Monday, June 15, 2009

spring hair, pros and cons.

spring hair is happening everywhere, anna did it, so did anu. sugar kane was exposed to the coloring genius of mv, and i believe she got hooked. i want new hair as well, but cannot decide the direction to go. therefore, i will go all interactive with ya lot. so cast your vote.

but first, let me present "the case".

starting point: i am a natural dirty blonde (last time i checked which was years ago) with thick, wavy hair. my hair is prone to oiliness, as is my skin, and requires daily washing. otherwise it's easily manageable. it grows ruthlessly fast. i've got a tattoo on my scalp.

the options: cut it all off or grow it long. (cutting it very short isn't really an option since i already shaved the bottom part of my head under the bob... less hot.)

question of color: i've dyed it jet black since 2001 (i think). i love my black hair and i think i carry it well, i.e. people do not expect me to be blonde naturally. the root requires attention every fortnight or so. the amount of toxic dye immersed in my scalp is something i hesitate to think about, so let's leave it at "immense". my scalp has also suffered quite a bit but i'll spare you the details.

cutting everything off would let me decide on the color again. i could go blonde or return to black. either way my scalp would get a welcome breather. letting it grow has the obvious downside that the coloring process would continue and, as i already said, i have noted the damage to my scalp.

question of femininity: a bald head isn't exactly easily feminized. requires careful styling and the result is easily more boy george than g.i. jane. a woman without hair also invites strong reactions from people which i am not sure i want, the tattoo doubles the reactions. (and no, i did not tattoo my scalp to attract comments, but because i think it's beautiful... poor judgment on my part.) the fact that i am not traditionally pretty does not make a bald head any easier to pull off.

growing my hair would be the easy option looks-wise. the resulting mane would be manageable and feminine, but probably slightly... boring. i have to give up bangs because my oily skin works against an immaculate brow cover. nevertheless, the idea of just pulling my hair back on a ponytail appeals to the low maintenance me.

so going for the poll, you'll get to see two old pics of me:

so vote by selecting and clicking on the right, you've got two days only! and feel free to elaborate (or not) in the comments.

***
wow! now c'mon! after over 540 visits i've got 6 votes... how hard is a single click, now?

9 comments:

Sugar Kane said...

I think you rock your black bob, although I'd love to see your beautiful tattoo "live"!

Dirty blonde used to be my natural hair colour too, so imagine the surprise when, after hacking off most of my hair (something like 7 yrs ago), it turned darker with red tint to it! So your natural hair colour may have changed too!

Then again, longer hair with bangs would be great on you too, your features would make it anything but blah! Maybe dry shampooing could help with the bangs situation?

The Colouring Genious Mikko was actually so taken with my natural tone, he mostly kept the colour, only giving it more shine and toning down the redness (as per my request...). So now I'm letting it all grow out as nature meant it, maaaaan. (I wanna try out Patti Smith style, although I do love the sharper cut they gave me.) At least for he summer.

maire said...

kalju. aina hieno ja upee, tatska kruunaa. kaljut naiset on aina nättei, ja sit sä voisit olla vaan all about big earrings (olik sul reiät..?).

jonku verra sun pään elämää seuranneena ni pitkä tukka vois olla tosi jeessi ja upee mut mut tajuan kans ajatuksen ettei sitä värii hirveesti, koska mulla ainakin alko nahka kans hiuka oireilee ku sitä mustan ja valkosen välii sahasin.

mut siis jos meinaat et joko tai ni kalju. aina. ja aattele kui kliffalt SIT näyttäsit siin hääpuvus.

Anna said...

Sä näytät niiiiin upealta kaljuna, että mä kyllä ehdottomasti äänestän sitä. Sulla on mielettömän upea kallo - ja sun vahva tyyli kestää kaljun koska tahansa! Kalju sopii niin harvalle naiselle, että jos kuuluu siihen onnekkaaseen promilleen, kantsii musta todellakin hyödyntää sitä.

P.S. Ihana tatska!!

anu said...

Itsekin kohtuullisen rohkean vedon juuri tehneenä kannatan kaljua! Ennen hiusten leikkaamista lyhyiksi pohdin mäkin tuota naisellisuusjuttua. Viime kerralla halusin lyhyestä tukasta eroon, koska koin sen liian poikamaiseksi, mutta kun aikaa on kulunut ja olen vanhempi ja viisaampi (hahaa), samanlainen hiusmalli ei tunnu nyt yhtään liian epänaiselliselta. Kalju on tietty vielä hevimpi juttu, mutta sä selkeästi pystyisit siihen, koska olet ennenkin pystynyt, ja tuossa kuvassa ainakin olet todella naisellinen. Ja kaljusta on aika lyhyt matka pixie-tukkaan, jos alkaa tuntua siltä ...

Ja oma hiusväri voi tosiaan olla jotain aivan muuta kuin ennen värjäyskierteen aloittamista - mullakin se oli tummempi kuin muistin (mä värjäsin hiuksiani yhtä soittoa ainakin kahdeksan vuotta).

Lexi said...

bald! your head's shape is beautiful, and for me that's the most crucial part for pulling off a bald look. plus, no bad hair days! and you'll get ready in the mornings in a matter of seconds!

on a completely different note, i was wondering if you would care writing about how after all your experiences of living abroad, you decided to return back to finland? and did it still feel like home? did it feel different? i'm half finnish myself, but i've done most of my growing up and living abroad, mainly cyprus and the uk. finland has been the destination of all summer holidays and has always been referred to as "the home country". I'm not sure if it would feel like home, though, if i moved back now. it would be interesting to see how/if others have experienced this when moving back after ages of living abroad?

mv said...

Toi kalju kyllä sopii, mutta ei ehkä vielä. Sitäpaitsi mulla olis sulle nyt niitä palkkiotuotteita jotka törkeesti unohdin hössötyksissäni.
Mitäs olis joku muu väri kuin musta? Vaikka villisti ruskea?

stellagee said...

sk, so many choices and yup, i expect my natural hair to have an entirely different color. patti smith sounds like a great direction!

maire, anna ja anu, kiitos äänistä. mäkin kovasti pidin mun kaljusta. mun ehkä suurin ongelma on se, että kaljuna mä sitten olen se "kalju tatskattu nainen" eli apina. pipolla voi peittää, mutta en ehkä kaipaa sellaista huomiota, josta mulla on kuitenkin kokemusta edellseltä kerralta. toisaalta olen vanhempi, joten ehkä sen osoittelunkin kestää paremmin. (joo, ihmiset osoittelee ja kommentoi ihan avoimesti... ihmeellistä.)

anu, on muuten hassua miten käsitys omasta feminiinisyydestä voi muuttua eri aikoina, ja kun mä pikaisesti "analysoin" mun erilaisia hiuksia, ei hiusten pituudella ole ollut kovinkaan selkeää korrelaatiota. enemmänkin muutostarpeessa on alkanut pohtia omaa olemustaan tarkemmin...

lexi, thanks. it seems you're all mostly agreeing on the bald, then.

and thanks for the topic suggestion. i've always spent time in finland between my travels so i cannot really talk about "deciding to return" as such, but i've definitely had to deal with feelings of home and adjusting to familiar surroundings... so, yeah, i'll try to say something about that soon.

mv, ei vielä? syy siihen, miksi mä olen tekemässä tätä päätöstä pian on itse asiassa se, että kesä on kohta niin pitkällä (i wish...), että kasvojen rusketus ja päänahka ei kohtaa millään, jos ajelun suorittaa myöhemmin. trendit kai olisi ison tukan puolella tällä hetkellä... saiskohan tästä markettivärillä tuhotusta tukasta ruskeaa?

m. said...

täällä olisi yksi kaljun kannattaja lisää! pääsi on kovin kauniin muotoinen joten kalju olisi vain edukseen ja osaat kyllä tyylitellä senkin kanssa menettämättä feminiinisyyttä.

stellagee said...

kiitos, m. :)