Despite many false starts (And I mean MANY - The Bicycle Thief, Mr. Married and Dating, Harry a.k.a Hairy, and most recently BB Musician) I have for some insane reason made a date for this weekend. A blind date. Yeah, I know. Pray for me.
But, I have to admit, that I’m actually kind of excited about this one. On paper he sounds darn near perfect for me – 30’s, single dad, owns a nightclub downtown, and from the pictures I’ve seen has biceps the size of regulation basketballs. We’ve emailed a few times and I tried to play the patient gal, waiting for him to ask me out. Subtly hinting that I finished my latest book, ergo, I’ll be free this weekend. Casually mentioning that I have no plans on Saturday. Blatantly pointing out that after my stint in the deadline cave, I need a night out on the town. Finally, I gave up on patient. I’m so not the patient kind of girl. Instead, I took my imaginary cahones in my hands and asked him out myself. I suggested a movie, in my opinion the perfect blind date activity. If the in-person image measures up and I actually like him, there’s nothing sweeter than holding hands in a dark movie theater. And if it doesn’t, at least I get a good movie out of the deal and I’m saved having to make inane conversation for an hour over dinner. A little jadded, I know (see list of failed dates above), but it works. So, without beating around the bush, I came out and asked if he’d like to go see a movie with me this weekend. And, he said yes! (I love it when they do that.)
So, in preparation for my blind date, I decided I wanted to look my best. A little waxing here, a little nail polish there. Then I came to my hair. It’s naturally a goldy blonde color, but after a summer of sunshine and pool water, it’s started to turn a super platinum pale that’s bordering on Casper colored. Not great. So, I decided to try to darken it a shade back to my real color. Only the salon couldn’t get me in until next week. Too late. I needed fabulousness now. So, I bought a great coloring kit at the drugstore, figuring, how hard can it be, right? I brought it home, followed the directions, rinsed and dried my hair and looked in the mirror. Oh. My. God. For some odd reason the “Golden Natural Blonde” dye had turned my hair green. Green!
I freaked, shampooing my hair like a mad woman. I think I emptied an entire bottle of shampoo in two days before I realized a) it was not going to wash out and b) the weekend was fast approaching. So, back to the drugstore I go, pick up a “Very Light Natural Blonde” box and try to bleach out some of the green. Another 25 minutes with the ammonia smell on my head and I do the rinse, dry, look in the mirror thing again. Thank God, I was no longer a Martian. BUT, my usually curly hair was now a thin, limp, curtain of frizz. The bleaching had completely damaged my hair! More freaking, even a few tears this time. I frantically call the salon – nope, still no openings until next week. Their best advise, wear a hat. Lots of tears at this point. I frantically search the internet for damaged hair solutions. Immediately dismissing the mayonnaise head thing (ewwww!) I doused my hair in castor oil last night. It’s a little better today but still looking very, very sad. And not a curl in sight. So not the kind of hair that will win over a hot nightclub owner with basketball sized biceps. I’m envisioning me now going on his list of failed dates as Miss Frizz. Please tell me one of you has a miracle hair remedy? Help!
I freaked, shampooing my hair like a mad woman. I think I emptied an entire bottle of shampoo in two days before I realized a) it was not going to wash out and b) the weekend was fast approaching. So, back to the drugstore I go, pick up a “Very Light Natural Blonde” box and try to bleach out some of the green. Another 25 minutes with the ammonia smell on my head and I do the rinse, dry, look in the mirror thing again. Thank God, I was no longer a Martian. BUT, my usually curly hair was now a thin, limp, curtain of frizz. The bleaching had completely damaged my hair! More freaking, even a few tears this time. I frantically call the salon – nope, still no openings until next week. Their best advise, wear a hat. Lots of tears at this point. I frantically search the internet for damaged hair solutions. Immediately dismissing the mayonnaise head thing (ewwww!) I doused my hair in castor oil last night. It’s a little better today but still looking very, very sad. And not a curl in sight. So not the kind of hair that will win over a hot nightclub owner with basketball sized biceps. I’m envisioning me now going on his list of failed dates as Miss Frizz. Please tell me one of you has a miracle hair remedy? Help!
~Trigger Happy Halliday
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21 comments:
OH MY! That is a bit of a disaster! I wish I had some real "it works!" suggestion for you, but I don't dye my hair. However, when mine dried out from chlorine as a fine my mom always had me do the V05 hot oil treatments on my hair. Don't know if that will help or not.
If you can't get it looking super by date time, you can always try making a funny story of the experience for him!
GOOD LUCK!
Oh dear! I have no clue what could help, but I hope you find something.
Gemma, I can't believe this stuff actually happens to you. You're your own "I Love Lucy" show. I know absolutely nothing about hair (I'm a total wash-n-go girl), but do you think you'd be able to use some Frizz-Ease kind of product, then blow dry with a round brush so it's straight and then use the brush to turn the ends under and give you some body. Try to pull off smooth and sleek instead of just limp?
No matter what, though, I can't see how you'd fail to win this guy over.
~Leah
Awe, thanks Leah. I may try to do sleek and straight, since curly and cute just is not happening right now.
Thanks for the VO5 tip, Cory! I'll try that, too.
And if all else fails, I’m going shopping for a new pair of boots this afternoon. Maybe if the shoes are fab enough it will distract from the hair?
~Gemma
Hi, Gemma!
Definitely go with the hot oil thing. It's worked wonders for me. Years ago, I had a similar thing happen with mine - I had a blind date with this guy I really liked from lots of phone conversations. I'd dyed my hair myself (big, BIG mistake), went to Santa Barbara for the weekend, laid out on the beach and goofed. Sunday night my hair was the consistency of straw.
And not very attractive straw, either.
The hot oil, lots of de-frizzer stuff, hot rollers - it looked fab when I was done. (Did I mention the several glasses of wine I'd had during? LOL.)
I hope you have a wonderful time with the new guy - we all expect a full report upon your return!
Faye
Yikes! No offense, but sounds like a dark movie theater was a good choice after all!!
Try the hot oil and if sleek and straight doesn't work out, I vote for an up-do with big pretty earrings and eye makeup to draw attention away.
And definitely get the boots. You deserve them!!!
Ouch, Gemma! I emailed my hairdresser/friend to ask about a fix and she immediately called and asked, "What did you do???" She did my color last week. When I told her what you did, she suggested a fix she's used:
Combine two tablespoons each of rinse-out conditioner, a leave-in conditioner, a deep conditioner and a hair mask.
Comb the mixture through clean, damp hair and keep most of the product on mid-shaft down to the ends.
Soak two big towels, wring them out and heat one in a microwave for 1-2 minutes. Keep checking on it to make sure it's okay to touch, but also steamy warm.
Wrap your hair in the first hot towel while you heat the second towel in microwave.
Alternate wrapping hair in hot/warm towels about 3-4 times.
Only do this once a week. The hair can't absorb any more conditioner without it going limp. Also, avoid washing your hair every day as the water itself is drying.
Hope this helps! (I still don't think my friend is convinced it isn't me doing this.)
Bless your heart. Take a picture of yourself so you can say, "I don't normally look like this...this is what I normally look like".
Good luck
MNy hair has a lot of frizz and not the nice ones, and I don't know the answer for nice curls... hope you find something and share it:)
PS: Angie, that was research!!!
I can't help, I have never dyed my hair, never bleached it and never had disasters... anyway the samll minor ones only. I like to keep my black hair intact with its natural curls thank you!
I can't help you there, but good luck on your blind date. What movie are you planning to see?
Gemma -
I have curly hair too, that tends to frizz and fry under certain conditions. When it's bad I use Redken Butter Treat intensive conditioner. Wash your hair, leave the conditioner on for about a 1/2 hour. For a really deep treatment, use a shower cap to heat the conditioner while it is on. If you don't have a shower cap you can always use a plastic bag over your hair.
Wash out the conditioner after the 1/2 hour and hopefully you will have your cute & curly hair back.
I hope this helps. Good luck!
Shel
wow lots of suggestions but everything seems time consuming - I think I would have looked for another hair salon lol. Can't wait to hear about your date!
The other option would be to distract him with your cleavage!!! LOL
Hi Gemma,
My mom likes using Biosilk to defrizz her hair.
Hugs, Danette
Gemma,
Poor thing. Nothing kicks like a bad hair day on blind date.
You are going to fill us in on the date, aren't you? Bad hair or not, I want to know.
Crime Scene Christie
I hope that your treatment with the hot oil worked out well. Best of luck on the date and enjoy.
Gemma, you're probably too busy hot oiling and deep conditioning to read this, but if those suggestions don't work, I'd find another salon that could style your hair for you. The blow-out sleek and straight style would be much easier for them to achieve than it would be for you to do on your own. Plus, you get the benefit of relaxing with a glass of wine (if the salon's my kind of place, that is) instead of fighting with your hair while bent at the waist! Good luck!
Kate
Thank you everyone for your advice. I’m going to spend the day following it!
Angie – thank you so much for sacrificing your hair’s reputation by asking your hairdresser! I’m so going to do the hot towels thing today.
Dru – I figured I’d let him pick the movie. Usually I’m not so accommodating, but the last two I’ve picked have been real duds. If it’s awful, I’d rather it be his fault. :)
Shel – I’m going to pick up some of the Redkin Butter today!
Yes, I will totally fill you all in on the date. If there is a date. :/ I haven’t been able to get a hold of him and, well, it’s the weekend already. But, to be honest, I’m not in a hurry at this point. If I don’t see him until Monday, that’s just more time for my poor hair to recover! Thanks again for all the great advice – I knew I could count on you ladies!
~Gemma
I'm probably late chiming in here, Gemma, but I wanted to second a suggestion Shel already gave. I get a bad case of the frizzies about two weeks into a perm and I swear by the Redken butter treatment conditioner. I start out using it every other day for a week, then back off to once a week for about a month and then down to once a month. It really works well and doesn't cost an arm and a leg.
Hope your re-'do' goes well--along with the date! Good luck!
~Kathy a/k/a 'Bullet Hole'~
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