New year, new do!

Day 7 of 2013 is almost done and I'm still feeling remarkably optimistic. Well, despite the fact I just heard our very good friends in Victoria, John & Debbie, have decided to call it quits (really sorry to hear that news) AND I dropped my much-loved ipod down the loo at the gym yesterday. Crap! (Well, not literally. As luck would have it the loo was freshly-flushed and I hadn't even used it yet. Sorry, too much information, I know.) Thankfully it survived, a little soggy but largely unscathed and I even got it working again only to drop it a second time shortly thereafter and watch in horror as the back smashed open and its guts spilled out onto the carpet. I LOVE my Ipod, it's perhaps my favourite tech gadget ever, and I'm already mourning its loss. It's presently sitting at home with the back off in hope the insides might completely dry out and, by some miracle, maybe it'll be revived...though I have my doubts and suspect it kenne tek na moore, Cap'n and has indeed gone to meet its maker. I know there's the Ipod feature built into my Iphone but it's just not the same, besides I've also lost all my playlists now :-( Bugger!!!!

Anyhooo, in other news, I haven't really made any resolutions for this year other than to stop procrastinating - hopefully I'll even get around to it before the year's out. I'm sure there are more plans I could/should come up with but I haven't really stopped and put my mind to it yet. Hmmm, need to think more on that one.

Mind you, I did already take advantage of the current promotion at Vancouver Photo Workshops' Open House event next weekend and have signed myself up for 3 seminars:

1. B&W Long Exposures
2. Speedlights
3. Creative Lighting

So I guess that's not a bad start.

Other than that, I decided - on Jan. 1st - to give myself a new do for the new year and tried my first ever Colora Henna Cream ($8.99). I've used their henna powder from time-to-time over the past 10 years but never the cream, since they don't do it in my favourite colour, Red Sunset, so I opted for (what I thought would be) a fairly close match, Auburn. While the cream is much less messy to use than the big globby cow-pat you get from the henna powder and doesn't smell as grassy, the colour I ended up with turned out darker than my natural colour and not really all that red. I had wanted something sassy to kick it up a notch but, while it looked ok, it wasn't quite what I'd hoped for and hadn't wanted to go darker. I also noticed that it felt drier and squeakier when I shampooed it whereas the powder product always makes my hair feel healthy and conditioned.

Sooo, last night, I decided to give it another go, this time using the powder, especially since I got my hair cut on Saturday with my long-time hairdresser, Martin.

Martin is a very easy-going and laid back guy who runs his own minimalist but funky salon - Red Square - tucked away on the 2nd floor of a fabulous old Vancouver insurance building downtown. He cuts my hair with effortless poise and great conversation, all for about 30% less than most other stylists. What's not to like?

In fact I've been seeing him, on and off (though mostly on) for almost 17 years, basically since first moving to Vancouver. I hate finding new hairdressers, it makes me so horribly nervous - moreso even than going to the dentist - so if I see someone with a great haircut, I'm never afraid to ask where they got it done - hence how I found Martin back in '96!

Even though I've cheated on him repeatedly over the years, in a rebellious attempt to try someone/somewhere new, I always, always go back and he's such a great guy, he graciously forgives my infidelities without ever bearing a grudge - which is a very good thing because the last thing you want is somebody who's pissed off with you going at your hair with a pair of scissors. (Though I recollect a few hairstyles in the past where you'd definitely suspect someone had been out for vengeance.)

I went in there armed with pictures showing exactly the way I wanted it layered so as to give it body without the bulk (my hair's sooo thick, it almost never holds a 'style'). Unfortunately the damp Vancouver weather pretty much turned it into a haystack before I even got home but, having had chance to style it myself since then, I'm really pleased with what he did. Yay, go Martin!

Next step, I wanted to put back the sassy into the colour as well, to liven it up a bit more. Returning somewhat reluctantly to the idea of using the powdered henna ($7.99), I shuffled off to Whole Foods to pick up a box of Colora's "Red Sunset".

Personally, I'm always 50-50 about whether to colour my hair mainly because I have literally had people and hairdressers in the past convinced I must have coloured my hair even though I never, ever had. Not to sound conceited but I like my natural colour, it's a chestnut brown with red highlights that sometimes go blonder in summer. As a kid I was sometimes nicknamed 'Ginger' at school because it was a much stronger red (just like the Milkman, we always said...which is a whole other story in itself but I'll save that gem for another time). So there have always been red tones and highlights, albeit some some of those highlights seem to include a little more grey the past couple of years - eeek! Heck, when I worked in the Maldive Islands my hair actually turned completely blonde from the sun, to the extent people asked if I'd dyed my hair or my eyebrows! Pah.

So I was about 30 before I first ever tried colouring my hair and the only reason I did that was because I was trying to grow it longer. To avoid the boredom of waiting for it to grow, I decided to change up the colour instead. Unfortunately it backfired. The colour was OK but I used regular colour products that were heavy on ammonia and they basically destroyed my hair, to the point I had to get a fair amount cut off again. Doh!

Anyhow, I digress. Truth be told, using a henna powder is a messy, sloppy and muddy affair, that leaves your hair smelling like spinach for the next 2-3 days, however it's also a wonderfully natural product, full of herby, planty, earthy goodness and, more importantly, it's not tested on animals and contains no animal bi-products. Perfect for this vegetarian and environmentalist. It doesn't actually change your hair colour but rather paints a thin layer of colour over each strand that enhances the richness of colour and still allows your natural highlights to show through. What's more, it makes your hair feel great afterwards - smooth, rich and fabulous - and washes out slowly over a period of several months, sparing you the two-tone effect of old versus new growth. Well, it seems that way for me but maybe that's because I use a colour that's already pretty close to the natural red tones in my hair. A hairdresser once advised me against using henna because it coats rather than structurally alters your hair which (allegedly) blocks the absorption of colour if you later choose to get your colour done at a hair salon. You'd have to wait at least 6 months for the henna 'coating' to wear off. But since I'm way too thrifty to be spending $200 on getting my hair coloured at a salon, I'll stick with all that I love about my ($7.99) henna, thanks.

Finally. a smoother, soupier mix
rather than the usual lumpy cow-pat.

I have to say I was pleasantly surprised that the henna I used last night seemed to be a much more refined powder than it has been in the past, far less of a lumpy, grassy, cow-pooh type texture, and thus went on relatively easily with a lot less mess than usual. They suggest keeping it on for an hour but I always go a little longer, mainly because my hair's longer and really quite thick, so I went 75mins but could probably still have gone another 10-15. That said, I'm thrilled with the result (I guess I should post a photo). It's definitely redder than the last one though perhaps still more auburn than copper but I really quite like it all the same.

So I came into work today feeling like I had a whole new do.....and no-one has said a word. Nothing. I'm never sure what to make of that. Same as when you've had your haircut and no-one comments or else simply states, "Oh, you got your hair cut" and leaves it at that. You're left hanging for the rest. And? Do you mean....'and it looks hideous'? Do you mean....'and it looks great'??? What????

But one thing I know about the place where I work (and what pissed me off working there before) is that nobody ever really says much of anything. Ever. Heck, I've learned to be grateful if I get so much as a grunt or minimal eye-contact after saying 'Good morning'.

So stuff them, I think the colour has some pzazz and the cut is awesome (even though I hate that word), and that's all that matters! Ahh, the empowerment of being in your 40's and no longer giving a sh*t what people think! Or maybe it's the fiery redhead in me fighting back? ;-)