to mix up which product you use each day.
      I tend to cycle through 2-3 products at any given time. While my hair is very short I like
      pomade waxes, Lush's Dirty creme product, light leave-in conditioner or Aveda's curl creme.
4.) Let hair air dry whenever possible

Here are a couple more shots of pixie and other length styles I've rocked in the past couple of years. I really loved having pink hair but grew tired of the maintenance and, if you can believe it, getting touched by little old ladies and other folks in public. I dread to think of what will happen if I ever get pregnant...

To wrap things up I thought I would also share a few snaps of various hairstyles I've rocked in the years since I have moved to Minneapolis (just 3 years and so many styles of hair!) You'll also see that I am quite fond of making silly faces. I hope your enjoy them, too. 

The beginning of my mohawk and rockin' some dino earrings. Miss J likes to tell me that they are Apatasauri.

In full mohawk-y glory, getting ready for a holiday work party. I made the props for the photobooth that night.  

Sitting in the salon right before I asked my hairdresser to cut off the mop of curls I'd asked he to help me grow for six months... I love that my hairdresser gets pumped even when I ask her to change my style as soon as I've hit my last goal!