Short Cuts and Red Lips

Surprise: I cut my hair short again!

My hair is curly and thick, and, in the summer, often feels like I've wrapped my head in a mohair throw. I couldn't take it any longer. I showed up at the salon for a trim, threw my eight pounds of hair over my shoulder, and eyed the scissors longingly. My stylist (Julien Farel, if you're wondering) promised me he could cut a bob that, despite my hair's texture, would be wash-and-go.

I'm not dumb. I've had bobs before, and I've devoted hundreds of hours to disciplining them all with straightening irons because, left to its own accord, my short hair ends up resembling a yield sign. But I decided to take a leap of faith: A) Julien has done magical things with my hair; B) The combination of heat and humidity was starting to give me impromptu dreadlocks; and C) Dreadlocks can work on some people...but are mostly gross.

So I got this cut, below:

It actually almost kind of looks like the style in the photo, so long as I apply a healthy handful of Fekkai Glossing Cream to it every three hours. It also helps if you, like I, are legally blind in one eye. Nevertheless, success! I just have to keep hair products in my purse and maintain a 10' berth around all hoses and sprinklers and, um, rain. But give me credit: I'm not showing up to work with a topknot. (Don't even get me started on topknots. Nubby little topknots are the sweatpants of the hair world.)

However, I was nervous that, besides a triangular head of hair, a bob would put me in the "matronly" zone. (I'm turning 23 on Friday. Therefore, this is a legitimate fear.) Long hair is more feminine—so feminine, in fact, that my grandmother once said I looked like a "sexy hussy," which she meant as an well-intended insult. Insult or not, I was afraid I'd lose that along with the six inches of split ends. The fix? I took a cue from the same photo above and am now married to a dark red lip; my favorite, for both color and wear, is Chanel Rouge Allure Luminous Intense Lip Color in Inimitable. I layer it with balm to dilute the intensity and take the Gaga look down a notch. Note: Don't use lipliner unless you do like the matronly vibe.

Next up: Growing in my eyebrows. Also, posing. And the possibility of rompers. (All inspired by the above photo.)

Photo credit: UFOs Over Baghdad

All About Ombré

The other day, I went ombré.

See! Look! I did it!

I also spent two days trying to decide how I feel about it. I'd never gotten highlights or done anything besides dump a box of red hair dye on my head in college, so it was a bit of a shock. The wonderful Aura Friedman at the Serge Normant at John Frieda salon started the color higher up (just about even with my eye line) to accentuate the layers I hadn't previously appreciated or even really noticed. I love that the effect is really subtle, as we went with a chocolate-toned caramel color. Good to know: if you have dark hair and eyes as well as a warm skin tone, it's a safe rule of thumb to avoid going any lighter than the color of your eyes. Who knew?

What do you think? Would you go ombré? I'm just EXTREMELY relieved that it did not turn out looking like Miley Cyrus's dip-dye job..

Style Set for Spring

This cool, cloudy, and hovering-in-the-50s weather isn't exactly my ideal, but here's the perk: it's perfect for wearing a leather jacket. I have a cropped, black leather jacket that I adore, but Chicago weather was never in-between enough (while I was there, at least) to really use it. It's the Goldilocks of fabric: leather doesn't provide enough warmth for chilly weather, and in anything above 70 degrees, it becomes your personal sauna of sweltering, sticky PAIN. (That's not hyperbolic). Therefore, the past few days in New York have brought glorious moments of just me in my leather jacket.

But let's be real, I'm looking forward to days with my leather jacket and ombré hair. That's right. It's been fashion editor-approved and happening soon. (Actually, my fashion editor is coming with me). (I have severe separation anxiety from which my bosses are not excluded). I've only colored my hair once and accidentally turned it a dark plum shade, so I'm a little apprehensive. However, I love ombré in all of its manifestations, so I figure I should try it out before I'm too old to play with my hair. Are you yay or nay for ombré?

Photo courtesy of: Dulceida, via From Paris to London

Feathered Fancies

I'm going to be up front about this: I'm pining for feather hair extensions. I'm fairly easy on my hair; I dyed it once, a color I thought was auburn but actually closer to an unfortunate shade of purple. My mom convinced me to go back to dark brown by pointing out that my hair didn't match my eyebrows. After that, that was all I could see in the mirror (my mother knows me very well). In comparison, feather hair extensions are a breeze.

However, this desire for feather hair extensions does not mean I want to look like I got on the wrong side of a pack of pigeons or was dragged backwards through the brush. For foolproof feathering, here are a few tips:
1. Neon pink feather extensions look like neon pink feather extensions. They also look as though you tried too hard to fit in when you went to a B-52s concert (in the hopes of hearing Love Shack played live, of course).
2. Therefore, find feathers that are as natural-looking as possible, ideally with shades that riff off your own hair color. This set of five loose feathers can work with anything from dirty blonde to dark brown.
3. Wear feather extensions with your hair loose and casual. These are not for the workplace (unless you're a beauty assistant)(eh, eh?)(just kidding)(kind of). Avoid perching a flock of feathers in upswept hair; a few can be elegant, but the look can turn a bit madcap, à la Marie Antoinette. She wore so many miniature birds in her updos that they had accompanying cages.
4. Don't have time for DIY feather extensions? A pair of long earrings, such as these pearl feather earrings, accomplish the look in seconds.

The key here, as with so many other things, is to keep it subtle. I am not a bird. I'm just a human being with a really big weakness for feathers.
[photo cred here]

About Last Night

I'm dying to show you pictures, but I'm torn (they're embarrassing). My camera fizzled out an hour or two into the crush party and I failed to get a proper photo of the dress. However, I did snag an embarrassing mirror picture with my cell phone to show my handiwork to my mother. First, here's a vaguely respectable photo of myself and my roommates (the theme was Get Your Game On, and, from left to right, we're White Sox fan, Sporcle, Princess Lolly from Candyland, and Jigglypuff), in which you can see my new haircut:

I LOVE IT. The layers are a little funky at the moment, as the stylist completely failed to acknowledge that I wear my hair with a side part (even after I mentioned it) and instead, cut it with a center part in mind. I'll get them to behave eventually. I've had several variations of short hair ever since seventh grade (pixie, bob, grown-out bob, rinse, wash, repeat), and I feel so much more like myself without having eight pounds of wild and uncontrollable curls on my head. Plus, when your grandmother says you look like a "sexy hussy" and doesn't mean it as a compliment, you know it's time to snip.

Here's a picture of the dress, the notoriously MySpace-quality one that gives me horrible flashbacks to high school. I decided that if I Tweeted it, I'd might as well post it here:

Unfortunately, I'm sorry to report that Jigglypuff lost an eye in last night's festivities. Then again, I misplaced my dignity, so I'm calling it even.

Pinned & Tucked

I love when hair has that rough, un-done texture that looks as though you pulled your hair into a tight braid, twisted it over the crown of your head, and then took a fast ride in a little red convertible. The curls framing her face (Mary Kate's? Ashley's? Neither?!) are so sweet, while the little tail of the braid pinned on the side gives it a bohemian feel. I don't use a hairbrush (is that weird?) because I like that my hair's coarseness helps it stay in place when I pull it back into a low, haphazard bun. I might just braid a few strands of my hair and tuck them behind my ear — it's such an easy (read: lazy) way to get a similar look.

P.S. Ahhh, and the v-neck! Sigh. Please style me, Mary Kate/Ashley/neither.


[photo cred to Summer Polaroid Memories via Musings in Femininity]

White, Black, & Caramel

How awesome is that model's hair?! From this angle, it looks like the lovechild of the short Freja Beha Erichsen crop and a ladylike chignon, and I just cannot get enough of it. I'd wax poetic about it a little more, but I'm currently up to my ears in papers and essays and short stories. On the bright side, all of this work is worth the excuse to stay in and curl up with a cup of tea and Adele's new album. I love this time of year; there's all of the coziness of winter, but with the hope that breezy days are just around the corner. Here's to a lovely March!

[photo cred, clockwise from top to Tommy Ton via Style.com, 2, 3, 4] 

Snip Snip

Have you seen Jennifer Aniston's new haircut, the grown-out bob? It makes me want to pick up the scissors and do terrible things. My hair is the longest it's been since seventh grade, when I chopped it into a pixie cut after a particularly devastating Valentine's Day dance, and now I'm itching for something like this. It looks so fresh and ten times more youthful than the classic bob, and I love how beautifully it frames her face. If I were to do it, I'd definitely need some side-bangs action, à la Heidi — mostly because I wouldn't know what to do with my hands if I wasn't constantly brushing my hair out of my face. 

What do you think of Jen's new do? (Allure interviewed her hairstylist, Chris McMillan, here if you're interested in knowing more).

[photo cred to 1, 2]

Braids, Refreshed

Ever since Alexander Wang featured thick, rope-like side braids on his runway, they've been everywhere. Not only is my hair not nearly long enough to rock them, but they remind me of fishtails, which remind me of a time in Barcelona that I was served an entire fish for dinner, scales and all. Lucky for me, I was handed some inspiration from the Cherry Blossom Girl, who opted for a neat, thin braid and the sweet embellishment of a feather:

I love how subtle the braid is; it blends in with the rest of her hair and doesn't make a huge statement so much as add a touch of delicacy. Plus, I've been on A Midsummer's Night Dream kick (so much that my first two children will end up being named Peaseblossom and Mustardseed - probability that they will hate me, about one hundred percent) and a sweet feather or bright ribbon would indulge this obsession quite nicely. I'd even like to braid several small strands before pulling my hair back into a messy bun; it seems like it would be such a simple way to handle grown-out bangs. I'm definitely going to take advantage of this, although I may leave out the feather once I start my internships.

[photo cred to The Cherry Blossom Girl]