Hair update

I had some inquiries as to how the haircut went, sooo....

Part 1. Dry cutting
It was a little weird sitting in the chair, having someone cutting pieces out of your dry hair, but I took it all in stride. When Sarah, the stylist, was done, she showed me how much she cut off/out. It wasn't as bad as I thought--about 2 inches from each layer that she created.

Part 2. Washing
THEN I got my hair washed, but only with conditioner, since I'd washed my hair for real that morning. Sarah commented on how dry my hair was, which I never realized. Hence the "halo" of frizz that surrounds my head. Apparently this will calm down with time (and moisture!). While she was washing my hair, Sarah explained how I need to wash it: massage the scalp, but scrunching/squeezing the hair up the shaft, towards my scalp. I'd read this previously on some curly haired message boards and while flipping through the Curly Girl book at my old job at the bookstore.

Oh, and no more regular shampoo. Which is fine--for about the past 2 weeks, I've been using conditioner-only or when my head's felt a little gross, some baking soda. I was telling my mom about this yesterday and my brother was in the room, and started reciting the "shampoo vs. conditioner" scene from Billy Madison. So for your enjoyment, I give you this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IfcST4s7Qg0

Part 3. Getting the water out
No more turbans, no more terry cloth. That's what makes frizz happen. Microfiber towels should be used, but I'm cheap and lazy so I'd been using a "dirty" t-shirt that was in the laundry. (I say "dirty" because it was worn once and needed to be washed, but not disgusting that I wouldn't touch my hair with it. I think you know what I mean.) This is a fine choice if you don't have/don't want to buy/etc. a microfiber towel. If you do, you don't have to get them at a fancy store--Target/Walmart/etc. sells them in the auto section.

Note: You can also use paper towels, but WHO WOULD DO THAT???? Horribly expensive and terrible for the environment!!!!

Part 4. Product
After squeezing all MOST of the water out of my hair with a towel, we talked about what to put in my hair. We started with gel. I hadn't used gel in years? decades? so this was funny, to me. Sarah started at the tips, scrunching my hair, working its way up the shaft. I was imagining my hair looking SUPER stiff, the "wet" look...but it didn't. My curls were starting to get defined a bit and were a bit stiff but not too bad. She also sprayed a moisturizing spray near my roots, on the outer layer of my head.

Part 5. Pinning
Because curls/waves go down, they can pull on the hair, making the areas near the roots very flat. I usually have no problem with volume (hair OR voice, haha) but in this case, it might be necessary. Using these small duckbill pins (a tiny version of the pins you might use to section off your hair while getting it cut), Sarah pinned sections of my hair right at the root. (This is not something that I would HAVE to do every day--in fact, when I did my hair myself today I didn't.)

Part 6. Drying
Going under the "old lady dryer" is nothing new for me. For years, I've been put under there as punishment for having so much hair and hurting my former stylist's shoulders/arms. Kidding. Since I have so much hair, it's a time-saver to have me sit under there and get a lot of the moisture out before using the blow dryer.

Hair clipped, I again sat under dryer to let the curls set. Again, this is not something you'd have to do at home. Besides, I'm not buying a dryer and I don't have that kind of free time! The real purpose was that so the hair would dry faster and Sarah could see how well the dry cutting went.

Part 7. Cutting again
After I was dry, or close enough, I went back to the cutting chair, and Sarah took out the pins and then examined the curls and waves that were now on my head. She did a few more snips, here and there, and then proclaimed me as finished. She told me not to touch the curls until they were fully dry, then I could squeeze them to "break the cast" or make them not so stiff from the gel.

So that all happened on Friday afternoon. Saturday, I woke up and looked at my hair. It looked similar to how it did when I went to bed, except that the cast had been broken by the weight of my head. I also had a lot of frizz, but I'd been forewarned about this and knew I could spray some water on it. I did that, in an attempt to revive the curls. It worked...for a while. It was still frizzy looking, and to me, it looked really messy. It takes time--not only for the person to get used to wearing their hair like this, but also for the hair to get the moisture back. It will get better--some take 2 weeks, some take 2 months.

Today is Sunday and the first day that I've fully styled it myself. Just some gel, no pins. Nice waves/curls. I don't know what you'd call them. The frizz is still here though.

I'm waiting for someone at work tomorrow to ask me if I got a perm, hahaha.