My Hair History

after my favourite hair blog wrote this post on her hair history i was inspired to write my own.

it's been quite a ride!

i, like my siblings, were born with jet black hair, it all fell out, and came back blonde.  my sister likes to tease that i looked more like a little brother than a little sister with my pixie cut.  i like the matching hair in the 3rd photo, myself.  it stayed dark blonde for my toddler years.

in elementary school it stayed pretty long with a blunt bang that my dad trimmed for me, i refused to let him cut them any shorter than my eyebrows.  crimped hair was my favourite style for special occasions, it was the 80's, after all.
i grew those bangs out in grade 5 or 6 and had long, shiny brown hair.

for some reason i thought the return of the blunt bang would be a good idea in grade 8.  it didn't take long to realize it wasn't a good idea, it only accentuated my awkward unkempt brows, bad teenager skin, and a nose that i hadn't quite grown into yet.  at least by grade 9 my sister had taught me how to tweeze my eyebrows (which, as you can see, i took to the next level by grade 11) and apply my own makeup.  as i found my friends and figured out my style i started to cut my hair shorter and shorter.  i was going for "funky skater chick" even though i wasn't that funky and didn't skateboard.  i did, however, have a skater boyfriend in a punk band in grade 11 and 12 who loved when girls had short hair.

after high school i had a little more fun with colours and cuts, even bright purple at one point (which i didn't include a picture of, i didn't keep it long because i didn't like how old people looked at me like i was up to no good).
i started working in a hair salon as a receptionist and got my cuts for free and colours for cheap.  it was heaven - perusing hair magazines all day and getting many, "wow, you have cool hair, can i get my hair cut like yours?" compliments.
i guess i should mention why i have headshots.  no, i wasn't attempting to be a model or an actress, i had a friend who was going through makeup school and needed a model for her projects.  i guess i was her only friend ;)
after a couple of years i calmed down a little and decided blonde and flippy was my signature look.

this is how my hair was when i met my husband, and i wore variations of it during our first few years together, through our newlywed days and after we'd had our first child.

the upkeep of the blonde was expensive, especially since i was now on maternity leave and wasn't getting my free cuts and colours anymore.  so i went brown.  dark brown.  to me it felt black, and i hated it!  i'd been blonde for so long, it just didn't feel like me.  thankfully it was fixable, i slowly added more and more highlights until it was back to "normal".  funky cuts like my asymmetrical bob kept it fun.

add some bangs, add some highlights, have another baby...

about 3 months after my 2nd child was born i came upon that picture of me as a brunette with my firstborn and though, "hmm, that's actually not so bad..." and went for it again, this time not quite as dark a brown.  and i liked it.  and i was able to do it at home (with professional colour still, of course, thanks to my esthetician sister who can buy salon colour at cost).  i also decided i wasn't the same short-haired kid i used to be and thought growing it out might be fun.  and it has been, i can try different styles, throw it up, make it wavy, add some bangs, and i haven't once been tempted to cut it short again.  the longer it gets, the more excited i am.

and my hairdressers colour suggestion when i went brown was so close to my natural that you wouldn't  even know i have a good inch or two of regrowth in that picture of me with the cute little girls, which is nice, it means not having to worry about my roots.

now that i'm nearing 30 it feels like i should stop trying to look like a kid.  is that weird?

and sometimes, when i feel like trying a whole new look, i'll log on to hairmixer and try out some celebrity styles.  what do you think, should i get a short curly blonde and pink 'do?  yeah, probably not.

i think i'll stick with what i've got for awhile :)

i do miss my blonde though.  do you think i should go back to it someday?