hair and beads

Not together. Well not technically. What I mean to say is, I don't have beads in my hair. And I don't have beads made of hair. Just so we're perfectly clear.

Warning: There are several pictures of myself on this page. I apologize for the self-centered-ness of these images.

Item 1 on the agenda: Hair.

Hair is a fickle thing. It comes in many shapes, colors, thicknesses and textures. It can make or break an outfit/look.

Sometimes I think mine has a mind of its own. I also like to think that my hair is evidence of my heritage. I have a lot of it (mom) but its texture is relatively fine (dad). It's kind of a medium brown (mixed) but has some blondish natural highlights (dad). It's kinda wavy on the top (dad) but the bottom layers, near the nape of my neck won't hold a curl more than 5 mins (mom). Ok, if I use a whole can liberal amounts of hair spray, the curls will hold through the evening.

No matter where I go, the first thing the hairdresser tells me (in either Chinese or English) is "Wow, you have a lot of hair." I reply with a laugh "Yes, I know," but in the back of my mind I'm thinking "Really? Who do you think washes it every day? Is this supposed to be news to me?" But to say that out loud would be borderline rude and make things awkward. Not to mention I don't want my hairdresser to harbor ill will towards me as she/he brandishes scissors and has total control over my hair.

My hair the last time it was cut. Right
around graduation

Any way. Moving onward. The reason I am bringing up my hair is because I haven't cut it in ages. And when I say ages, I mean it's almost been a year since my follicles have seen a clipper. Sad, and grungy, I know. So I thought it was about time. The last time I got it cut, it was this cute just past shoulder length do and was just perfect for the onset of graduation and summer.

Before hair cut.

Since then I've pretty much been growing out my bangs and not doing anything spectacular with my hair. So when I made a hair appointment for last Friday, I had somewhat low expectations because pretty much anything would be an improvement.

When I went in, my requirements to this cut were:
1) Must be able to pull into a ponytail. I would go insane if I couldn't get my hair out of my face when I wanted to. Or had to use a million and four bobby pins when I played sports.
2.) Low Maintenance. I'm the kind of girl who only pulls out the hairdryer when I want to curl my hair. Hooray for air drying!

The first thing my new hairdresser suggested after talking was a sort of longish bob. Not the most appealing to me. My hair length is kind of like a security blanket. So she suggested a compromise. A bob-ish look but keeping the length and having lots of layers. And she was going to do some major cutting in the back to give my hair volume and take out weight. Which she could do with no problem because I have a wealth of hair (Thank you Jesus).

New haircut. After I've washed and
air dried it myself.

So. What do you think? Impressions?

It's definitely different than anything I've had before. I like it. And it allows me to see what a bob-ish cut would look like on me when I just tie up the longer lengths. It's also a lot lighter. I have heavy hair so cutting some underneath the top layers really lightens the load. And now, my ponytail doesn't offer a force of momentum when I change directions. I am kind of still adjusting to it, so sometimes I think it looks like a glorified mullet, but I try not to think about that. The first time my mom saw it on Skype, she asked me "Why is your hair so poofy?" This was evidence realized of my fear of a short haircut making me resemble a Q-tip. Oh well. I guess it's not too poofy for the most part. Plus she said this cut "grows out very gracefully," so to me, that just means I can go for a while without another cut. Hooray!

Grey and white crystals

Item 2 on the agenda: Beads.

I went to the salon right after work, so I was still in my work attire. That day, I happened to be wearing two crystal string necklaces tied in a knot. The second I get my jacket off, my hairdresser latches on to them. Complimenting and gushing over them. Once she found out I made them, she was uber ecstatic. She asked to try mine on and said things like "Oooh, next time you come you have to bring a couple of these; I'm serious!" and "Different colors?! I would have to get a couple!" and "If you sell them at all." We talked about them a little more, discussing all the possibilities of how you could wear them or what you could wear them with because they would compliment almost any outfit.

Which got me thinking. Why not? I could totally make more, but I wanted to get a feel for whether or not people would buy them. What do you think? Would you buy this? They would probably cost around $20-$25/strand because of the high volume of crystals.

Any good/bad experiences with haircuts? Anxieties? Joys?
Would you buy some deliciously sparkly crystals to go with a new do? Or a tried and true do?