Ruby's Musings by Request ~ Daily Hair

You think my hair is perfect...
Oh shucks! 

I have done blogs about my hair before. Never a tutorial, I am not that skilled with my hair, I kind of bumble through it, much like my make up and even my style. Recently I have been either complimented on or asked about my hair; of course I am flattered, but also feel almost guilty that it is so easy! As a child I had wavy hair with a few curls, but mainly it was just wavy and my Mom coaxed curls, that is until she would start brushing it into a bouffant type style, and it began to look like a mini helmet. mean girls at a new school, when I was 10 even called me helmet head and wig head...from that point on I had a love hate relationship with my hair. At one point my Mom took me in for a pixie, not a common cut for a girl in the mid to late 1970's , that brought even more teasing, so I grew my hair for two years, well past my shoulders; I did the best to tame what became a lions mane of hair...I have A LOT of hair.After the grow out I spent years cutting it off and growing it out, never really knowing what to do with it when it was long so would get frustrated and cut it all off. Somewhere in my late 30's after cutting all my hair off it grew back in ringlets, much to my surprise and joy. It became so easy to care for, just wash, use a leave in conditioner and let it dry, then I made the mistake and cut it again, and got a bad cut and when it came back the curl had turned back to wave. I can not figure out why. 

Somewhere in my late 30's my hair went strait
and thinned out, so it was easier to wear strait
styles. 

I tried to curl my hair from time to time and
it was never easy, and did not really curl as
much as get bushy and wavy and did not last.

Finally decided pixie cuts were easier and
I could coax a little wavy in as my hair went
more and more silver.

When I turned 40 suddenly my hair became thinner, more strait. and most of that was related to my health, my body was a real mess due to fibroids and hormones going crazy and severe anemia. Believe it or not, tho I missed my curls, and envied those that my two youngest daughters had, I was enjoying the fact that I could now year a 1920's bob cut, though I did on occasion try to coax curls into my style it always looked more bushy and it took a lot of coaxing to have it look half way decent. My hair length would go up and down and every so often I would cut it all off to a super short pixie, then grow to a bob again, but always the same results, no curl. As my white strands became more than 50 percent of my hair, my hair became very, very coarse, more than it had been, so I decided it was so much easier to just keep the super short pixie, it was a wake up and go style and with how bad I was always feeling, health wise, it just seemed the way to go. 

Just about a year and half ago I had a hysterectomy and then went through a crisis of the "who, what. wheres" and began to grow my hair out again, started dying the hair, cut it all off etc etc, did this for a for nearly a year and was right in the middle of that back and forth thing with my hair, I then decided to have my breast implants removed. That sent me into a tail spin with depression and nonacceptance of my new body appearance and breast size and shape...it needed to be done, but I just was not ready for it I guess, even though I chose it. Anywho, along this same time I was also feeling a desire to go back to my more retro roots style wise, even life wise and began steps in that direction. I don't even know what really prompted it, maybe it was a style group I was in, which I chatted about in a blog a couple of months ago, or the crisis of self, who knows....my personality can be a fickle one, just knew it was the path I needed to be on. To me, that meant longer hair so I began to grow it out, and much to my surprise as I did it came in curly, not just wavy, but actual curls!  

If you follow my blog often, my FB fan page and or my Instagram feed you can see the way my hair has changed month to month, from the super short pixie to the now current style which everyone has been raving about since about October or maybe early November.  So that brought me to this blog post....though I feel a bit silly, as I said, it is so easy, simply because of my natural curls. 

So how did I land on a style? Well there was a lot of factors, I first follow a lot of pin up girl hair stylists and watched quite a few Youtube videos about pin up hair. I decided that victory rolls and more rockabilly styles were just not me, and well they did not go with the style that I am aiming for. So I started looking at examples of 1950's hair styles on Pinterest and Google, and looking towards starlets of the era and seeing what would work with my hair type and look. 

Doris Day

Marilyn

A young Betty White, my favorite.

Originally it was to be just a starting point and then I would grow it until I turn 50; see what happens length and style wise, but now my current hair is so easy as I have mentioned a few times, and has kind of become and identifying look for me so I think I will keep it. SO, how do I go about it? Keep scrolling! First to note, I have an angled cut, that is layered, similar to the baby or the midi 

The Steps...

So left to right, I shower, I use a nourishing shampoo, currently Dove, one meant for curly hair, and also the matching conditioner. I lightly ring out my hair, and then lightly towel dry, leaving some moisture in it, not drippy, but close, then I smooth it down, with my hands or a comb.  I use this curl cream..it is my FAVORITE, a real God send!! I buy in bulk and pray they never discontinue. I then use duck clips to keep the top smooth while it is dry. I then put the good old fashioned pink curlers in my bangs, I bought them at the Dollar Tree! I roll the front two forward and then two to the side...not traditional , but it works for me, it may change as my bangs get longer.  Then I let it air dry...I normally bathe in the late day or just after supper, depending on the night....so......

Because my hair is thick, it can still be damp, even hours later. So if need be, and I try NOT to, I will blow dry it a bit, on low, before going on, and always with a defuser. Heat is NOT a friend to curly heads. Now these photos were actually done after bathing in the morning, so I could take photos, and so you will notice I am now wearing make up... when I do bathe in the morning, I tend to leave the clips and rollers in while I have breakfast and put on my make up and if I plan to stay home, sometimes all day, but if I am going out that is when the blow dryer often does get used etc etc. Now once dry and clips and curlers are out , I brush out my bangs and play with them till I get a shape that I like and am happy with. 

I just continue playing with the curl as well, fluffing, and shaping and adding a blast of cool air to fluff if needed. Sometimes to tweak it a bit, if I have time, I will form a pin curl in the bangs, spritzed with water and a clip and let it dry and might even put the duck clips back in just above the flip, again spritzing with water and then letting it dry again, which does not take long because it is only spritzed with water. 

That's it! Then you are ready for selfies! LOL 

So as you see, it is not a whole head of rollers, no full head of pin curls, no sleeping on the set overnight and there is no teasing....easy, time consuming yes, but easy. But you might ask " Do you have to do this every day???" No, just like other pin up gals out there or ladies from eras gone by that would only visit the salon once a week for a wash and set, my hair is just the same. I wash it maybe every 3-4 days, sometimes I can do 5 if I use dry shampoo for a couple of days. I just wear a shower cap to keep it dry. I do have a nightly and morning ritual to reshape it and freshen it.  

Next Day Hair ...

and the next and sometimes for up to 3 to 4 days!

So at night before I go to bed, I put my curlers back into my DRY hair. In the morning, I take them out, shape my bangs, and then spritz my hair with water and re clip it and then just like I do when it is fresh, I eat breakfast, maybe do chores, put my make up on etc. and let it dry again and then follow the fluffing steps and I am good to go.

That's all folks!