New Hairstyle, New Me?

Earlier this week, I dove head first into the DevaCurl way of life with a Deva cut by Ange D. at Tease Salon in Knoxville. She was awesome! Last week, she spent about 30 minutes with me going over what the DevaCurl cut was and what I was wanting out of the cut. Then on Tuesday after work, I headed to the salon where Ange spent time cutting my hair, and treating it to a deep DevaCurl conditioning treatment. My hair feels so light and so healthy! I’m still trying to figure out how to best use the DevaCurl products to achieve the DevaCurl I see in photos of women who have gotten a Deva cut. Their curls are so well-defined and frizz-less… it will just take some time and practice, I guess. But I cannot say enough good things about Ange. Her personality is awesome and she took the time to explain the cut and styling products to me, and which products would help me achieve beautiful Deva curls. Two thumbs up to Ange!

Just last summer, I went to a “stylist” (a term I use loosely with this young lady) to have caramel highlights and a trim. She put highlights down both sides and down the center of my head. I think that while my hair was processing, she got distracted and left the foils on too long. I ended up with a blonde skunk streak down the middle of my hair. I smiled, paid, and left the salon unhappy and $75 poorer. Everyone I told about this experience asked me why I paid for such a bungled mess. Honestly, I was too devastated to say or do anything at that time. I just wanted out of that salon. I ended up going to Sally Beauty Supply and purchasing some brown hair color and dying the top of my hair myself. Crisis averted, but I never went back to that salon again.

Over the years, I’ve had bangs, perms, and layers.  Right now I have long naturally curly hair that if straightened, it would probably come to my waist. Instead, my curls kink up to just below my shoulder blades. I love my long hair, but if you look at me now and look at me 13-15 years ago, you’d swear I hadn’t changed one bit. Except I have. I now have grey hairs peeking through where I part my hair, and my three wonderful nieces never let me forget that they’re showing! When they get their first grey hair, I’ll be there to point it out!

I color my hair, when I think about or when those pesky grey hairs begin to bother me. I’ve colored it strawberry blonde… it looked good. But it’s hard to maintain a great red hair color since you have to color it so often or it will look odd after a few weeks. I’ve colored it blonde… it came out brown. I’ve colored it a dark chocolate brown… it came out almost black and I looked like Edward Cullen had sucked the blood right out of my body! So now I’m back to basic brown. I use a light medium blonde to achieve a natural looking brown, which covers 75% of the grays. I’ve only had it professionally colored a handful of times. The majority of the time, I do it myself. It’s time-consuming, but as L’oreal says, “I’m worth it!”

I was in third grade when I cut my hair off the first time. It was down past my waist and my mom would braid it into two ponytails on either side of my head. I wore homemade crocheted ribbons attached to said braids, but I cut it all off in a Dorothy Hamill (circa 1976) hairstyle.

Up until that point, my hair was basically straight. I had a bit of wave, but it wasn’t until that haircut that my hair decided, “hey, let’s go crazy curly!”

I cut my hair again in seventh grade. This time I opted for a jaw-length bob (with bangs, of course), and a rat-tail. YES – I HAD A RAT-TAIL! So did my brother! I don’t know what made me get a rat-tail, but eventually my hair grew out and my rat-tail became less noticeable.

The years following that fateful haircut, I fought with all my strength to tame my monstrous head of cowlicks! I got perms and I used straighteners. I even used “Dark & Lovely Difficult to Straighten” hair relaxer – twice! Nothing worked. After that, I just let it grow. I stopped getting perms and stopped straightening it. Instead I used curling irons and hot rollers to try to tame my curls. Eventually I stopped that too. My tools became a hair dryer and a diffuser.

My freshman year in college, everyone had big bangs. Except me, of course. But then I let my friend, Andrea, cut me some bangs and show me how to style them. Needless to say, I had to go out and buy a curling iron.

Then along came Dick* (yes, the name has been changed). We dated in college. I had long, thick curly hair back then. He wanted to see what it looked like all one length. So that summer, I went to the Hair Castle at the local mall and got it cut. Actually I shouldn’t say I got it cut. I should say I got half of it cut! She spritzed it with water and cut, spritzed it with some more water and cut again. Forty-five minutes later, it looked like she did a decent job. I ‘d never had my hair dry-cut before, so I figured that was how it was supposed to look.

It was only later, after I went to my brother and sister-in-law’s townhouse and took a shower, that I realize the girl only cut half of my hair! I panicked and started cutting the left side of my hair myself. I only made it worse. I heard their next door neighbor’s car pull up outside and I ran down the stairs (yes, with a pair of scissors), out the door, and asked the neighbor-lady to “please cut my hair even.” I know I must have looked like a deranged psycho running towards her with scissors in hand, looking like Edward Scissorhands had butchered my hair, but I needed help and I needed it then!

Luckily, my sister-in-law pulled up a few minutes later and sweetly talked me off the ledge, took me inside and trimmed my hair until it was as even as she could get it. From that point forward, lucky was the hairdresser/stylist who had been selected to cut my hair.

That next Spring semester, Dick wanted me to get bangs. He even went to the salon with me to tell them exactly how he wanted my hair cut. I know what you’re thinking. “Girl, you are a FOOL!” Yes, I agree! And when we broke up on April 6th of that year, I realized that our entire relationship was one big joke because he had asked me to be his girlfriend on April 1st of the previous year. I really was an “April Fool!”

About two months after we broke up, I walked into a salon and flipped through a hairstyle book while I waited for the hair stylist to call me back. When he sat me down in his chair, he said, “What are we going to do today?”

I flipped open the book and pointed to the picture.

“Are you sure? That’s going to be a big change.”

“For the past year, I’ve been getting my hair cut for a guy. I’m ready to start over, for me. I’m ready to wash that man right out of my hair!”

An hour later, I walked out of the salon. My hair was short… really short. I had an inverted bob before Posh made it popular, but her hair is straight and my hair is curly, so I basically look like I had a mushroom on my shoulders. It was practically shaved in the back and the longest part of my hair hit just below my ears. It was then that I started growing my hair out for me!

I’ve had my hair cut dozens and dozens of times since that frightful haircut. It was a game-changer. Yes, I get my hair trimmed every now and again, but I haven’t gone short again, and probably never will!

I paid a high price for a Ouidad haircut, and discovered the “rake and shake method.” I have since fully embraced my curly locks (grey hairs included)! I don’t always use the “rake and shake method”, but it’s a good technique to have in my back pocket in case I want to have more defined curls.

In the July 1985 issue of Vogue, Hubert de Givenchy said it best: “Hair style is the final tip-off whether or not a woman really knows herself.”‘

I know myself… I’m a curly girl. I never straighten my hair, although hairstylists love the challenge of trying to straighten my hair, but I politely decline and say, “I’m a curly girl!” My curls are ME. You wouldn’t recognize me with straight hair. My hair is big, or at least it feels big to me. I have found a good routine that works for me, and even though I like to try out new hair products, I basically stick to the same two or three items: Infusium 23 leave-in conditioner (which I’ve used for probably more than 15 years), Smooth ‘N Shine Polishing Curling Mousse, SheaMoisture Coconut & Hibiscus curl enhancing smoothie (occasionally), and Marrakesh Oil Therapy (because it smells awesome). But now I’m excited to try out some of the DevaCurl products!

Does any woman really know herself? Some women change hairstyles and hair colors more often than they change their clothes! As for me, I know myself. I’m a strong, independent woman with a loving husband who fell in love with me because of my wild and crazy curls! So be gone from my bonnet, you buzzing little bee, ’cause these long curls are here to stay!

What do you think? Do you have those moments where you want a new look and think, “New hair, new me”? If so, I’d love to hear your hair-raising stories! Just leave your comments below!

Yours Truly,
Vanessa