I’ve put my hair through a lot over the years. A whole lot.
Born with jet black, shiny hair that grew long my mum would take care of my hair cuts as a kid and cut in a thick, heavy fringe.
At some point, prior to becoming a teenager, we took a visit to a hairdresser who said “Don’t ever let your mum touch your hair again. Ever. Ever.”
As I hit my teenage years I started experimenting with different hairstyles and lengths and at around age 15 I first coloured my hair. I was hooked.
20+ Years Of Colouring My Hair
I dyed my hair every colour under the sun. Pinks, purples, blues, blue-blacks, reds. Everything except blonde. As much as I would’ve loved to be blonde and as much as I did to my hair, I have always been scared to go as extreme as blonde, for the damage it would cause.
Bald was something I never really wanted to try out.
Around age 16 I decided to do something drastic. I cut my hair into a pixie cut. Or sometimes I like to call it my fairy-punk phase. I was heavily into punk music. I wore my hair in soft spikes, usually decorated with butterfly clips or diamonte jewels. Think ala 10 Things I Hate About You/Gwen Stefani 90’s style.
I kept this hairstyle for the next 8 years or so, though the bright hair colours died off (no pun intended!) when I got to age 18 and had to become an “adult” and work in the corporate world. Bright, dramatic hairstyles weren’t really accepted in the corporate world back then. Neither were visible tattoos or piercings!
Growing Out Short Hair
At this point, my hair colour was limited to black, blue-black or a nice red. In my mid-20’s I decided to start growing my hair and that was a long, hard process. Anyone who has grown out short hair knows the awkward, very unflattering phases you go through to get length.
Something else that started happening in my early to mid 20’s was I started getting grey hair. My mum also started going grey early (thanks, Mum). By the time I reach my 30’s I had stopped dying my hair for fun and was dying it out of neccessity. To keep those pesky greys at bay.
Throughout my late 20’s and 30’s, my hair length hovered between shoulder length to mid-back length, always styled with layers in a messy, rock-chick kind of style. It was always dyed black. No more experimenting with colours.
When I hit 35 I decided I wanted to “figure my hair out”. As I got older it was getting frizzier, less straight and harder to style. I was getting more breakage. Was it the products (or lack of) that I was using? Was it the dye? Was it having a baby? Was it always having it tied up? Was it heat styling?
And I was also finding the style I’d always had – that messy, harsh, layered style – didn’t seem to suit my face anymore. It always looked lank and heavy and poofy and un-stylable.
Going Natural, Going Grey
I’m now about to enter my 40’s. I stopped dying my hair around 18 months ago and am letting my natural grey grow. I am having to re-learn my hair and what it needs as I enter into “the second half of my life”.
I am starting to experiment with different styles and also with new and different ways to style as well as products and tools to use.
So, follow along if you want, I’m happy to have you here! And hopefully, I can share some great tips, tools, products and how-tos on all things hair!