hair twisting: my new do (diy!)

For the past year or so I've been trying to find "cute" and different ways to keep my hair pulled up  and outta my face for work.  I embrace an occassional braid, low buns, messy buns, pontails and headbands.   I figured out how to do this twisty thing and am loving it lately.  Thought I'd share.

1. part hair on the side into two pigtail like sections.
2. take one side and, starting at the top/front, twist the hair, gradually incorporating more and more hair as you rotate from the front to the back of your head.
3. secure the twist with a clip at the nape of your neck while you do the other side.
4. messy bun the two sides together when both twists are complete!
5.  Viola!

 

hair dos for doctors

My hair is pretty long these days...for a couple reasons:

1.  I have no extra cash for a fancy haircut
2.  I have no extra time to actually go get a haircut
3.  I like having long hair - despite the fact that I look a little more granola girl than polished professional

Given my current long locks, I have been sporting lots of ponytails and messy low buns to work. I also do this side-part  half french-braid thing a lot lately.  But I need some new ideas.  I find that leaving my hair down at work is pretty gross - so up it must go.  Any ideas? 

I like these. 

how i do this curly hair o'mine

out on phx...with my everyday hair.

I posted last week about our rehearsal dinner - a day I was having a particularly delightfully good hair day.  I got a few emails and comments about it...asking what products I use and such.  Figured I would share...as I'm missing my curly locks right about now.  The past 2 months of residency has forced my hair style to be one of two things....  in a ponytail or in a french braid...away from my face and out of my patient's faces.   I feel like a bit of a scrub.  Oh well...

ANYWAY.

My FAVE hair products are Aveda.  THE SMELL!! ohmygod.  I think that's what Heaven is going to smell like (if you by some chance don't know what I'm talking about...just walk into an Aveda salon at your mall...you will understand.)  Aveda products are wickedly PRICEY...so I only purchase the three items that pack the biggest punch for me.  I only need a small amount in my hair, so I only have to replace them about twice per year.

I use be curly, phomollient, and sometimes the volumizing tonic.

Why I love these products:  my hair looks natural, and my curls are soft.  I'm not a fan of the wet-looking crispy curl look...I rocked that in junior high.  Now I embrace volume a lot more :-)   I use a dime size amount of the "be curly" and scrunch it in my hair, then I use 3 pumps of the "phomollient" and scrunch it in the hair, and every now and then when I use the "volumizing tonic" I'll spray it at the roots. 

a lil wild...lots of volume...somewhat frizzy...this is my hair most days.

 I can make the frizz go away easy enough, by using a diffuser when I blow dry.  Except, I don't really blow dry very often.  I only wash my curly hair every three days.  Day 1 I wear it down and curly, day 2 I wear it half up/half down, day 3 is ponytail (sometimes I pull a day four and make it a messy bun at the nape of my neck.)

this is what i refer to as sleek curls...where they are defined and smoooooooth.

To make my hair curly sleek - only for the most SPECIAL of occasions - I take small sections of hair and wrap it around the barrel of a small curling iron for a second.  Viola!  Sleek curls.  These curls last for a solid 3 days....4 if I really really push it.

What curly hair products do you use?  I'm thinking about using a curling shampoo and conditioner once the gigantic bottles of shampoo/conditioner I currently have finally run out.  Any thoughts??

the hair

One Love Photo

Remember my hair style "trial run" disaster?  Thankfully, I found out that I needed a different hair stylist for my wedding.  I toyed around with the idea of doing it myself...of just wearing it down and curly...or in a curly ponytail.  BUT.  I wanted something special...and I was advised to wear it up (due to the potentially WINDY conditions on the mountaintop...thank goodness I did because it DID get windy!!)

I went to an adorable little local salon, Ciao Bella...and the stylist, Rischa, opened the salon specially for me (they are typically closed on Sunday!)  She loosely pinned back my curls...she made it look effortless...and it was pretty.  The curls didn't blow away in the wind...and it stood up pretty well to my dance moves.  Couldn't ask for more than that!

major hair trial FAIL

*actually...this last picture isn't sooooo bad...I love the flower!!!  Except, the pic is not a true reflection of what the style really looks like...perhaps is the angle?  and the straight on photos were so laughable I refuse to post them on the world wide web...so...just take my word for it - it sucked*

Yuckity yuck yuck.

My four hour round trip escape up to Flagstaff yesterday proved to be very educational.  I am clearly more opinionated about my hair than I thought...as I hate what the lady did with mine.  To be honest, I've learned, through this whole wedding ordeal, that I am more opinionated about MOST things, more so that I really thought I was.  I care about details.  I'm slightly bummed about that - I wish I could just breeze by and not care about it all.

But I care after all.  And I did not care for "my style."  Granted...it wasn't the worst thing ever, but it didn't feel "good" and I felt super silly, instead of pretty.   Picture me with 1990's prom hair.  I swear I rocked this same exact style to the Winter Formal in 1996. 

I took in these pictures:  (low curly bun)

aaaaaand instead of a lower curly bun,  I got curls on the top of my head...and in the back of my head.  The saving grace of the experience was the rad little flower piece with twigs from duplume.  It looked cute!  But the rest?  Made me laugh. 

So now I'm in a bit of a quandary.   I have a different stylist that has been recommended to me (by a couple different people!) and so I am interested in contacting her...but there will be no trial run...what she does is what she does that day!  Or...do I stick with the lady that did my hair, and just cross my fingers she listens to my pleas next time?  OOORRRR...do I practice like a mad woman for the next 11 days and try to do my hair myself?

stupid stupid stupid.

*note: someone mentioned in the comments how I could look so "happy" in those pictures even though I was grumpy with the result.  Well...honestly...my sister and I were laughing about it's ridiculousness.  But the stylist just thought I was experiencing "bridal glow" (she said that..."bridal glow"...made it even more hysterical to me!)  

oooo...a new hair do

 

I'm not going to lie, I can barely handle looking at Style Me Pretty any more.  It's just too intimidating... everything is just toooooo perfect....toooo swanky....tooo elaborate.  I go back and forth on wanting to delete it from my google reader.  Yet, I can't part with it because every once in a while I'll give it a browse.  

Good thing I didn't delete it...because this carefully executed fake wedding with professional models led me to a hairstyle I really like!

As in - I'm really digging this fake-bride's curly do.  A lot!!  Hello dream wedding hair.

 

curly locks

...before we were engaged...at Tommy's best friend's wedding...

One October day in '08, I decided that I needed a change...booked a morning appointment at the best salon in Tempe...and proceeded to chop off allllll 14" of my hair.  I had never had such short hair...ever.  I donated it of course...and loved my new haircut!!  It was a surprise to everyone, I didn't even tell Tommy I was doing it - I just went and did it.

 with my sisters in Tempe - a couple weeks after the chop.

I loved it!  The short hair was fun, and looked a lot more professional in my white doctor coat - my hair wasn't in a ponytail everyday - and I got mad compliments on it all the time. 

Then we decided we wanted to get married.  And I wanted my long locks back.  And I got sad I cut my hair in the first place (kinda silly because I did like my short hair...the grass is always greener I guess??)   And I finally have come to grips that my hair won't be back for the wedding. *silent tear*

So an up-do is in order.  And perhaps a professional wedding hair person...because I absolutely cannot do anything but ponytails. 

I think I'll keep my hair long for awhile...once it reaches it's appropriate place at the middle of my back.

ponytail bride

here

I was watching Gray's Anatomy recently and was totally struck with Izzy's glorious ponytail. It was effortless and oh so lovely. I'm sortof obsessed now. I like this ponytail look... it's elegant and fuss free - words I live by (except I don't always nail "elegant"...I DEF got fuss free down to an art.)

here

(I posted this because it's verrrrry pretty....but I can't honestly say I'm a "side ponytail" kinda girl. I like a normal pony, and then bring the hair over the shoulder I think...but the "other" kind of side pony...yea...I just don't know if that's entirely my style...hummm...I might be over-analytical)

here

a lil crimp action is way fun...maybe not for my vows...but certainly for the bars!

here

here

So sleek!

here

here

These styles just look so smart!

via here

No really...isn't this so sweet?

hair garlands

housemartin

Oh how pretty would these be on a forest bride!?

ONE MORE DAY to enter for 125 INVITATIONS! HERE! HERE!

how do i make my hair do this?

I love how it's loose and slightly unruly...it's not trying too hard to be perfect.

I have curly hair to work with...it's not tight curls, they are more big loose curls with a huge load of frizz mixed in (I'm not complaining...frizz has it's moments of looking good on me). It looks like these styles would totally work with my hair if I want to wear it up and back...which I think I will. Doesn't a bride with hair pulled back have such a classic look? I have thought about straightening it and pulling it back...but I have curly hair...I want to look like myself for my wedding day.

Taylor Swift has the most glorious hair.

I don't know if I'd do both flowers and a tiara...actually, I don't do tiaras.
(except at prom...9 years ago)

Looks pretty with a low flower.

I like the front of this style.

my hair chop

here

I think perhaps I mentioned that I used to have wicked long curly blondish hair? I chopped it allll off this past October and just recently am I able to wear it in a ponytail. I loved it super short and sassy....it was really cute. It's sortof in that awkward stage right now where it's not defined with a cute haircut...it's shoulderish length. When I see pictures like this, it makes me wish I could instantly have my long locks again. I wonder how long it can get by next May??