I used to think women of the ‘50s and ‘60s (and earlier) that spent so much time on their hair were crazy - a weekly Salon appointment to set a hairdo? “What on earth for,” I always wondered. It just seemed such a shallow thing to do and these women clearly had too much time on their hands. Then I start seeing “Blowout Bars” or “Dry Bars” popping up around town and I was perplexed; why would anyone other than celebrities (whose job it is to look a certain way) pay for just a blow out? Who has time to sit for an hour while someone does this? Well, I’ve discovered who, much to my surprise…me!
After having a short cut for several years, long hair is proving a challenge for me. My hair, to say the least, can be extremely unruly. It is naturally curly but prefers to frizz. Smoothing it out myself results in a magnificent puff, and leaving it naturally curly causes absolute chaos, or, more often than not, a ponytail. Just to ensure my point is clear, my family often calls me “Monica” – for anyone that followed the TV show “Friends,” this is a reference to the Hawaii episode where in each scene Monica’s hair steadily morphs from shiny sleek to ever frizzier HUGE. Ha. The slightest hint of humidity or moisture and my hair reacts like a Chia Pet. So, I was getting tired of trying to tame it myself and my head was hurting from all the ponytails (although it was helping with the crow’s feet ;-) ). This drove me to finally drop into the Blowout Bar and…glorious miracle of miracles, I fell in love!
It is absolutely life altering to walk in with this:
and walk out with:
Okay, okay, so maybe it doesn’t turn me into Grace Kelly but at least I can touch my hair without losing my ring in it.
Although I was raised to be a lady, we did not have much in the way of means so the focus was manners and poise more so than hairstyling (think Jane Eyre or that plain but respectable head servant of the house). Of course a proper appearance was important, but it was more of a “make-do with what you’ve got” kind of situation. I get it now. I absolutely get the desire to get your hair done and guard it with your life from rain, wind, humidity or little fingers. I will scrimp and save (and by that I mean I might actually give up lattes if I have to) to keep this habit up.
I feel good about the fact that I have yet to succumb to a regular appointment, however, I do seem to end up there a couple times a month when I feel I've lost complete control. (An important fact that I want to very make clear; I do LOVE my curly hair. Just because it drives me crazy does not mean I don't embrace the chaos when I feel like it. And I love that others love their curly hair too. It makes me feel free and beautiful to let it go; and I actually feel those of us that have it are quite lucky. So, this epiphany of the blowout is more that I do not have the skill set to control my hair on a regular basis and I just don't always want it curly).
I will also admit that a major difficulty is that I like to stay active so I’m constantly juggling how to get it done without immediately ruining it (and wasting money) due to some type of physical activity. For anyone that understands, this type of scheduling can be quite a challenge. ;-) But, it is a problem I’m happy to deal with because the Blowout Bar has given me options and forever changed my life.
To all the ladies I had so harshly looked down my nose for wasting time on their hair, my sincerest of apologies.