A couple of weeks ago, I had very long hair.
Now I don’t.
This is better. You can see that my hair’s now about 2/3 of the length it was (looks a few inches longer in the photo because I am bending my head to look at my phone.) What you probably can’t see is that I’m now carrying only 1/3 of the hair weight, because the stylist used thinning shears. Why? I have a lot of hairs on my head, natively, and they are heavy and stubborn with tendencies to flip outward and cheer like the early 1960s. Not my aesthetic. This way the hairs hang more to my liking.
For those interested in further process details, the stylist blew my hair dry, then straightened it with a flat iron, then cut it, and then added what I can only call a “bump,” or two. I suppose genteelly we might say these are waves but I have come to understand that what I most resist is domestication, trying instead for loyalty, generosity, and insight as hallmarks of virtue.
(By the way, it’s possible to be a fierce housewife. A fierce mother. Fierce in the garden.)
The term for this particular bump is an “S-curve,” and you make it with a flat iron. Take a hank of hair (I like that, “hank”) in your hand and bend it into an “S.” Then close your flat iron in quick tiny bursts all along the shape. I think it’ll be a good technique for volume at the crown, and avoid the dreaded pinhead.
(For those interested in the infinitesimal, deconstructed details because they read this post and are wondering if I’m a flibbertyigibbet, I decided that my meta-goal was to find a stylist I could work with, get a shoulder-length cut to live with for a while, then once she understood my hair perhaps take that next step into chop-land. We shall see.)
Everyone with the good fortune to retire seems to have a goal. Mine might be to stay fierce; having suffered somewhat for youthful ferocity, I would like to enjoy it as I age.
Have a wonderful weekend all.
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55 Responses
You have a gorgeous hair indeed. Lucky you!
Dottoressa
@dottoressa, Thank you!
It looks fabulous!!!! Great cut and blow out. Could you write about how you stay so slim, please?
@Sandra Sallin, Thank you so much. And for you, anything:).
@Sandra Sallin, Hi! I second another comment about how you stay so slim. You have beaten the post-menopausal bulge around the middle. How?? You look fantastic!
You’re so lucky not to be experiencing hair loss! I am in a few spots and it freaks me out a bit. Love the new cut – very flattering.
@Mamavalveeta03, Thank you. And, of course, never say never on the hair loss, I’ll just keep my fingers crossed.
Elegant and sleek.
You’re rocking it, fiercely, of course!
Time to celebrate. I hope you go out for a fabulous evening and
enjoy it immensely.
@Elizabeth Johnson, Thank you! Out to lunch today:). Lots of fun.
I just had a similar cut but realize I don’t like my hair straight. It’s interesting that you want to be “fierce”. I never had much success with that. I do get its value.
I want to be continue to be relevant. Your insight is spot on.
Luci
@luci, I should say, it’s not that I want to be fierce, per se, it is that I am fierce by nature and I do not want to be tamed only to defer as I choose.
I like this better than your previous mid-length (the right term ?) cuts or your previous ideas on cuts . Fierce is good and not pejorative . I’d like to be fierce rather than what I have always been called ie intense or aggressive . Maybe I’m just not civilized enough .
@Rukshana Afia, It is hard to be fierce and civilized at once – I find I have to work on one or the other, cannot make progress on both fronts at once.
You havde great hair and I love the new haircut. Fierce indeed!
@Susan D., Thank you:).
Lovely!
@Theodore, Thanks!
Fierce indeed, lovely haircut!
@Elizabeth, :)
Really nice cut and more in proportion to your slim frame. Kudos!
@Jean Barrett, Thank you! I was starting to feel somewhat dominated by THE BRAID;). And I couldn’t possibly wear it down, too much all over.
The cut looks great on you and I just love the natural color.
@Leslie K, Thank you:). Somehow I feel that when she thinned it the color got better. Might be a wholly imaginary theory of course;).
You have absolutely wonderful hair. In both pictures.
@MaryAnne, Aw xoxox.
“I have come to understand that what I most resist is domestication, trying instead for loyalty, generosity, and insight as hallmarks of virtue.” I am pondering your use of the word ‘domestication’. My resistance is around ‘ordinariness’, is that the same thing? To elaborate, it does not mean that I seek more attention than is my due, in fact, I am largely an introvert who can operate really well for a short time as an extrovert before needing to retreat back into my cave, but ordinariness is something that I have rebelled against since I can remember. To deconstruct for a second, we all live ordinary lives, but it is the attitude we adopt toward these lives, and I agree, loyalty, generosity, particularly generosity of SPIRIT, and definitely insight, are foundational to an authentic life. In my later years, I have come to embrace the concept of authenticity. I have found that the biggest hurdle to overcome in the commitment towards authenticity, is to be comfortable with one’s self. Maya Angelou once told Oprah that her biggest gift to the world was that everyday on her show, she demonstrated how to be herself. That is different for each individual, yet, as we are raised by well meaning parents, so often they crush the individuality out of us so that we conform to societal norms and become ‘acceptable’, usually by using demeaning or shaming tactics. This takes a lot of undoing. Doesn’t matter what you choose, but do it with authenticity. For me, this is the less ordinary life. I am a rebel at heart. A fierce one.
@TJ, It’s a complex idea and I am not 100% sure that I know what I mean by it. I am not so much a rebel as you, but I admire rebels. More that I do not want to be tame, to be cossetted into smugness, to be aligned with forces I don’t understand and don’t agree with.
But yes, I agree it’s about parenting, and growing up, and finally deciding what you want to stand for.
Great cut. and length. The styling is very flattering. I assume the length allows you to sweep it up or tie it back. I like the flexibility. The flat iron makes hair silky and smooth. No unwanted frizz and wave/curl., except for the bump that you placed perfectly. I, too, love my Chi flat iron.
@Susan, Flat irons are genius. And yes, I can put it up easily, and just manage a ponytail.
You have gorgeous hair, and I love it both ways actually.
@KSL, Thank you my friend.
Love it both ways, but can certainly understand the desire for more ease. And you look plenty fierce. :-)
@Susan B., Thank you for advocating for the jeans, I LOVE THEM!
I was not fierce enough when young and am trying to make up for it now, more necessary than ever.
@Cathy, I wish you all the fierce in the world. xoxox. Your fierce will be good for all of us.
This hair cut is GORGEOUS!!
@K-Line, xoxoxoxox
Yes to fierce! Love that. A great goal. Moi aussi.
You are wise to take shorter hair in steps. This looks great. I think you could easily go up to your shoulders and look fabulous. But don’t stray too far higher than that. ;) Let your long(ish) abundant hair swing in the breeze.
xx
~Alex.
@Alexandra Halsey, Thank you fierce comrade!
The style is sleek and smooth and the length is versatile. You look very svelte and it sounds to me like you are very confident in your attitude of fierceness!
@Leslie Lord, Thank you:). I’m not terribly confident, but am working on becoming more so.
I find that I don’t get enough haircuts because I am too busy to get into the stylist, and months go by. That said, I’m hoping to get to shoulder length soon. Or maybe some bangs, but bangs need trims and that takes scheduling. Long hair is fairly easy if you are not a perfectionist, but I’d like to try something shorter. It’s hair, it grows back. I found a local stylist who is independent and who is very kind to my three sons. I don’t care if the haircuts are perfect, I care more now about relationships now than the search for amazing hair. When I was younger I looked for the holy grail stylist, but I don’t think it exists.
@Karen, I think the relationship is what it turns out to be all about, in the end.
Being – and staying – fierce can be exhausting. Not all battles are worth fighting, nor all challenges worth accepting. Choose your own well, and make sure you engage on YOUR terms, not those of another.
That said, a good haircut is worth whatever it takes, and you have certainly succeeded here! Those elegant silvery strands give the crowning touch to your “polished tomboy” look – and will go perfectly with your designer favorites too.
(Feel free to bask in all the praise you’re receiving!)
@Victoire, In my case, it’s more exhausting not to be fierce;).
beautiful!! always looking for new very-slight-wave techniques. will try the “s-curve bump”.
@jane, Hope it’s useful! You and I have not dissimilar hair, I think.
Haircut is great! Don’t know if mine would
grow that long.
Re the other subject: I’m also
considering “eccentricity”
@Gayle Ward, Let’s do it;).
I love your hair both ways, but I like it better after the cut, because it moves more freely. I envy your color. My hair is/was very dark brown. I’d intended to let it gray naturally but as the gray came in it looked terrible. so I have it colored every month (a lighter brown than my old color so the gray/colored strands look like highlights against the remaining darker hair). Fortunately, my stylist uses an oil-based color which is very conditioning and doesn’t smell or irritate skin, so my hair is in good shape. But for the last half of the month I have to touch up roots with a powder, so the whole thing is a burden.
@Marie, I agree, when I am tempted to color again I just think about how annoying the process is.
And that’s exactly what I like about this cut, the way it moves when I walk, it doesn’t hold me down or back.
I have short hair that used to be very curly. Since recent major surgery, it is now straight. Very strange getting used to straight hair. I don’t know how to style it, blow it dry or not, what products to use. . . a whole new world. Yours is beautiful.
@Kathy, Thank you. I hope you are recovering from surgery pretty easily, and I can imagine it would be a whole new world with new hair.
I have always practiced fierce. In old age I have mellowed it somewhat, but I still don’t suffer fools gladly. Stay fierce.
@dkzody, Doing my best, comrade.
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