Give me it down to there... or here.

Once my mother realized her youngest (me) of five had more natural curl than the rest of the tribe, she became concerned about the proper way to deal with the possible, unruly mop about to sprout out of my follicles. I don't know if it was a magazine article or her hairdresser friend, Jo, who advised her, "cut it short and keep it short!", but that's how I ended up with what was called a "Pixie" haircut for the first 11-13 years of my life.

How I hated my short hair! I begged and pleaded on a regular basis, "PLEASE can I let my hair grow?!"--repaying my mother's good intentions with the kind of mental (verbal) torture I felt she was imposing on me. My sisters, who were 12 & 13 years older than I, would try and coax my short hair into the latest fashion, but a sixth grader definitely doesn't feel like she's fitting in when her hair looks like it belongs on someone 12 years older.

Since that wonderful day when I finally was given the okay to grow out my hair, the length has continued to change--ever so moderately. When N and I met, it was at it's longest--just at my shoulders. In the past 32.5years, the hair has mostly been short, though I have grown it out over my ears 3-4 times.

Just recently, I decided I want a softer look now that I'm older and accumulating more gray. Karyn, who styles my hair, has a wonderful way with crafting and sculpting my unruly locks. As long as I have her, I think I can keep it the length it is now. What else has made this latest change fairly easy? Product.

I began with Karyn's favorite, Bed Head's Manipulator. It was okay, but I couldn't find a balance between applying it too heavy or too light. After that I experimented with Bed Head's Curls Rock. I really liked what it did for my curls, but I suspected it was causing my face to break-out. Now I've landed on my third and favorite product in Bed Head's Foxy Curls line--the mousse. It's my favorite by far. First I towel dry my hair, get a (approximately) 2"x3" dollop of mousse in my hands, hang my head upside down, smush it evenly throughout my hair, then work it in fairly well. Finally, I begin scrunching, while my head is still upside down. Every 15 minutes or so, while I'm getting ready for my day, I'll continue to give it a scrunch here and there.

I'm enjoying the ease and finally learning how to make use of these curls of mine. Maybe in another 50 some years I'll have this hair figured out. Maybe.