So without further nervousness and rambling from me - here is my tutorial on how I style my hair....
(BTW - I really don't think You Tube could have picked a worse beginning pose. They aren't doing me any favors either. For some reason I couldn't get it to post any bigger than this on my blog so you can click on the You Tube button on the bottom if you want to watch it larger.)
What do you think? Did that help? Or did I completely humiliate myself for nothing? :) Are you all thinking that I sound different than you imagined? I was so nervous in the beginning that I did a really nervous laugh and then said the word "stupider" -- is stupider even a word!? The hard thing with a vlog is there is no proofreading or spell checking or re-writing. After I filmed it I wanted to re-do it, but couldn't because my hair was done! So it was a one time deal. And I really do feel vulnerable posting that but so many of you have been so kind to me about my hair and have asked over and over how I style it so I'm sacrificing my dignity for you! I hope it helps! At least one or two of you!! And if not I am SO deleting that baby this weekend. :)
Frequently asked questions:
1) How often do you wash your hair?
I've mentioned before that I don't wash my hair every day or even every other day. I wash my hair 2-3 times a week and I do this for a couple of reasons. Reason one is that I have three kids (one of whom is 19 months old and a tremendous amount of work), a husband who works a lot, obligations and hobbies and a busy, full life. Something has to give. For me it's the hair washing. Reason two is that my hairdresser actually says it's better to not wash your hair every day. Although I don't know that she would approve of me going as long as I sometimes do! ;) Reason three is simply because I can get away with it. I have dry skin/scalp and my hair actually looks better on the second or third day after washing it. Yes I shower. :) I exercise almost every day and I always shower after. I just pull my hair up in a bun and don't get it wet. Gross? Maybe. Maybe someday when my kids are in school all day I'll always wash and blow dry my hair. But I doubt it. Because it takes so long to blow dry and I'd rather spend that time organizing, shopping, decorating, scrapbooking, exercising, or blogging about how I don't wash my hair! :)
2) What hair products do you use?
Hmmm.. products. I've tried so many different ones over the years! I don't have a shampoo/conditioner that I'm crazy about. I've used a lot that I've liked, but haven't fallen in love with anything. I'm testing a few new ones right now and will let you know if I ever find "the one." But I have fallen in love with and married my hair spray and my straightener. And divorce is not an option.
I have used Paul Mitchell hair spray FOREVER. Love it. Always have. Always will. It holds my hair in place without being sticky or making it look frozen. Plus I love the smell. I've tried everything they have to offer as far as hair spray goes and I love them all. Sculpting spray, freeze and shine, it's all good. After I shower, I put Enjoy straightener on my hair (bottle with the purple star). LOVE Enjoy products too. The straightener makes my hair so smooth and easy to blow dry. It's a straightener, but I've even used it on Addison's wet, curly hair and it makes her curls smooth and manageable without loosening them.
(LOVE her curls!)
The small purple bottle is Enjoy's shine spray. It helps with the humidity. I spray a little bit of it on my hair after it's styled on really humid days and it helps keep my hair from frizzing all over the place. I've tried Enjoy's shampoo and conditioner and didn't love them. My favorite is by far the straightener. Another shampoo/conditioner that I really like is Biolage. If any of you are in love with your shampoo/conditioner I'd love to hear about it!
this post is the only one I have of my curling iron. I've mentioned before how I used to use a really expensive one and then bought this cheap Conair 1 inch curling iron at Target for $9.99 for our trip to Italy. It's awesome! Curls my hair so good and fast. I haven't used my expensive one since! You can buy it here.
3) Where are your kids while you are doing your hair?
Girls are in school or playing with each other. Kole is hanging on my leg and while I hold the curling iron in one hand I am usually trying to distract him with the other. Toothbrushes and belts are his latest obsession. If I didn't have those little distractions in my bathroom my hair would never get done!
4) How long does it take to do your hair everyday?
I think this video is about 8 or 9 minutes long and I spent more time on it than I do on most days when I'm just touching it up. Probably around 5 minutes most days. On the days that I wash my hair it takes about 30-35 minutes to blow dry and curl it all so add that to the time it takes to shower and do my make-up and I'm looking at an hour to get ready. Not possible for every day.
5) Do you use color or highlights? Did you ever make a big color change or just subtle ones?
I highlight my hair every 6-8 weeks. My natural color is slightly darker than I have it right now. I usually just make really subtle changes.
Here my hair has a little more of the strawberry blond highlights.
In this picture with my siblings it has some more of the reddish tones. See - not a huge difference. :)
I mix it up a little but always stay within my comfort zone. Once I decided to be daring and go really dark and I hated it! I went back to the girl who did it and asked if she'd fix it. I told her I'd re-pay her and everything. Luckily she was cool and re-did it for free and I've never dared to go really dark again!
And for my last two cents on this already too long post -- When it comes to hair I think so much of it is figuring out what works for you. I spent years blow drying and straightening my hair to get it to look like this:
I can do that and it looks fine, but it takes me forever to style. My hair doesn't want to be straight. It is really time consuming to fight my natural wave/curl and make my hair look like that. Plus I live in a humid climate which makes it even harder to maintain that look. After I started curling my hair and realized how much easier it was to maintain because my hair holds the curl for so long I gave up the fight. I still straighten it once in a while (especially when I'm visiting family in Utah - a nice dry climate!) but it just isn't practical for me for everyday. If your hair doesn't hold curl and you have to spend forever each day curling it, then this style isn't the one for you. Work with and embrace what you've got!
And you will have happy hair days from here on out!
Let me know if you have any more questions and I will answer them in the comments!
Have a great weekend everyone!
p.s. If you missed the series so far - First hair post is here.
Second hair post on why I do my hair every day is here.