My Hair Isn't Long and Gray Anymore! The Magical Power of Facing Your Fears. Plus, A Hair Product, Nail Polish and Lipstick Review!

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Well....

I've gone and done it! Yes I have! I absolutely can not believe it but I finally went and had my first real haircut since this whole gray hair adventure began back in AUGUST OF 2011. I've had tiny trims along the way, and then a normal sized trim last year, but never a true haircut.

(This is the longest my hair has been since I stopped coloring. This picture was taken in March of 2014. I stopped dying my hair in June of 2011, so it took just over three years to go from gray roots to a pixie cut in August 2011 to this length. )

I'm still a little shocked that I let go of my attachment to the (self-imposed) thought that I personally HAD to have LONG gray hair to look and feel pretty and to not age myself even more. But when I truly think about it, taking the leap to cut my hair and to not "hide" behind the false security of long hair equalling youthfulness, it's the same thing as when I said: "Oh forget it!" and stopped coloring my hair!

Ok, so going gray is probably a little more scary to most than cutting one's hair, but still, I was able to push past one of my limiting beliefs last week when I once again realized that IT'S ONLY HAIR AND IT'S OK! 

Would I rather have long, luxurious flowing locks? SURE! Absolutely. I know though, that my hair only looked like the picture above one time, and that was for the twenty minutes after I had left the salon and gotten home to take a photo. Then the curls slowly fell out and through the day my hair began to puff up and frizz. 

Soon my old ends were yellowing and no amount of purple shampoo or clarifying shampoo could get the brassiness out and that's not even thinking about the split ends. Nothing short of a trim could truly remedy things.

Even with trims, as soon as March would creep in with rain, I'd be putting my unruly hair back in a ponytail as ten drops of water would make it go PUFF! And then as the temperatures (and humidity) would rise, I'd find myself with little options but the ponytail, straight through to August and even September. 

I love styling my hair. I love curlers and rollers and hair products and braids and barrettes, but this alone was not enough to make my long, prone to frizz and BADLY overdue for a cut hair worth the battle.

And so, it popped into my head last month that maybe....just maybe.... I should have my hair cut into a bob for the summer. Something to get the old, old, yellowed and split ends off. Something that would be cooler in the summer heat, something that took less time to coax into a "look." A cut that was polished, something that I've almost never had and kind of wanted!

I found a haircut on the internet, a picture of Christina Hendricks from Mad Men in a long, tousled bob and I thought: "Wow! She makes that length look fun and interesting." I know I'd never look like Christina or Christina's hair for that matter, (I AM practical sometimes) but it gave me some haircut courage.

For the next week, I went back and forth, back and forth, trying to decide if I should cut my hair or not. I just couldn't make up my mind. One day I'd think I'm going to do this! And then the next day, I'd be completely resolved to keep my hair! 

That was until...and I'm sort of embarrassed to admit this, I saw a video on Buzzfeed. It was called "Powerful Hair Makeovers That Transform People's Lives." You can watch it below. It wasn't so much that I saw one of these makeovers and was inspired to copy their look, it's that I was reminded that we as human beings find comfort and safety in what we know. You're not going to know at the beginning that you with gray hair will be TOTALLY fine in the end. And I didn't realize at first that it didn't matter if I cut my hair shorter, that I'd look FINE and if I didn't like it, it would grow back. What I failed to remember is that sometimes jumping out of our box and into the new unknown can be so incredibly rewarding! So I watched the video and then went to have my hair cut the next day.

The reason that I haven't posted photos yet, is because I'm still learning how to make this haircut look good and the look changes everyday depending on how I blow-dry and style it. I've been waiting until I've got things just right, but now I've come to think that this is a learning process and there's no use hiding away until I find my look.

So here it is, my new haircut. :)

I like it. I miss my long hair, but I truly like it. What I love the most is that I challenged my belief that I wouldn't be pretty or feminine without long hair, just like I challenged my belief that I wouldn't be ok without dying my grays. 

Remember this my newbie Silver Sisters, and I'll keep reminding myself too. 

And see, it does look different everyday. This was straight from the salon. Playing with my new haircut is fun! (I have not tried the 'Christina' look yet, but will soon)!

So when all has been said and done, I can say that I was super scared, but I've been left with softer, more manageable, less yellow-y-ended hair. It's soooo much nicer in the heat and I feel a bit more grown up, a little more polished. I'm so glad that I took the leap. \(^-^)/ 

And that my friends is the hair scoop!

I have three new hair and beauty products to tell you about. None of these products are sponsored, I just came across them since last blogging and SWOON!!!!

The first one is Paul Mitchell Super Clean Flexible Style Finishing Spray . I learned about this hair spray/ finishing spray from my hair stylist Lydia. I asked her to recommend a product that I could use to give my hair volume and hold and that would deal with flyways. She said that her favorite hands-down was this Paul Mitchell spray because it never builds up. You can use it days in a row and your hair never gets hard or sticky. This is REALLY GOOD for us white-hair gals because it seems like that might mean there is less product to turn yellow.

So far I've used it everyday. I live how this finishing spray holds down most of my sticky-uppy hairs and it helps to keep my hair curled and styled in the "shape"that I want it to be in. I've never ever been one to use hair spray regularly and I still am tiny bit wary because it's not "natural", but I have to say, even if I only use it on special days, this finishing spray has been a game changer for me!

The nest two items that I want to tell you about were inspired by my on-going fondness for the Mad Men series and the mini-shopping spree for them was probably spurred by my sorrow over the show ending this week. (Hold on, I need to go sob).

This is the truth, honestly, other than maybe The Curse of Oak Island on the History Channel, there have been about zero television programs that I have followed and watched regularly in about a decade. I like watching shows here and there on Netflix and Hulu, but I'm not a big television person except for Mad Men. There would be seasons when the adulterous antics of Don Draper or the cold cruelty of Betty would just make me angry, but I kept coming back, time and time again on Sunday nights, to see the sets and the costumes and to imagine that I knew more of a time back then. 1960 -1970. Which, I've never lived in, so I know only what I do through books and movies and Nick at Night reruns. 

I liked Betty's nails and her lipstick colors. They remind me of colors that I imagine my Grandmother or  Jon's Bubby wore in the 50's. Coral colored nails, THAT'S what I want!

My Grandma gives me her old copies of  Good House Keeping Magazine after she reads them. (Isn't that cute)? Just the other day I received one, and  Sally Hansen Miracle Gel nail polish was written up in it as one of 2015's best, new beauty products. They said it was similar to a gel manicure, minus the UV light. You're left with a longer lasting, chip-resistant manicure.

Recently I've gotten into painting my nails for some reason. So when I saw this, I was intrigued and thought it was worth a shot. I chose Sally Hansen Miracle Gel in Malibu Peach because I thought it looked closest to that coral color I wanted to find! 

Now, just ignore my totally poor manicure skills. The cuticles, the unevenness.... the color is the point to pay attention to. So, two coats went on and it's pretty opaque, but not 100% and I didn't quite get that, but I still really liked the quirky color, but NOW I GET IT.......

DOH! No WONDER the display said TWO STEP and showed a picture of a nail polish bottle AND a black bottle....... You need to also purchase the Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Top Coat !!! I guess I totally missed step #2 in a two-part process!!! While I did use my own top coat, now I'm seeing online that the special gel top coat must make the color look shiny like a gel manicure. So, I'm going to have to try that soon, now don't I? Lol. I feel silly, but at least I'm rocking fairly opaque peach nails. Ha!

And finally, I know.... I know I am obsessed with these Burt's Bees Lip Crayon's. I have four now, but they are the BEST natural, drugstore bought lipsticks that I have found, and in fact, eco or not, department store or drugstore, they're some of my favorite lipsticks that I own! So, in the past I've talked about these lip crayons in the perfectly pink nude, "Sedona Sands" , the pale, icy pink, "Carolina Coast" and the bright, rosy color "Hawaiian Smolder." Now I have a Burt's Bees Lip Crayon in Niagara Overlook, probably my most favorite color of all!!!! \(^-^)/ Here is how I would describe it....it looks a little less pink than these pictures that I see here. (Sorry, I tried). Niagara Overlook is closest to my Hawaiian Smolder, but less pinky, more red. It's not completely opaque, but also not sheer. Niagara Overlook is soft, not over-powering. Think of a rose lipstick with a hint of red and a bit of shine. I love it!!! :)

Oh my gosh, Phew! And that's that! Now I have to run, it's time for bed and my fingers have been pecking away at this keyboard all night! :)

Until next time, know that I believe in your so much, and that gray hair or new haircut or anything else for that matter, whatever you set your mind to, YOU CAN TRULY DO IT!

 \(^-^)/

xoxoxoxoxo,

Lauren