I was born a curly-haired girl in a land of high humidity.
And thus began the long and windy odyssey of...my hair. Short, long, curly, straightened, au natural, or tamed with product. My hair has always been a constantly evolving work-in-progress. Unlike most women (like Mommy) who have had the same hairdo for most of their lives, I've never had the same haircut twice. I believe that this is partly due to the creativity of my hairdresser for the last 15 years, Jesse, but also to the fact that can never decide what I want to look like. And I'm never satisfied. Sigh...
Here, thanks do the diligent use of my scanner, is a pictorial essay I will call...
The Hair of Me
In the beginning, there was blonde...
And bangs.
Cute, but short-lived.
Followed by the bangless awkward period...
Eventually, I convinced Mama to take me to an actual hairdresser, instead of cutting it herself, and the Farrah-inspired-hot-roller period evolved...
Notice that, despite the AquaNet and hot rollers, the humidity-induced frizz still abounds.
In college, my style devolved into a hippie-dippie-drama-girl-disco-be-damned look...
SOOOO dramatic. And stylefree.
It's at this point that you might start noticing the other hair on my head that has a mind of it's own...the eyebrows - crazy, man.
When I left college and started acting/modelling professionally, I made an attempt to do a little something with the hair, but unfortunately, there was still the frizz...
...and the eyebrows. Jimmy calls this my Vampire Look.
[NOTE ABOUT THE HEADSHOT - The one big perk for parents of actors is that they regularly get attractive, professional photographs taken. My mother had all of my headshots framed and arranged on a bookshelf. I called it The Shrine. Creepy. For actors, the headshot is a nightmarish experience, neatly drawing together all of the actors greatest insecurities - looks, talent, marketability - and defining them in one single 8 X 10 glossy. It's ridiculously important to get a great headshot, and a tremendous amount of cash is invested. A good headshot is supposed to look like you, but not too much like you. Like you at your very best. An uber you. In theory.
Some of the following pictures were quite good. Others were MOST unfortunate. You can be the judge.]
Finally, in the mid-eighties, my life was saved by the invention of...PRODUCT! Thus spawning a lifelong obsession - mousse, gel, hairspray, straightening gel, curling gel, styling cream - I have drawers filled to the brim with a variety of tubes and jars. I've spent years blending and tweaking to achieve the perfect product cocktail.
Here was a combination of mousse and a diffuser and some ridiculous '80s attitude...
Alas, still frizz. And thankfully, the Ray Bans cover the eyebrows.
At long last, I moved to Los Angeles and removed my hair from the grip of the dreaded humidity. It was at this point that the hair began...to grow.
Big...
Bigger...
Biggest...
This is what I think of as my Seinfeld Hair Period.
Oh dear God, was that a lot of hair.
And then, of course, the hair began to shrink, both on top of my head and my eyebrows...
Until I went too far...
Boy Short. It seemed like such a bold and sassy move. I HATED IT! For one thing, I had to get it cut CONSTANTLY. Drove me nuts. Also, you have to remember that my hair is curly, so in order for it to look cute, I had to blow it straight. So forget the idea of an easy short style. This was majorly labor intensive. And if I didn't blow it out, it did this doofy poofy thing. Sad. And just as soon as I got the new headshots...I grew it out.
Next stop? The Rachel. Naturally.
...which involved wrapping my hair around ginormous Velcro rollers, and massive amounts of products. I used so much Kiehl's Creme with Silk Groom that I think I may have put the Kiehl's children through college.
I went through a brief retro/Elizabeth Taylor thing...
Until the eventual invention of the flat iron. Which I NEVER got the hang of. Evidenced by this horror...
That's me with Jude and Cousin Steve, and looking slightly insane. What the hell was that look? It looks...dirty and...flat and...my only defense is that I must have been extremely sleep deprived with the new baby and all, and I guess I misjudged the amount of product I needed and just wielded that flat iron like a mad woman.
The flat iron didn't last long (duh!) but that evolved into the blow out...
I blew my damned hair out EVERY DAY for years. Until finally, I wised up (or should I say...gave up) and just went curly...
So there you have it. The evolution from short and curly to...short and curly. Sigh.
So much work, so little progress.
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You MUST visit our other spinners this week! There is a wealth of AMAZING and often gravity-defying hair pictures out there. NOT to be missed.
SuziCate at The Water Witch's Daughter
Patty at Pancakes Gone Awry
Stacy at Stacy Uncorked
Vandy J at The Testosterone Three and Me
Jen at Sprite's Keeper - NEW ON FRIDAY!
Peg at Square Peg in a Round Hole - NEW ON FRIDAY!
Jan at Jan's Sushi Bar - NEW ON FRIDAY!
Aimee at AimeeWrites - NEW ON FRIDAY!
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Next week on The Spin Cycle...
Luck
St. Patty's Day is almost upon us, good people. So it seems like the perfect time to think about Luck. The luck of the Irish. Actually, I don't think the Irish are really that particularly lucky - between the Vikings and the Tudors and the whole potato famine thing. So perhaps 'tis all a bit a blarney.
Are you lucky? Do you believe in luck? Is there a time when you were particularly lucky?
Spin it up, link it up! If you have any questions about how this works, click on the Spin Cycle tab up there! It's EASY!
LET ME KNOW IF YOU WANT ME TO ADD YOU TO THE WEEKLY SPIN SUBJECT EMAIL!
So what are ye waiting for? Don't be a gobshite. Up the yard!
Share your spin!
Highlight the code.
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Et voila! Linked!
OMG! I remember all those stages on myself except with blonde stick straight hair. I'm at short and wavy with more than a touch of humidity frizz.
Posted by: Michele | 03/09/2012 at 03:33 AM
I am impressed with all of the beautiful looks you've pulled off with curly hair -I haven't been that fortunate! And for the record, I adore your short haircut...you were brave and gorgeous!
Posted by: SuziCate | 03/09/2012 at 05:31 AM
I love that you went through all the same stages as me through the years - aside from the short 'dos, that I visited once and never went back because I realized in spite of the thickness and extra work, I prefer myself with long hair. :) You wore all the styles so well! Well, OK, except for the crazy flat iron one...that one made me giggle. ;)
Posted by: Stacy Uncorked | 03/09/2012 at 06:52 AM
You are stunning! I love every hairstyle! You wore each one so brilliantly. I'm thinking you could make bedhead sexy!
Posted by: Ducky | 03/09/2012 at 07:21 AM
You're gorgeous! You know that, right?
I'm the same way in that I am constantly looking for the right cut. I love your hair curly and in that bob. Also, the Elizabeth Taylor look was stunning!
Posted by: Patty | 03/09/2012 at 07:25 AM
I think you're absolutely gorgeous no matter what your hairstyle is. But we can thank Brooke Shields for the eyebrow thing back in the 80s - she made 'em fashionable.
And I may be late to the party, but my Spin is up: http://www.janssushibar.com/?p=13429
Posted by: Jan | 03/09/2012 at 08:15 AM
I went through a lot of those stages myself! And now I go between curly and straight. When I need a quick style I use the mousse and stay curly. If I have a little more time I can dry it and flat-iron it.
And I'm not really sure what happened to your blog (or really mine) and you disappeared from my feed and I haven't had time to even look. So no spin from me this week. But I will be back next week!
Posted by: Kendra | 03/09/2012 at 10:28 AM
I can totally relate - and you at least skipped the curly mullet phase I went through in 5th grade. WORST. HAIR. EVER. I have destroyed all the evidence (I hope). I jsut keep mine long now, as I dread achieving The Shirley Temple Look with short hair. Bangs is the next frontier for me... ;)
Posted by: the redc | 03/09/2012 at 10:43 AM
Now see, I get a perm so I can have curls like yours. I still have yet to find the right combination of products so my dry hair does not do a limp frizz thing.
Posted by: VandyJ | 03/09/2012 at 01:51 PM
Oh I have loved looking and reading this post! That is so wild you started out blond! Your pictures are all so gorgeous. It is hard to pick a fave. The Hubs and boys are watching about 3 episodes in a row of Seinfeld right now.
I wanted to do a post but I am now heartsick because ever since I did some closet re-arranging I can no longer find the photo album of me and my life before marriage.
I have enjoyed looking at the linked up bloggers too.
Posted by: Michele R. | 03/09/2012 at 04:57 PM
OMG, that 80's workout shot is THE BOMB. SO retro fabulous.
And Liz Taylor thing? Wow. That shot is amazing. Stunning. You are gorgeous. Totally Mad Men. Why haven't they cast you on Mad Men????
I envy your frizz. I know it annoys the hell out of you, but seriously...the body you can achieve!!! Sigh.
It's hilarious that you and I have ended up with very similar styles after very different hair journeys.
I've posted! Shocking, I know... http://aimeewrites.com/a-somewhat-hairy-discussion/
Posted by: Aimee | 03/09/2012 at 05:18 PM
There is NOTHING awkward about your bangless period; you are gorgeous! I'm sure you wouldn't have believed me at the time. I love the current look too (maybe b/c I'm curly too).
Posted by: Arnebya | 03/10/2012 at 11:12 AM
I can't believe how light your hair was when you were younger. It was beautiful then and it (and you) is beautiful now!
Posted by: Peg | 03/11/2012 at 11:16 AM
I'm just catching up on Friday's posts now and DAMN you have a lot of hair! I love the Rachel on you,but your current headshot has everything I love about curls. I wish my hair would do that!
Posted by: Sprite's Keeper | 03/13/2012 at 07:20 AM
Oh, I am so behind on my Spins! I loved this one! Seeing all your hairdos...so fun! My hair has gone from short to the dreaded 80's perm to short to long to short. There's my hair spin in a nutshell. ;)
Posted by: Ginny Marie | 03/15/2012 at 08:08 PM
Your pictures are just fabulous! I agree with you on the boy short cut. Curly hair can be very hard to maintain. Some girls are not so willing to experiment with different styles. Some say that it will not look good on them, but judging by your photos, I can see that it’s not all that bad. At least now, you know which one looks good on you, and which one is the perfect look for you.
Posted by: Curtis Mchale | 06/14/2012 at 12:44 PM
This is a great record. Every single image show the process of the change. Amazing woman.
Posted by: human hair pieces | 07/16/2012 at 07:48 PM
I agree with you about the boy short cut. A natural curly hair does look awkward in it, and maintaining it is really hard since this hair type can become unruly sometimes. Nonetheless, the boy short cut looks good on you, and it is good that you tried it. At least you had experienced having both short-length and long-length hairstyles.
Posted by: Stela Dimitrov | 08/16/2012 at 09:08 AM
I love this! It shows such an interesting progression of hairstyles. I have curly hair as well, and it can definitely be hard to control and maintain. I love to look at stuff like this to get ideas of how to style my own hair. Thanks for posting!
Posted by: Cecilia | 09/17/2012 at 08:59 AM
She actually have a nice hair, she looks perfectly great in every hairstyle.
Posted by: Podiatrist Calgary | 01/30/2013 at 12:25 AM