Love Your Hair: The Thin Hair Chronicles

When I was all of nine, way back in the eighties, I wanted "mall bangs" more than anything on earth. Being that I was a fourth grader in a strict catholic school, this was a lofty goal, but I was determined. I mustered up my nine years worth of bravado and told my mother's hairstylist what I wanted to happen on my head. What I ended up with was a quasi mullet, with a short spiky top and straggly shoulder length sides. Glamorous*. The reasoning I was given for this interesting take on "mall bangs" was that I had thin, flat hair which wouldn't naturally have any sort of body save for layering it within an inch of its life.

Hmmph.

Thus began my love/hate relationship with these wacky follicles sprouting out of my head. They now had a diagnosis. Thin, flat and to be "dealt with". During the next 24 years, I have followed every piece of bad hair advice and almost always done the wrong thing regarding this mop.

My pampered locks

The sparse reality

However, I feel that I am learning and might even have what some would consider "nice hair". This is mostly to do with where I work, among a half dozen or so of the most talented stylists working today, than to anything I have done of my own accord. Now I would love to share my good fortune with others.

Hair we go:



Big Mistake # 1 Lighter Equals "Thicker"

Blond Ambition circa 2001

I am natural blond. Sure it's dark blonde these days, but it was once a glorious shade of honey with flecks of caramel and platinum. So it made sense for me to dump lightener on my head from age 16 on, right? Especially if the increasingly lighter shade was slowly starting the match the tone of my actual scalp... I mean that meant my hair looked thicker, right? Right?

Actually no. Lightening hair strips more than the color, it makes the strands appear thinner. Conversely, the darker hues add a bulk to wimpy follicles. JoJo (hair guru) compares it too an empty straw versus a full straw. The darker the color the plumper the appearance.

Armed with this knowledge, I am now a red head. Don't get me wrong,  I love blond hair and I am gobsmacked daily by fair haired folks.  For me, it just wasn't meant to be.  The ginger hue is more flattering to my coloring, more befitting of my personality and just generally a better idea.

The difference a dye makes. Red in 2009

*Unfortunately, any photographic evidence of this hair insanity were destroyed for the sake of my own self esteem.

Stay tuned for Part 2 of "Thin Hair Chronicles"... The Myth of Length vs Width