Curly Short Hair... WIN

Alright... I was going to do a Christmas hair and makeup thing cause it was the Holidays and why the hell not!? But yesterday... Yesterday I did it. I conquered the unknown of short curly hair. Am I going to be able to accomplish this look again and maybe with each time perfect it? Goodness I hope so because I am so excited that it worked. Want the secret?

First I washed my hair. I added a bit of Moroccan oil to the ends and combed it through. Then I used this Treseme curl enhancing gel and ran it through roots to ends, and did the same with Treseme curl enhancing mouse. I blow dried my hair until it was ALMOST dry. It still had some damp pieces in it which gave it a nice wave. I added a TEENY TINY bit more mouse in it. (If you add too much your hair will be crunchy) I let it air dry the rest of the way and then I brought out that new curling wand.

Now, I used to do this like 5 years ago when my hair was really long, I would just enhance random pieces of my hair with a curing iron or straightener because there's always those one pieces that are a bit frizzy or a bit flat. So that's exactly what I did. I look random pieces around my head, and curled them. It took me maybe 10 minutes max but that is pushing it. The trick is that you HAVE to use the natural texture your hair already has. Don't try to make a bigger curl, if your hair doesn't piece that way. Use the same size that your hair texture allows so some of them are small, some medium, some large. Does this make sense at all? Let me try to explain differently...

After you have diffused you hair, it already has some body and waves right? Well, pick up a wave. It should have a chunk of hair anywhere from a cm to an inch attached to it that is "waving" now CURL THAT! Do that with random pieces that look as though they need a little extra oomph all the way around your head. Here is my finished product...

Do you see this?! It worked!! The pictures don't do is justice. It looks sooo good. Even today after I woke up, it's still perfect without any touch ups. The last picture was at midnight. I had a table sit there and talk for two hours after we closed... so I was sitting around taking pictures of myself. But this is how it ended up. and I am so excited to keep this up! It looked so perfect and I got so many compliments.

XO-Stacey

Curly Short Hair... Fail 2.

Ugh, So I talked about purchasing a smaller conical wand for my hair... which I did. I thought what a wonderful idea! I didn't get the one I wanted for target was all out which is fine, I have used the Conair one before and it worked all the same. Little did I realize what a disaster this would turn into...

My mother has blessed and cursed me with gloriously thick hair. Do I enjoy my lush locks? Of course... but when sh*t like this occurs... i hate it and wish for thin hair like my sisters so that I could do things with it short.

Here is what I purchased...

Pretty basic, I've used a friends before, it works well, I have nothing bad to say about it.

Here is how I went about doing my hair.. I did not curl the underneath layer much, for the fact that I would like to keep some of the length on my hair instead of making it super shrink up. On the second layer, instead of curling in all the way up to the roots, I just did the ends. Gradually as I got closer to the top layer of my hair, I started curling more towards the roots to avoid the mushroom head/triangle head look... Let me tell you, this did not work. For all you thinner haired ladies, this will work out fine for you, I have no doubt. But us thick haired ladies... beware.

Here are front, side, and back pictures of how this turned out..

Is it horrific...? no... but I wouldn't want to go out into public like this. I think maybe it's the ends of the hair not being curled that gives me problems, or maybe I need to curl smaller sections, but I feel as though I curled some TEENY sections... Anybody have any suggestions... anyone?! Are you even out there listening/reading this, hoping I will find my way?
I like the curl... but it's the fluffy-ness of my hair... there is too much of it and I'm not sure how to fix the problem. Obviously more trial and error will have to occur with this. I mean, I am on Christmas break, it's not like I really have a whole lot to do but work at night, and sit around sleeping, playing video games, and eating all day. I might as well try to make my hair into different things.

Has anyone every tried rag curls with their thick short hair? I have plenty of muslin to make the strips, but I'm not sure if it would work. It doesn't hurt to try though. I've been researching videos and pictures, and tutorials and such on them, but I can't find one that I feel is good enough for me to test out.

Here I am, very unattractively posing, being grumpy that this hair turned out poopy, sitting in my bed painting my nails and pouting. Thank goodness my boyfriend was not here to see my hair... I can only imagine the things he would say to either, make sure I don't do my hair like that ever again, or to try to make me feel better. Case in point, the last time I tried to do my hair curly with the larger conical wand he said...."It kind of looks like Marilin Monroe hair".. So throughout the day I left it that way and was commented on it multiple times while I was at work, from coworkers telling me anything from my hair looks "exceptionally fluffy today"... to "Looks like you have sex hair".... Obviously, being one who prides myself of my hair, this made me feel extremely embarrassed.

For some reason, my insecurities have been multiplying ridiculously. Not to give you a sob story or anything, but in general I have your typical insecurities that all girls have. Mostly ones that I have either been made fun of for years, and years of therapy can never make that damage go away. (Example: Nose, It's been broken twice, looks fine from the front, but the side view has given me much hate, when middle schoolers of course ruined my self-image of my face for life) (Example 2: Weight, which makes absolutely ZERO since. I've always been extremely thin, mostly for the fact of a fast metabolism and my years of dancing. Though I loved dance, the body image issues that can stem from it are ridiculous) With my hair being all short, and my eyelashes not being so thick, and the holiday season where literally all we do is eat, it's really taking a toll on how I feel about myself. Generally, I am happy with how I look, and I am all around happy with my personality and the person I have become. But recently, I have just felt as though I'm not good enough, that I can easily be replaced, and it would be no big deal. Depression much? Maybe, but as women, don't we all have these days, weeks, or months of extreme insecurities brought upon by something random? Or maybe you don't and I am being obscene.

So here is a mantra I feel as though I should write across my vanity mirror to see every day, when I get ready," I am simple, yet complex. I am a beautiful young lady, and I accept myself for all the mistakes I have made. My mistakes have made me into the wonderful woman, I am, and I will continue to grow and better myself with each passing day. I will love fearlessly, and be open to love from others. I will not let others project negative views of myself, because I know who I am, and who I am meant to be."

I read that if you read a mantra to yourself, everyday for at least a month, you can tell a difference in how you react in different situations throughout life. I will be writing this out and posting it where I get ready for the day, and make myself read it and believe it, because I am a wonderful woman, and I deserve to believe in that.

Sorry for that extreme rant at the end, but I have a lot of crazy emotions coming out these past few days. Maybe it's from being cooped up in my house with puffy chip monk cheeks, or maybe I have been thinking like this for awhile, and I have finally come to terms with it.

I suggest you too make a mantra for yourself to read, and together, we can envision our beauty together.

Okay sappy time over...
XO-Stacey

Away...

Oh please please, don't hate me. I have been out of commission for a bit. I recently have just gotten my wisdom teeth out so I have legit not washed my hair in a good week. Gross? Yes. But whatever judge away. Today I did my hair, and instead of blow drying it, I let it air dry, and then I used my flat iron to curl bits of it. I personally feel as though I have "mom hair" today, but I think it's just the glasses and the sweater I was wearing. I think I might have to look more into ways of doing my hair with my flat iron...

For a flat iron, I have a pink Chi. I have had it for a few years. It isn't my favorite high-er-ish end straightener but it does good by my hair. I have been through a few Paul Mitchell's which I swear by, but after the 3rd recall they have back on them about 3-4 years ago, I figured it was time for a brand change. The next straightener I'm thinking I would invest in, once this one poops out on me, is probably a GHD. I heard tons of brilliant things on these. As we all know Christmas is approaching fairly soon, which obviously means I need to get my hair and makeup and outfit figured out for this lovely Christmas day.

I shopped around at target yesterday with my mom looking at curling irons, and I just can't decide which would be the best option for me. I am thinking the small pink remmington conical wand is what I will be going for, but I'm just not sure about it. I have the larger one, which I LOVE for my long hair... but this short hair, and that wand do not get along. My sister swears by the smaller one and her hair is the same length as mine. She's also not as "hair savvy" as I am, as I am the one who introduced her into purchasing a conical wand and showing her how to use them. It's on sale right now for about $21 so I feel as though it is a great deal, but what if it doesn't look good?! I can't remember for the life of me how I used to do my hair... I've been looking at tons of tutorials on youtube, and most have said to use a straightener and to NOT curl the bottom or you will compromise length a lot. So here is what I tried today... let me know what you think of this look?

Please don't tell me I look like your typical "mom" bleh.

I realize this isn't exactly the most attractive photo and my cheekies are a bit swollen, but I just cant decide if I like this or not??

XO -Stacey

Ps. DEFINITELY a tutorial of some sort for my Christmas look, probably OOTD pics along with Makeup of the day.... but first, on my break tomorrow at work, I have to go purchase that conical wand.. ARGH.

Short Hair Fail and some texture knowlege

Wahhh ): So this morning I tried to make my hair super cute but I didn't really put two and two together when it came to my curling wand. I wanted to make my textured wavy-ish hair from last night more defined... but I ran into a couple problems.

Problem One: For some reason when I woke up this morning my hair was almost completely straight...? what?! I haven't had relatively straight hair since I was in elementary school. Maybe it was how I slept with it along with my constant need to touch my hair that flattened it out, or maybe my hair texture has changed.  For those of you that don't know, hormones change your hair texture throughout life. Science shows that it changes every 5 to 7 years. For example, when I was a baby through elementary school, I had thick straight hair. Once I was in 5th grade (the beginning of the dreaded puberty) my hair began to get curly, and by the time I was in 8th grade and finally having periods, my hair was flat out CURLY. It's been 8 years since then, so I'm sure a changing hair texture is probably very common at this point in my life, but I'd like to know what hormones randomly decided to change it?

What I have read mostly is that the three major changes in hair occur when at least one of these three hormones change. Thyroxine, Insulin, and Androgen. I'm not sure why, but any fluctuation can change your hair. This usually means, puberty, pregnancy, and menopause are the main times peoples hair change... but I'm not at any of those stages... and I wonder why now? 

If any of you couldn't answer me this, I would love to read your thoughts.

Now on for my hair... So I attempt to curl it right? I didn't even think twice about using a mixture of flat iron, and 1 and 1/2'' curling wand... obviously this isn't going to turn out very well is it. A curling wand THAT big will just make my already thick hair, larger. Which turned out terribly might I ad.

I'm thinking in my future I will need to get a teeny tiny curling wand to make everything look perfect.

The first picture is what my hair looked like when I woke up... and the second is well... the hair fail...

Maybe something better will come of the next few days?

XO-Stacey

The Wash and Dry

Alright, so I said I would attempt to go through some hair tutorials with ya'll with this new short hair of mine. Tonight, I have washed my hair normally and then instead of letting it air dry, I used a blow dryer. I know what you're thinking...."NOT A BLOW DRYER! THERE'S TOO MUCH HEAT!" Not to worry. I alternated between cool, and medium heat that way it would a) go faster and b) wouldn't damage my hair as much. Now before you see this, know that the ONLY thing that I put into my hair was a bit of coconut oil and Moroccan oil on the ends of my hair. That's IT. Now, I'm not saying I enjoy how my hair looks right now, but it makes me excited to try out some new products. Now before you see this hair of mine, the texture of it is out of this world. I'm thinking maybe if I just get a curl enhancing mouse or something of that nature, that it will define this mess of texture and make it look a little less wild.

I did this to my hair tonight.. or well... I guess SUPER early this morning (it's 12:15am) so that way tomorrow I could maybe use a curling iron to define my hair more, or maybe just do something completely different who knows! But I definitely didn't want to use a bunch of heat on it all at once since it's been flat ironed already. I'm trying to make this process of hair growth a nice, healthy one.

On that note, here is a picture of my hair wet... notice the defined waves are super great... and then the next picture is of my hair dry and it's wild texture.

Not too shabby eh?
I realize that this 100% doesn't help you with any form of "how to" because I legit did nothing. But maybe if we have the sameish hair texture, or you were in my damaged hair predicament too, then we could go through the journey together to make it less scary? ... or you know... not at all.

Tomorrow comes with hopefully a super cute hair style.
FINGERS CROSSED!

XO-Stacey

Short Hair

I did it. I now have short hair. Is it weird? YES. Do I have any idea what I am going to do with it? NO. But it feels so freaking great. It's a bit shorter than I had wanted but I think I like it. It will take a bit to get used to. But now this means the growing process can be a wonderful one. Hannah, my hairstylist said to me, "Now don't you put anything on this hair unless I tell you it's okay or unless I do it for you!" Yes ma'am!! I do not want another catastrophe

The only unfortunate part is that my boyfriends hates it. He's actually pretty mad that I cut my hair. Legit, he won't talk to me right now. My thoughts to that is screw him. Don't go off thinking he's a bad guy or anything cause he's super precious, but this is one thing that neither of us would back down on.

I'm not going to apologize for wanting to make my hair look good and be in good condition. There are two things I pride myself on, and that is my eyelashes and my hair. But recently my hair hasn't been on that list and that's changing starting now. I cut my hair for me, and no one else. Healthy, delicious looking hair, means a healthy happy me. And if you can't get over that fact, then either zip your lips and be happy with the other parts of me, or walk on out the door.

I know, I know...  all you want right now is to see it! I'll give you a before and an after. Tell me what you think about it? If you love it, hate it, want it, can't wait to see what my grown out hair will look like, excitement for tutorials etc.

BEFORE... Notice how the ends don't curl because of all of the damage... ): wahhhh

And AFTER! Look how much prettier my hair looks.. We'll have to wait and see what it looks like naturally. That will be my next quest. I'm trying to decide when I'll wash it next. My plan is usually falls on Wednesday's and Sunday's but my hair doesn't exactly look like it needs it. Also, notice the color difference from the top and bottom still? There's still some more blonde in there that needs to be cut out but we didn't want to go shorter.

Lovely! Can't wait to style this bad boy on my own. My pony tail is so baby, I'm not sure what to do with it!! Ahh!!! Get ready for some hair fails, and some hair loves?

XO-Stacey

The BIG day

Alright friendies, I have made the appointment to cut off my hair. I am devastated, yet excited for the tame lion mane I will acquire.  I will miss my hair dearly, but this means, I can easily track my hair growth much better starting tomorrow.

Starting the 12th of each month, I will have my boyfriend measure the length of my hair. After a few months, we should be able to determine if my hair grows at an average rate of 1/2" per month, a slower rate, or a faster rate. I think that will be in general interesting for me to look at, as well as maybe giving you guys along the way something to think about if you're planning on growing your hair out or cutting it off.

My plan with my hair stylist is going to be this... Hey Hannah, here is the shortest my longest layer can be. (at the collar bone I'm thinking, that way I don't have to go through that super awkward stage of growth) The rest she can do whatever she would like. I'm seriously so whatever about my hair it is ridiculous. Basically my moto is 'hair is hair' if something goes wrong with it, it can be cut, colored, striped, and whatever else until you eventually like it. Sometimes you just have to suck it up and let it grow back out. Which is what I plan to do. Suck it up, cut it, and endure the consequences of a perm gone wrong.

I think with my shorter hair, will come some step-by-step picture tutorials about how to style, or attempt to style this hair length. It might come with some hair fails, which I will be happy to share as well, but I know there will definitely be some trial an errors with hair here. It's been awhile since I've had shorter hair, but even then I straightened the crap out of it, and I do not want my hair to go through that kind of damage again.

I will have some first thoughts posted up here tomorrow, along with before and after pictures. Can't wait to have my hair in good condition!!

Goodbye Lovely Locks!!

One year from tomorrow, I give myself challenge of getting my hair back to this gem above. (2009)

XO-Stacey

Short hair vs. Long hair.

As women, we all have that moment in life where you have to make a large decision in life. It's not about marriage, relationships, families, jobs, or handbags....  It's about our hair. Now we all wish to have luscious hair. As for me, I want long luscious Ariel from The Little Mermaid hair. Too specific? Nah. Awhile back I had talked to you all about my hair issues that happened a few months back. I haven't been noticing much of a difference in my hair recently. And even today once I actually did my hair it is just looking not very attractive. The ends of my hair won't curl very well because of all the damage. So the question here do I cut off all the dead and basically start over growing it out? Or do I constantly get trims until all the dead is gone. And which one will make it easier/faster to grow my hair back out in the long run. Here is some hair inspiration that I was considering...

 

And so after I just had all of those hair inspirations, I want to know what I should chose? What I should do. My boyfriend loves long hair and hates short hair. But I need to have that healthy hair and eventually it can get long again. 

Here is my hair now,  vs. a foe bob. 

I actually like them both.... And I'd much rather have long hair... but if it will make my hair healthier then overall I think I will look better and healthier.

XO - Stacey

Fashion Show Hair and Such

Two posts right in a row... oh lord who am I??  Don't get your panties in a bunch, we all know it will seem like years until I post on here again. fail.

For those of you know don't know, I am a college student going for fashion merchandising. For my final project I had to put on a fashion show. I was super impressed with all the hair so I figured I would put up some hair-spiration. (hair inspiration... duh) Along with showing some of the garments worn. Almost finished with the semester, so all my final projects are coming to an end... thank goodness.

Here is some of the hair... So perfect... If only we could wear our hair like this on a regular basis and not be judged...

 

How Wonderful!!!

Now for some pictures of the models and such. 

It was seriously so wonderful. I couldn't thank these girls, or the hair/makeup artists enough for helping put on a great show. We've been working all semester on getting everything ready, and Tonight it finally came together. Made in the Midwest, An Independent Fashion Preview was a great success!

Hopefully some of this inspires you to do some crazy hairstyles. What do you guys think about wearing these hairstyles out and about for a day? 

XO - Stacey

Fishtail bun

I know, I know... I said I was going to hair blog more often but I have failed.
 But just so you know it's.... TUTORIAL TIME! My very first tutorial ever.... and hopefully you will like it. I don't even think you are listening but that's besides the point. I was inspired by a picture on pinterest and decided to take a jab at it. So here is a twist on a typical side bun...

Step 1: Sweep all hair to one side. ( I always sweep to right cause my "fringe" is on that side)

Step 2: Split hair into two sections like so.

Step 3: Take a strand from the back of one section.....

Step 4: Bring that strand over to the middle of the opposite section. Do the same thing with the second section.

Step 5: Keep doing the tasks above until you get to the bottom. You now have a fish tail braid! YAY! You can always stop here... but I chose to keep it going.

Step 6: Take the ends of your hair, and roll in up. (kind of like a snail shell..??) Use bobby pins to secure your side bun.

And you're done!! Feel free to tease, add accessories, whatever you please!!

I hope this was helpful, or at least had clear directions. Try it out, and let me know how it works!!

XO - Stacey