Hair-Much Depper than the Root

Tonight I spent time with a very sweet old woman. Due to a history of pain medication, her hair has been thinning for a number of years. When asked what she was doing in town, she answered that tomorrow she has an appointment at a wig store. As she began to recall when she was younger and had "such a head of hair...too much hair," the look in her eyes was enough to tell anyone listening that she is in fact, mourning. It was so incredibly inspiring that she had traveled in from a town three hours away in an effort to regain some of the spark in her eye that may have been lost with the disintegration of her once luscious hair.

This inspired me to get on here and do some research regarding wigs and other hair options for women dealing with such an emotional loss. Those who think I'm getting too grim here, do not kid yourselves. A woman's hair is her livelyhood; and if she once had beautiful locks only to be lost to the harsh realities of aging or illness, the pain she is feeling from the loss of confidence, self-image and pride, is paramount.

With the outstanding number of cancer patients and survivors, faux hair is an industry growing at a fast pace. And due to the high expectations that every woman facing this battle has the right to have (like our friend Samantha here), wigs and hair pieces are becoming more and more versatile. Further, the endless options allow the woman to express herself through her locks (see: Samantha again, below).
To learn more about hip and trendy wigs, click here.


You know when you see one of your girl-friends who has let her hair get abnormally long, with split ends Edward Scissorhands couldn't fix, she is bound to reply "Locks of Love", when you ask what is going on north of her neck. Locks of Love is an amazing organization that donates human hair to children whose sickness has resulted in hair loss. The donation of human hair has become increasingly popular, and there are numerous organizations out there such as Pantene's Beautiful Lengths, and The Fuschsia Foundation (See also a new link at the bottom of this page under I Likey) that can provide more information for those interested, in both acquiring and donating hair.

For any woman reading this suffering from hair loss of any magnitude, your feeling of loss is deserved - but it can be helped! Talk to someone who will understand (and FYI, 99% of women will), because regardless of healthy hair or not, any woman, straight, lesbian, bi-sexual; black or white; thin or chubby...or somewhere in between, knows how a woman feels, when she walks out of her house on a Monday morning after a fight with her boyfriend to a job that bores her to tears, and a boss she loathes, with an ear-to-ear smile because her hair looks kick-ass.

"A woman's healthy hair is an incredible instrument of self-expression, defining her self-image in a way that almost no other physical attribute can. " -Anon.

Blue, PInk...Baby Shower or Hair Color?

Tonight I saw Bride Wars with one of my girl-friends. Whether or not you have seen this uber chick-flick, you have no doubt caught a preview, so it's no secret that in the midst of the "War," Kate Hudson ends up with some blue streaks. And I'm not gonna lie, I kinda liked it.

Long may be the days of us dipping some strands of hair into koolaid for a weeklong expression of teenage rebellion, while rocking out to Smells Like Teen Spirit, however, a sublte yet bold touch of color can be the ultimate accessory, not to mention look ridiculously awesome...if done right.

Let us not forget when Rachel McAdams showed up to the 2007 SAG awards donning bright pink highlights. I absolutely LOVED when she went through this phase. Picture how she would look sans pink in this photo...not so special anymore, huh? The color brings out her eyes, and emmanates that bubbly personality we all love in Wedding Crashers.
And to the brunettes in the room, have no fear - the pink will look absolutely fabulous with your coloring as well (See pic below).

When it comes to coloring, I am an all out advocate for professional treatments-especially if it's something like pink. You dont want to try this out on your own for the first time, with the post-rinse having you look like a Halloween Adventure employee. If I were to do something on my own, I would try some extensions. This is a sure-fire way to ensure you don't have to leave the house if the pink doesn't work for you as well as it does for Miss McAdams. ..and you can always return them for money, or use them for a future bachelorette party. Plus, extensions give you the opportunity to experiement with more than one color.

If you're up for the challenge, try Francesco & Giovanni Salon in Trooper, PA (near Norristown). As one happy customer said "For my 50th birthday I wanted pink highlights in my hair. Jen understood exactly what I wanted and the result was beautiful. Thank you Francesco & Giovanni!!"

My love affhair - get it??

On my way to a hair appoinment, I got into a car accident. Crying, shocked and shooken up, I took out my cell phone to make my first phone call...to my salon to make sure they could still take me if I was late.

I was genetically programmed to love hair. As you can see from the photo (to be posted soon) I had no choice. With a mass of black hair at only minutes old, I was destined to a lifetime of trials and tribulations, a love/hate relationship with the coif my parents chromosomes created. As a toddler, I would play with my mom's hair for hours with the end result being a Rudy Huxtable double. The first haircut I can re-call, I declared to mom I wanted my hair "shaped" (it was the 80's), and I remember being extremely dissapointed I did not emerge from the salon with a triangular shaped head of locks. Right before my boobs and first shaving days, I begged my mom for a perm-she said no and that soon enough I would have my own curls. She was right-within months I looked like Alanis Morisette circa 1996 electricuted (sp? again) a couple of times. When I was 15, my equally hair obssesed mother forced me to get highlights. The minute the thin piece of foil wrapped around a few loose strands of my hair, I heard the cash register check out on my soul. It started out with a few strands, the following 8-10 weeks, a few more, and since then, I have been brunette with blonde strands, brunette with caramel strands, gothic black, gothic black with light brown lowlights (I didn't leave the house for four nights), totally blonde, blonde with lowlights...foils, painting, chunking. I've had it relaxed. I've had bangs. I've cut it short, I've let it get down to my ass. I wear it curly. I wear it straight. And 4:1, I go back to the salon for them to fix what I've asked for. I don't understand why, when I bring in a picture of Jennifer Aniston, they can't make my hair look EXACTLY like hers. I spend at least 12 minutes in a salon bathroom studying each and every strand and missed broken end after a treatment, and then proceed to do so at every mirror on my way out to get the various lightings effect on my new do'. I've had $350 hair treaments, and $10 ones; I've used $65 hair products, and $5 ones. In the past 12 years, I have been to at least 16 salons, switching every other treatment.

Golden Globes, Oscars-yes, I am in awe of the fashions, but what I'm really looking at is the hair-a girls most under-valued accessory. Loose curls, blowouts, updos, braided buns; blondes, red-heads, brunettes. Is their color au-natural? If high/low lights, where are they placed? Chunky or streaky? Bangs: side swept or eyes. Slicked back sleek pony,or long loose waves? Hairbands? Jewls?

And of course, after all the cuts, colors, heat, products-is my hair still alive?

My point being ladies (and those men who are intelligent enough to practice safe haircare) I am here to help! Let's talk about trends, products, highlights, trims, bangs, ponytails, updos, and people who need our help! So get rid of that hair chompy (kudos to my bff Rachel for the term) and let down your inhibitions along with that beautfiul head of hair!