I got brave a few months ago and cut my hair.  I maintained that length for a while, but this past week I cut it a little shorter.  While I liked having longer hair, the change has been exactly what I needed.  I've been looking for some products to make my hair look like "Pinterest Hair," and I think I've found a few new bottles to add to my hair care collection.  

I got a couple of gift cards from Beauty Brands for Christmas, and it was literally the perfect gift because I love this store.  So with my new haircut, I decided to try to some products.
amika Touchable Hairspray - While I've been a loyal Big Sexy hairspray customer for years and years, I love this hairspray from amika because it's not as heavy as Big Sexy and is great to use if you want some movement with a flexible hold.  I've become a huge fan of amika products lately, continually using their dry shampoo, texture spray, and straightening balm.  

Moroccanoil Shampoo and Conditioner - I don't usually do the "expensive shampoo" thing because, after all, it's just soap for your hair.  However, I've learned over the years that the better the shampoo, the better your hair looks and feels after washing it.  I had heard great things about the Moroccanoil line and decided to try out a shampoo and conditioner in the travel size (because who wants to try a bottle of shampoo at $28 a pop).  After using the shampoo and conditioner my hair has felt great, and hasn't had any "winter frizz."  I'll probably invest in the regular size bottles soon.

With no new house on the horizon yet, it's nice to have a change.  Even if it is just my hair.  Look for my perfect Pinterest hair coming to a pin near you soon!

I've had the same hairstyle for most of my life.  I can count on one hand how many times my hair has been dyed.  It's been permed once (and that was one time too many).  It's been trimmed a little, and trimmed a lot.  It's been fixed by a professional when things have gone wrong, and now it's starting to change colors on it's own.

I've always had a love/hate relationship with my hair.  It's very thick and wavy, and while it does have some natural curl, it's at times hard to manage.  It wasn't until I found "professional salon products" that I was actually able to care for and manage my hair.

So this is my hair journey, the good, the bad, and the worst.  Aren't you excited?  You should be.  Here's a little hair evolution:

{Hot rollers.  Getting ready for my first dance recital.}

{Age 5 with baby bangs.}

{3rd grade.  Thick bangs and flyaways.}

My hair has always been super thick.  For the first decade of my life, my hair was long and left to it's own demise.

Around age 10, we (probably my mom and I) decided a shorter haircut would look good.  So, we chopped off several inches, leaving my thick hair to "mushroom" out.  Yes.  I had that haircut.  I'm not even going to show you a picture of that.

I would let my hair grow back out over the next several years, going back to my old look of long and unruly.

{Middle school look.}

{Discovering hot rollers.}

The summer before my freshman year of high school I decided I needed a change, ushering in the first of two phases of "short haircut Angela."  I chopped off probably eight inches for that cute "stacked" look from the late 90's.  Unfortunately, my hair was super thick and wavy so that "stacked" look really just looked messy and wavy a lot of the time.

{Freshman year look.}

What do you do when your hair is short and won't "stack?"  You perm it of course.  True story.  You can use your imagination on this one too.  

You know that girl who has to completely change her hairstyle after a traumatic experience (a break-up perhaps)?  Yeah, I'm that girl.  A few months after perming my short hair, I completely chopped it off into a pixie cut (phase two of "short haircut Angela).  I didn't think of how this boyish haircut would look on my small boyish frame, or how it would look with my expensive Christmas Ball dress.  This haircut would take a couple of years to grow back out.  I learned I'm not a short hair person.  That was the last time my hair was that short.

{The "pixie" after it had grown out a bit.  I can't even.  I just can't.}

I didn't touch my hair again until freshman year of college.  My roommate was coloring her hair at the bathroom sink and I thought, I should do that.  So, I bought 3 boxes of haircolor (because of my thick hair) in a color 4 shades lighter than my own color.  Wouldn't you know it, my hair turned orange.  I mean orange.

{Orange hair don't care.  Also shout out to my college besties.}

So, during Christmas break I had someone "fix" my orange hair and also take a little length off.  I came back to college with black hair that was way shorter than I had wanted.  Hairstylist fail.  I did try to dye my own hair again eventually, this time going a bit darker.  My hair looked no different after, so I was pretty much done dying my hair after that.

{Who hasn't dyed their hair while wearing a trash bag?}

A couple of years later, I was looking for a hairstylist in my college town, when one of my classmates suggested a salon.  I should've known better when the place was called "Mojo Pie."  I mean, what is that?  The girl cutting my hair got to work and all was going great until she cut my hair into a mullet.  I wish I was kidding.  It was short in the front and long in the back.  I cried for weeks and wore my hair in a ponytail for two full months.  Every.  Single.  Day. The only thing worse than having a mullet, is growing out a mullet.

{After the mullet had grown out a bit.}

Don't forget the time I cut my own bangs.

I vowed to never cut my hair again.  I didn't really, for several years.  Luckily I found an excellent hairstylist in St. Louis who kept me looking great, even though I was very sporadic in my visits.  I was probably the worst hair client ever, only coming in once or twice a year.  Enter, the year of long long hair.

{A few months before "the big cut.}

It had probably been 10 months or longer since my last haircut when I decided to donate it.  I would grow it out as long as I could, until I couldn't take it anymore.  Then, I would cut it and donate it.  A few months later, when my hair was getting caught in the waistband of my pants (and my thick heavy hair was causing major headaches literally), I made the cut.  I think I lost 11 or 12 inches in length, and my hair was the shortest it had been in years.  Read about that haircut here.

{Right after the cut.}

Since "the big cut," I've maintained a normal length (for me), my hair has decided to lighten itself (I've got a natural ombre going on you guys), and after having Katherine about half of it fell out (I totally freaked).  Thankfully, my horrendous post baby thinning hair grew back over time.  I will never take for granted my thick hair again.  Probably.  

{Current hair.}

I wish I was brave enough to completely change my hair color, but I'm not that brave.  Plus, I don't want it to turn orange again.

I’ve always had very thick hair. It’s thicker than just about anyone else’s I know. When I was little, it was a huge burden for me and my mother. My mother would fix my hair every morning resulting in physical pain for me and emotional pain for her.

As I got older, I learned how to fix my own hair in the best way I could. I became very good at it and would get compliments on my hair daily. I would eventually consider my hair my best asset. Very few people had hair like mine.

I first got the idea to donate my hair to Locks of Love a few years ago. My hair had almost always been long. After a brief “short” phase in high school, I continued to keep my hair longer. A little over a year ago, I decided to actually go through with it. I started growing my hair out longer than usual.

After a year of not cutting it at all, my hair came down to the waist band of my pants. It was by far the longest it had ever been in my life. While I enjoyed having long luscious hair for a while, I eventually became annoyed by it and knew it was time. Unfortunately I was always chickening out. I was second guessing myself. I had spent so much time growing it out that I hated to lose it. My vanity was taking over my good will.

Then one day while I was at work, a young woman came into the store where I worked. She was very skinny and frail looking, and had a hat covering her bald head. She in fact had cancer. As she proceeded try on different hats it hit me like a ton of bricks; I had to cut my hair so that people like her could have hair again. That day I made an appointment to cut my hair off. She was here trying on cute hats to cover her head and I had more than enough hair to share.

Last Thursday, I cut 11 inches off of my head. I was amazed how much lighter I felt. Once the hair was gone, I didn’t think about it again.

I love my new haircut and I love the idea of giving someone with cancer a chance to feel better about this terrible time in their life. I was blessed with thick hair so why not share the blessing?