Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Hair today, gone tomorrow

My mother has been my hairdresser for my entire life.  Seriously.  I have never had anyone else cut my hair, ever.  I have never even set foot in a "salon."  Wait, I take that back.  When my best friend got married, I was in the wedding, and all of the bridesmaids met at a salon and we got "up-do's" (that was in 2004, and I really was scrawny back then).  But aside from that, I have never been in a salon. The whole idea of a beauty salon freaks the hell out of me.  I am pretty low maintenance when it comes to my appearance.  I feel like it is better not to make an effort rather than attempt to make an effort and fail.  I am probably the only 32-year old woman in the developed world who had never been in a beauty salon (okay, aside from that once).  I don't understand how it works.  I don't understand the tipping process.  How much do you tip? Do you hand it to the hairdresser or do you add it to your credit card bill (like when you're paying at a restaurant)?  The whole idea of going to a salon is terrifying and overwhelming.

But now my mother and I live in separate states. True, we have lived in separate countries on more than one occasion but each of those experiences was only one year in length.  During these occasions, I cut my own hair when necessary.  This St. Louis thing seems more permanent though (for better or for worse).  I feel like it might be time to explore the option of having someone other than my mother or myself cut my hair.

I've extensively consulted my coworkers and the graduate students, and I've discovered that there is this hairdresser up on The Loop that about half of the department goes to.  Apparently, he is some kind of hair genius.   He can make straight hair curly, curly hair straight, etc.  One of his customers even referred to him as a "hair therapist."  I don't know exactly what that means, but it's a good thing, right?

I made an appointment with him, and I'm going tomorrow.  At this point, I have not had my hair cut (by my mother) in over 8 months and it is a total disaster of frizz and ringlets and split ends so sharp they hurt to touch.  In fact, my hair has become such an affliction that I feel like I might need a doctor instead of a hairdresser.  This guy on The Loop is going to have his work cut out for him, that's all I can say.

If the results are decent, I'll post pictures soon.

Thanks for reading.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

JUST TELL HIM "I"LL BE WATCHING"! seriously IT WILL BE FAHN< and KEEP TELLING YOURSELF < it will GROW AGAIN!!>:) now don't you feel BETTER>?????? SPLIT ENDS THAT HURT< YIKES< so sorry!!!You have been MY FAVORITE CUSTOMER of all!!your hair is incredible,and sooo easy to work with!! Can't wait to see the RESULTS of an "OUTSIDE" PROFESSIONAL> IN THE BIG WORLD!!!!! LUV UUUUUUUUUUU, mama

Alena said...

Melissa,

This is going to be fun! I love the feeling of freedom after getting a haircut (I feel like a snake who just shed her skin). Every time I go to a salon though I keep reminding myself of my friend's saying - hair is not teeth, it'll grow back (just in case I won't love my new look). :)



I hope to see some pictures tomorrow. :)

amypfan said...

For what it's worth, aside from the aforementioned "getting our hair done for the wedding" incident, my idea of going to a "salon" is to hit up the local Great Clips. Low-maintainance is good.