Haircut 100

Between the years of 1982 to 1985, a boy at school used to call me ‘Haircut 100’.  He said I came to school with a different hairstyle every day (nice of him to notice, eh?).  I didn't mean to style it different on a daily basis, I just think that sometimes it went well and sometimes it didn't but it was short and one can do so much with short hair (unlike long hair – all you can do is put it up or have it down.  It frustrates me so when people grow their hair and always wear it up – what’s the point?  So you suggest getting it cut short and their answer is ‘but it’s taken me so long to grow it’ and they still wear it up - gahhhhh).  I love Maria Tomei’s hair in her movie Only You – how many hairstyles can that gal have?  Loads, cos she got short hair.

I’ve always kept it short due to it being so fine and it looks thicker. Also, when I was a kid, I used to swim competitively in a club so short hair was practical when I was training 3-4 (or even 5) times a week.  The longest it has ever been is about three inches above my shoulders at the age of 16, chuckle. 

I dabbled with colour as soon as I was allowed.  Dad was really strict about me dying my hair for some reason – not so much with my sister (who is 5 years younger) but never mind and my first colour was single-use pouches of coppers and reds sold in pharmacies.  Eventually, I was allowed to have highlights (yay) and Mum bought me a Boots hair streaking kit that contained a swimming-like cap with holes and you pulled the hair through with what looked like a white giant needle.  Not surprisingly, it hurt, as I recall.

During the decade I’ve lived in Ireland, I did have a little dalliance with all-over blonde for a bob I had in 2007 but it totally dried my hair out and I looked like I didn’t have any (hilariously, this is the hair that is immortalised on my passport photo - I have two more years to go) so I resorted to my favourite colour, black.

Back to 2015, it’s still black and I’ve recently had it cut.  I had an ear-length bob up until five weeks ago but I asked my fab hairdresser, Joe (Toni & Guy Dublin) that I wanted a more edgy ‘do’.  He sniggered when I showed him the photo of Kimberly Wyatt from the Pussycat Dolls – I know it was an old photo of her but I asked him if he would cut a modern version.  He did and I love.  It’s asymmetrical so if you want Sally with attitude, sit on my right, godamnit!  If you want to see my softer side, please feel free to sit on my left. 

Let’s talk about products then.  As we all know, Irish weather is always going to be a factor so my sister got me onto a product called Uniq One.  It’s a treatment that claims to do the work of 10 products.  I particularly adore it for its heat and colour protection, UVA and UVB filters, it detangles (I am Edward Scissorhands on waking, sometimes Harry Styles on a good day), adds body to my limp locks and helps with the frizz.  You can use it on wet or dry hair.  I spray it onto my hands and then run it through towel-dried hair.  I have to do this before I brush my hair with the Tangle Teezer, else I just can’t get a brush through it.  I think it’s the most wonderful product ever and I am even going to be so bold and recommend it to everyone who has a head of hair.  Uniq One also comes in a coconut fragrance too which is fabulous (www.millies.ie €13.99).

Over the last few years, I have had a problem with the condition of my hair.  Back in 2012, I had an accident and ended up in A&E having had my scalp glued together with glue (I fainted and plopped off Platform 6 at Connolly Station during rush-hour).  Anyway, it was around that time that my hair was becoming dry, brittle and any colour that I was having done just wouldn’t ‘take’.  I had some blood tests and it appeared that I was deficient in Vitamin D and Folic Acid so I started taking the supplements (not sure if this was totally the reason that I was having problems).  However, despite the supplements, it still wasn't in great shape and the products weren't helping so it was still mission impossible.

Since my ‘blondes have more fun’ days (or rather I wasn’t as it looked like I’d been pulled through a hedge backwards), I’d always used a salon brand.  What I was using up until last year was Redken but I still felt that my barnet wasn’t quite right and the condition awful.  After lengthy discussions with the awesome Maria at T&G, we came to the conclusion that even though my health was better and I was using premium haircare, my hair was still brittle and not taking colour: could it quite simply be the hard water in our apartment causing my hair so much grief?  So I rushed out to buy bottles of still mineral water and started rinsing my hair after a shower with those (I’m not a diva, honest).  What a palaver.   And even Uniq One wasn’t working its magic either so you can imagine, I was really upset over my hair.

I don’t know if any of you create Look Books?  I cut pictures out of magazines that I like and glue them into my ‘fashion’, ‘beauty’, ‘lifestyle’ and ‘home’ books, much to the amusement of my husband.  One day I was flicking through my beauty book and noticed that I’d stuck in an article on Mane ‘n Tail.  Ah, light bulb moment….I’ll buy some of that – if it’s good enough for horses...  Tell you what, I’ve never looked back.  I can’t win the Grand National but now my hair is shiny, smooth, not so fly-away, not so brittle but strong.  I buy their Colour Protect but their ‘Original’ one is as good. I still love Redken products but for now, I’ll stick with Mane ‘n Tail.

Last year, I did have an obsession with trying to find shampoos that don’t contain SLS (sodium lauryl sulphate – this gives the product the bubbles) as I hear that they can be extremely ageing to hair but the ones I tried weren’t great and I do love me bubbles.  Mane ‘n Tail does contain SLS’s but I like the condition of my hair.

My next favourite is L’Occitane’s Radiance and Color Care (€20 each for 300ml) and they don’t contain any sulphates but do bubble-up (see?  Proof that you can get a great product without any nasties in it).  I have some travel sizes (€7.50 for 75ml) which I took on a trip to Manchester this year.  I thought it was the Mancunian water as my hair was very shiny and in good nick during the whole trip but I used them both when I came back home to Howth (where we are plagued with limescale) and I still had a great head of hair.

Before I dry my hair, I would normally dollop Schwarzkopf’s Got2B Rise ‘n’ Shine Whipped Mousse (Boots, €5.99) in but seeing as I no longer have a bob, I’ve stopped using it.  I love using a mousse though – reminds me of the 80’s but without the crunch - and I particularly like this one.  The whipped consistency is lovely and it just gives me the right amount of thickness to my hair (not to mention shine).  Once styled then I would squirt a bit of hairspray.  I wish hairsprays were fragrance-free but I get on well with TRESemmé (Boots, €6.99).

Another product I’ve been using recently since I’ve cut my hair short-short is Batiste Dry Shampoo (in Blush).  I dabbled with dry shampoo once before but I couldn’t get on with it but I think it was because of the style I had at the time?  Seeing as I have to wash my hair every day, I thought Batiste might help with giving me some body on the days I don’t want to wash my hair and it seems to work so I think I’ll stick with this as well.

Here’s to Happy Hair, everyone