Roses Are Red

Roses are red, violets are blue, my bun is messy, and I know you like it, too!


Sweater, Forever 21 (sewn shut). Dress and belt, Studio I. Shoes, Gianni Bini. Bag, Massini. Earrings, Swap. Bracelets, Target. Sunnies, Girl Props.

I do so love the messy side bun. Last time I featured it on the blog, I had a request for a better picture of the roll. It’s messier than usual today because my hair is freshly trimimed and this location was windy. I reassembled the bun a few times during the day, but it’s a quick fix. The bun tutorial is here. (I place the bun in the center of my head during the video, but the technique is the same.) I love this method of creating a bun because it works with shoulder-length hair.


Photos by Beefy Muchacho

Afire

Almost exactly a year ago, I parted ways with the platinum blond experiment and returned to my red (not) roots. In honor of the anniversary, I returned to the gazebo where I debuted my new 'do.


Shrug, Express (swap). Dress, London Times. Belt, thrifted. Necklaces, vintage. Flats, Nine West. Bag, Liz Claiborne (gift). Sunnies, Betsey Johnson.

I also repeated the teal and purple color palette.



I’ll probably remain red until I let it go gray. At Beefy’s request, I’m growing my hair long, once again. I’ve had regular trims to lose the blond, crispy ends, but I’m making progress!

Last year:


Today:


Photos by Beefy Muchacho

Buns and Bows

My hair is finally long enough to start wearing the messy* side bun again. At this length, it’s messier than ever as too-short strands revolt from bun-dom over the course of the day.


Skirt, I.N.C. (thrifted). Shirt, Merona (thrifted). Shoes, Mossimo. Earrings, Target. Cream bangle, Forever 21. Woven bangle, Garden of the Gods gift shop.

In other news, I thrifted this skirt on Good Friday. I was pleased to find that the self belt (featuring an adorable bow!) still accompanied the garment. Adorable bow belts aside, I wasn’t sure if I was going to purchase it until I discovered the skirt also had pockets…still sewn shut from the factory! The skirt might be second-hand, but these pockets are virgin. (And have I mentioned that the bow at the waist is a-dor-able?)



*I’ve received no end of youtube comments claiming my description of this bun as “messy” is deceptive. I suppose “messy” is a relative term. To a neat freak accustomed to ballet-tight buns, this is sloppy. To a teen in the habit of wearing pajama pants and flip flops out to dinner, it’s probably uptight.

On Going from Blond to Red

It’s been four months since I returned to red (from platinum blond). Changes like that are hard on your hair! My ends are still a little crispy and refuse to hold the red dye. Ah well. I think of the stiff, pale tips as “textured” and “highlighted.”

On to the outfit:


Cardigan, The Limited. Tank, George. Skirt, Talbot’s. Shoes, Pulse. Earrings, Target. Bag, Franco Sarto.

How to Make a Bump without a Bumpit

As I’ve grown my hair out from a super short cut, and dealt with the damage of extreme color switches, the half-back bump has been my go-to hairstyle. A few people have asked if I get that bouffant look with a bumpit. Nope. I do it like this:



This is the technique I’ve used to get the hairstyles you see here:


I pinned up the back pieces in the last photo.

Braids At Last

I’m not a big fan of hair. I like it super short or long enough to wind, braid, twist or pull out of the way. At my current length, my options are limited, but I tried something new today. (And weren’t we all getting a little tired of the bouffant?)


Vest, Urban Vibe. Dress, Jam’s World (thrifted). Boots, Dan Post. Eye necklace, The Bead Factory. Owl necklace, gift from a fan.


It isn’t perfect. My roots and grays are evident and the back is a little wonky, but I’m quite happy to have all the hairs tucked away. I wish I had the courage to walk out of the house in one of Calivintage’s turbans, because that would be even simpler and tidier.

Fiery

I wore bright red to celebrate my last day as a blonde. On my first day as a redhead, I wore plum and teal to play up my new color.


Jacket, Esley. Skirt, Longview, WA 4th of July flea market. Shoes, Delicious. Bag, Massini.



Photos by Beefy Muchacho

Filler

It was a pain to go from red to blond. The reverse wasn’t quite as bad, but still took three hours. The first step was to “fill” the blond with color. My stylist says the filler is always this lovely orange shade:



No worries, we dyed over this. (I kind of liked the orange, though.) Stay tuned for pictures of the finished product.

Return to Red

Thank you to all who voted and left comments on my Whitney Hair post. The reds have it. (How appropriate that I posted that poll on the Reds’ opening day!)

A few people (but certainly not 500) suggested strawberry blonde or shades of brown. I’ve done these colors. I was a strawberry blonde while I lived in Phoenix in 1998/99. In Fall of 99, I had a professional dye it dark brown after I used a box dye that turned my hair Ronald McDonald red.


No pics of the clown hair, I’m afraid. I refused to take off a baseball cap for two days until I got it “fixed.”
The strawberry blonde was an ok color, but I prefer a more vibrant red. The brown was just kind of “meh.”

I saw my stylist for a trim and color consultation on Friday night. I’ll be returning to red on May 18th.


And, yes, my hair will magically grow to this length, too.

Whitney Hair

It looks as if my rooty experiment is at an end. I perform in A Piece of My Heart in late May and my hair color is not appropriate. I’m playing Whitney and she is described as: “Tall, slender, withdrawn, contained. Very aristocratic in bearing and quality. A Vassar graduate.” The play begins in the 60’s and concludes 20 years later. My two-toned hair doesn’t match the character description or the time period:


The cut is fine, but I need to do something about the roots. I’m considering:

1. Highlighting all of the roots white blonde for a summer-in-the-sun look.
2. Highlighting only the top layer white blonde for the same look. I won’t be pulling my hair back in the show, so I don’t need to bleach the roots underneath.

With the first two options, I can continue growing out dark roots with light ends after the show closes. But I worry that I’ll run into this problem again in my next show. So, maybe it’s time to end the experiment and dye it all one color:

3. Back to red.

I loved the red, but it was so high maintenance and hard on my hair. If I returned to that shade, I would not use box color again, but would have it done in the salon.

I’m torn, what are your thoughts?

You should...
	Highlight all the roots white blond
	Highlight the top white blond
	Return to red
	Other - I'll tell you in the comments
pollcode.com free polls