Hair

This is a mildly too-long post about my hair. I'm easing back into things. DEAL.
My hair is naturally wavy. That means that sometimes it can look really, really great with zero effort-- all tousled and pretty and bouncy. Like the other day when I was home with nowhere to go and nothing to do but to WRITE A PAPER. Of course that was the day my hair chose to look like this:

Sigh.
But OFTEN my hair goes frizzy or poofy or kinked in odd places (depending on what position it was in when it dried).

Flat ironing my hair is pretty much my go-to-- it is the only thing I know how to do that GUARANTEES that my hair will look good. And it doesn't take forever because, well, I already know how to to it. I usually wash my hair only a couple times a week. If I flat iron it, my hair will stay niceish looking until it is time to wash it again.

My flat iron broke a couple weeks ago. It was this one:

Photo from Overstock.com

and here, I'll link to it, in case you're interested in purchasing a flat iron that craps out on you after less than a year. It just stopped working-- I plugged it in one day and the light didn't come on and the panel thingies didn't get hot. I fiddled around for awhile but sadly it couldn't be fixed by messing with the buttons and resetting the outlet and swearing.
I was extra irritated about my flat iron dying because I had actually dithered and searched for quite some time before I decided on that snazzy pink piece of garbage.

I faked it for a couple weeks (by blow drying and/or wrangling my hair into a ponytail) as I searched on Overstock and Amazon and hunted on Google for "best flat iron ever." I finally settled on this one:

Photo from Folica.com

from here. I picked it because it was the top rated flat iron with over 4,000 reviews. I figured that was pretty good odds that it wouldn't completely suck. I've used it a few times and I REALLY like it. It leaves my hair smooth and shiny and, most importantly, STRAIGHT. I wasn't planning to use it today because I don't really need to have Fancy Hair if I'm just staying home in my jammies working on a(nother) paper. But then I figured that everybody likes a nice visual aid, right? So here we have my freshly flat-ironed hair:

See? Straight and shiny with an angelic glow.

My main issues with flat irons are that they either snag my hair or don't grasp enough of my hair or they cause me to shriek with rage "WHY AREN'T YOU GETTING HOT ENOUGH?!" But this one, the Sedu, hasn't done any of that. It gets nice and hot and glides right through my hair with its ceramic/tourmaline plates and ions and magic and whatnot.
So, if you're in the market for a flat iron and you're looking to probably spend too much but you feel like it might be worth it because you don't really know what else to do with your hair then I recommend this one. And oh, wouldja look at that? It's on sale now! And it comes with a little pouch for storage and travel (mine did come with the pouch. It is kind of... less helpfully shaped (? by that I mean it has a pouch for the flat iron itself and then this foldy over flap that encases the cord) than I would have expected but I've gotten used to it).

Shall we turn back time for a moment and take a look at some of the hairdos that I used to fancy?

This was one I used to do a lot-- the old 'cut all your hair off and severely regret it later.' Every couple of years I would tell myself "HEY! I bet my hair would look cute short! And I would use less shampoo and conditioner and styling it would be a breeze!" And then I would cut it all off and severely regret it later. I think I have broken the cycle but if you see me start to talk about how my hair might look better short I'm asking you to please SAVE ME FROM MYSELF.

Ah yes, the twirlies. I used to do my hair like this for all the football games. And, apparently, for the beach. Please take a moment to appreciate my shorts.

Last but not least, the cheerleader top knot! Once I learned to do this I wore it all the time and I bought lots of different colored ribbons. Maybe I should bring this one back. I won't look quite as adorable, though, since I don't have those uneven self-cut bangs anymore or the sun-kissed skin of somebody who didn't wear enough sunscreen.