|
Waxing Weary of Whining |
| Author: The Short Hair Diva |
|
Date: July 2000 |
Introduction
Darlings, I am weary
of all the complaints I am hearing from some of you new
shorthairs. ‘Why do I have to have trims so often?’ ‘Why won’t
my new short haircut look like <insert your current favorite model,
film star, daytime TV queen, whatever here>?’ ‘How come I have
to maintain this style now? When my hair was long I didn’t even
worry about trims!’ and my number one gripe: ‘Everyone says that
this new haircut calls more attention to my face, and now I have to
wear makeup!’ Further whingings and whinings are more general; ‘My
skin’s getting so blotchy and faded, but after all, I’m getting
older—I can’t do anything about it.’ ‘I just don’t feel
pretty anymore,’ and so on.
Ladies, suck it up and get on with your lives! I mean, really—beauty does not come without
sacrifice, you know! There are about 1% of the world’s women who can
roll out of bed, ruffle their charmingly sleep-tousled curls, and look
fabulous before coffee (yours truly is NOT one of them). The rest of
us poor slobs have to perform minor magic to look gorgeous on a daily
basis. Once you get your routine down, you’ll find it won’t take
you much longer than making a pot of coffee.
I have compiled 10 of my favorite (and most
effective) tips for looking good at every age. Enjoy!
Short Hair Diva Tips:
1.
Get enough sleep! Nothing, and I mean nothing, ages you like
constant lack of sleep. Unless you’re into that
one-foot-in-the-grave Gothic look, go to bed at a reasonable hour, and
tape the midnight episode of the X-Files.
2.
Get to know and love your makeup counter. If you are under 18,
you may not need makeup, but the rest of us can all benefit from some.
There are many excellent lines out there, and I encourage you to see a
professional at least once a year to update your look. (Is there
anything sadder than a woman stuck in an era? Ditch the hip huggers
and flower child tie-dye and get into the 2000s!)
3.
Eyebrows—keep them trimmed. Enough said?
4.
Along with age comes another fun fact—everything gets hairier
and closer to the ground. Invest in a good magnifying mirror, and some
of those great Swiss tweezers. At least once a week, go over your face
in good light and pluck those random straggling facial hairs. Bleach
isn’t always a good alternative for that annoying little Fu Manchu
we are all starting to get on our upper lips; in the bright sunlight
it looks as though you have a mustard mustache from a noontime hotdog.
5.
Find a hairstylist you like and trust, and see her/him
regularly. In order to maintain a great style you should get a trim
every 4-6 weeks, depending on how fast your hair grows. When your
short hair cut loses its shape, your overall appearance looks unkempt.
6.
Jewelry is perhaps the Diva’s greatest passion. Since your
hair is short now, you can bedeck your ears and neck with all kinds of
earrings, necklaces, chokers, collars, and pendants! Have a ball, mix
gold and silver, pile on the chains, dust off all those earrings your
long hair hid and go wild!
7.
Get a good skincare routine going and stick with it. I’m talking about a morning and night regiment that
cleans your face and neck without depleting the essential oils, and a
good moisturizer to wear to bed, and one to wear under your makeup.
Always, always, ALWAYS wear sunscreen on face and neck, ears, hands
and arms! Depending on your age and skin type, you may also want to
check out eye area treatments, too. Your skincare need not be
expensive to be effective. Do your homework before shopping, and
don’t let a slick salesman talk you into a half-ounce jar of creamed
bat guano that they guarantee will take years off your face!
8.
Test out the hair care products that will make your hair look
good. As with skincare and makeup, just because a product is expensive
doesn’t necessarily mean it’s better than something cheaper.
9.
Always check out your ‘do not only from the front, but the
sides and back as well. You are a three-dimensional person, and others
see you that way. So if your teased-up and shellacked 8” bangs look
pretty foxy from the front, chances are they’ll look pretty strange
from the side!
10.
While we’re on the subject of great self-care, remember that
your hands are always on display as well as your face and hair. You
don’t have to spend a lot on polishes and acrylic nails to keep your
nails looking nice; just spend about 15 minutes once a week filing
your nails, soaking your cuticles and gently pushing them back,
buffing the nails, and following up with a good hand lotion. In fact,
every time you wash your hands, it’s a good idea to get into the
habit of applying hand lotion.
…and finally (and I’ll throw this in
for free), do remember to dress your age. We don’t have to advertise
our age, nor do we have to try to dress three decades younger than we
actually are. My dear grandmother used to have a saying I just loved,
and she always said it after we passed by some old gal in the store
with a too-tight blouse on, runs in her stockings, or blue jeans
straining to keep a sagging posterior shored up: “Good GRIEF—does
the woman not own a full-length mirror?”
So, sweet babies, listen
to the Diva—less whining, more shining. Beauty is work, but it’s the only kind that is worth the paycheck!
Go Ahead
Ask The Diva.......
Question
Dear Diva,
I'm 31 years old, and have been wearing my hair in various short
cuts for the past ten years (everything from the pixie to the
chin-length bob) and one frustration I can't understand is this: why
is it that I get my hair cut and it looks great for about a week, and
after that, all the "weight" seems to come back and I'm left
with a heavy, blobby mess?
My hair is very thick & wavy, so I like to get the weight taken
out with thinning shears or razors.
Why does this seem to be getting worse as I get older? Is my hair
growing faster, or am I getting pickier?
Am I crazy to want to go to the salon every two weeks to
get my "freshly-cut" look back? Should I just give up and
grow my hair out?
Thanks,
Cyn
Answer
Darling Cyn,
Are you crazy to go to the salon every two weeks? If you want
salon fresh locks, as you have learned, there is a heavy price to
pay. Remember what I always say, beauty does not come without
sacrifice.
Only you, my little pretty, can decide how much sacrifice you can
endure for perfect locks. Do you want the high maintenance of a
special cut that drives you screaming to the salon in no time, or do
you want to spend more leisure time on other body parts, catching a
long movie or catching some extra winks?
There is a possible compromise, although the Diva hates compromise
of any kind. You can go back to your stylist and ask them to
design a new look that will hold its shape longer for your miracle
grow locks. With any luck you may be able to stretch your
salon-fresh look for 4 weeks, instead of two.
Another solution is to cut back on how frequently you wash your
hair. In some cases the very practice of adding shampoo to your
scalp will cause it to stimulate the roots and encourage faster
growth. Skip some shampoo treatments and see if this helps slow down
your turbo hair growth.
If you can't live the maintenance, by all means, grow your hair to
shoulder length. Don't forget to have your stylist help you
select a great look that you can maintain at home. Letting your
short do grow is no excuse to get sloppy.
If you do grow your hair out, remember to suck it up and get on with your life! Good luck, and please let The Diva know what you
decided to do!
TaTa,
The Diva
|