Hair help - I''m in a wedding

[luvthemstrawberries]

Hi guys! Long time, no post here.

I'm making my best effort though! My wedding is 98 days away, according to the knot, haha. So you'll still see me around. Work + working out + cooking healthy at home = not much spare time.

I'm in my cousin's wedding next weekend, she's giving us certificates for getting our hair done that day as our gifts. And I'm so unexperienced with having hair professionally done. So this is where you lovely, creative ladies come in!

She said we can do whatever style we want - updo, half up/half down, whatever. And I have no idea what to do.

I'm attaching a photo at the bottom of my hair, how it's done day-to-day. My hair's turning darker, so it's a bit hard to see in the pic. But it's quite curly - loose curls, not tight. And it blows out and straightens well, as long as it's not humid out. I know I'm not supposed to wash my hair the morning of having it styled, so I was thinking about washing it the night before and just not putting any product in it, then heading to the salon and let them do whatever I choose with it - it'll be frizzy and crazy, but straighter and easier to work with, if I do that. The only kink is that she wants us all to come to a "floating brunch" that morning (I'm undecided about it) but I'd have to get up and do my hair that morning in order to go. Which would either mean putting the normal loads of gel in it and going curly, which would make it much harder/yuckier to style later with all that product in it... or I could blow it out and straighten it with the flat iron, which before has made it so sleek that it can't be styled in an updo.

Anyway, I guess I'm half looking for advice on what I should DO with my hair first, especially if I end up going to that brunch... and half looking for creative updo ideas, either for possibly curly hair like below, or for hair that's blown out and this length (goes in a ponytail but lots of shorter layer flyaways). Thanks!!!

 

[luvthemstrawberries]

This is the current style, straightened (proof that it does straighten well...)

 

[luvthemstrawberries]

And, if it helps at all, this is the only other updo I''ve ever had professionally done, and it was awful. The back was a pretty bunch of curls, but she slicked my hair back as close to my head as possible, and the smooth part was hard as a rock with hairspray all over my head. She also slicked this tiny bit of bangs from a side part across my forehead to the side not seen in the picture. I didn''t know any better at the time, and certainly didn''t have the guts to tell her I didn''t like it (I do now

). I just think this looks awful - I look a lot better with some hair showing, not slicked back like this... if that helps at all with style thoughts. I just don''t know where to start with ideas though.

 

[marlie]

I''m terrible at finding hair pics but I''ll see if I can find something good. I have to say, you have gorgeous hair!! I think it would be stunning just down and maybe straight? maybe pull back one side and put a pretty flower or barrette in? I''m a fan of simpler hairstyles though. Or, a low bun would be pretty on you too!

 

[honey22]

Maybe Italia, our resident hair goddess can chime in with advice from a professional standpoint?

But I have to say, wow mamma, you look hot with straight hair!! I would probably wash it the night before, straighten it for the brunch and then let the hairdresser work her magic later. She can always curl it up later again, but once you have all that gel in, I guess it''s there for the day?

 

[vc10um]

Date: 10/2/2009 5:29:42 PM
Author: honey22
But I have to say, wow mamma, you look hot with straight hair!! I would probably wash it the night before, straighten it for the brunch and then let the hairdresser work her magic later. She can always curl it up later again, but once you have all that gel in, I guess it''s there for the day?

Honey took the words right outta my mouth!

 

[luvthemstrawberries]

My gosh, you guys are just too nice! I truly appreciate those complements, they are so nice!

I''ve always liked my hair better straight - it''s just smoother and more controlled-looking. But the curly is just so much easier to deal with, especialy in the humid summers here. And it''s less work to get ready with.

Marlie I totally hear you about simple hairstyles. I''ve never been one for extreme poofy designs or anything. I have looked at the low buns, like you mentioned - something elegant and smooth.

honey and vc10um - Haha you guys are making me blush!! I''ve never thought of myself as hot. That''s very sweet of you to say. And yes, if I do it curly that morning, the gel is there to stay unless I wash it again, which wouldn''t happen. Maybe I should just straighten it. My worry is that flat ironing it will make it so slick that the hair dresser won''t be able to do anything with it, which is what happened years ago.

 

[MagsyMay]

Your hair sort of reminds me of my own, texture wise, although yours is much smoother and healthier looking! I'm already thinking about what to do with my hair before my wedding which is still almost a year out. I think it would probably work best if you could just loosely blow dry it "straight" with a round brush the night before, but skip a flat iron if you use one. You probably don't need to blow it out as diligently as you might normally do though. That way it will be straight-ish but not so slick that it will be difficult to work with the next morning. You could also probably pull it back loosely, maybe half up, for the brunch and it would look acceptable I'm sure!

I think any loose style, maybe half back since your hair is on the shorter side, would look very pretty. A flower or something decorative would look very cute. I'm sure someone else will have better ideas than I do on the style end though!

I love your hair BTW! So versatile and what a great color you have too!

 

[luvthemstrawberries]

Hi MagsyMay

- Thanks so much for chiming in! Yeah in the back of my mind with this coming weekend is what to do with my hair for my own wedding in 3 months. I do really like your idea of just blowing it as straight as I can (it''s still soooo kinky when I blow dry it) and letting her do something good half up and half down. Maybe she could flat iron the half down part, or curl it up a little with some rollers. That might look good. Then I''ll still have some casual-ness about the look, but the part that''s up can be done up special. I just want to do something special with the hair, more special than I could do myself, since I''ve got the gift certificate, you know?

I wish my hair could look straight like in the picture above without much work, but that is after a lot of smoothing product, blowdrying straight, flat ironing, and some smoothing balm... haha. It''s pretty much crazy if I don''t do all that... which is the issue with the brunch - I''d look like a crazy person if I don''t do that, but then I''d have all this product in my hair...

Thanks so much for the complement - the color is totally natural! It''s been getting darker in the past few years - used to be so blonde. My mom''s is dark brown now, and hers was blonde when she was young, so I think it''s just a natural occurence. I think it''s pretty neat that it''s changing and versatile.

RE the texture and health of the hair - my hair, especially the ends, used to be so fried. I was flat ironing every day. I''ve started to wear it curly the majority of the time - I use Sebastian Drench shampoo and conditioner, then a nice water-based gel and the diffuser on the hair dryer - it has made the hair so much healthier. I haven''t even worn it straight in a month probably, just because curly is so much easier, plus it''s made the hair so much healthier to use those better products and fry the hair less. Haha I''d have to remember how to blow dry the hair straight!