For too long. I have very thick, coarse hair with a natural curly/wave. I don't suit it very short - besides, I would need to have it cut every week - it grows like a weed. I greyed in my 20s and am now 63. The grey is iron grey and my complexion is yellow - but this is not apparent until someone holds certain colours against me - then it sure is. And of course my natural hair colour was auburn - I am of Irish heritage. Only colour that suits me - I have tried on wigs in other colours - awful. And red fades. I have my hair cut in layers and keep it a few inches below my ears (when my hair dries after being wet it curls "up" so I need to makes sure that I still have those few inches to peak out from under my hat - and I always wear a hat - red fades). It is very expensive to have it coloured in Toronto - and I do not have highlights - hair is so coarse it appears to be highlighted anyway. I do try and extend the colouring by wearing said hats and basically have it done every 8 weeks - unless I am going somewhere say at week 5 where I have to take my hat off. Not everyone can cut my type of hair. Unfortunately the best colour for me is Goldwell - not cheap. I recently (due to a funeral) had to go to a different salon since my colourist does not work certain days of the week. They used L'Oreal Professsional - which is a good colour product, but apparently I am now allergic to the current formulation. Wonderful. And to think I used to do it myself before the colour was d/c'd. And of course with so much grey now I would not want that tell-tale 2 inch patch of off-colour auburn. I do use a curl enhancement product - but it is hard to find one that is not for fine, thick hair. I need strength in the product.

Here is the recipe for scones that I used. It comes from a National Trust Traditional British Recipes book I bought from the BBC.. Measurements have been converted to US. (Only to be eaten with a large hat on, a cup of tea, and listening to the English national anthem of course.) Scones: 1 cup flour 1 tsp baking powder One half stick butter (I used low fat) One half cup brown sugar One half cup raisins 1 egg One quarter cup milk (again, low fat is fine) Milk to brush the tops Preheat oven 450. In large mixing bowl, sift flour and baking powder and gently combine. Rub in diced butter w finger tips until like breadcrumbs. Add sugar and raisins and combine evenly. Make well in center of mix and slowly add milk and egg (already mixed together) Stir mix w fork to make smooth dough. Knead slightly to make ball and put on floured surface. Roll to about 1 inch thickness and cut into circles w cookie cutter etc. Put on greased baking tray; brush w milk. Bake 15 mins. Also works if you add nuts, cranberries etc� (but less English that way!) Serve warmed up and cut in half, with butter then dollop of strawberry jam, and some type of whipped cream on top. Yum. Oh, and DH is a fully trained professional Dignitary Protection person... It's like having my own body guard. :-)

Yayagirl, I’ve ordered my Wolinspring brush for the same reason IdaClaire did - I need a little lift at the crown. My hairdresser gave me texturizing spray the last time she cut my hair, but, to be honest, I’m totally ham-fisted when it comes to dealing with my hair! always1stepbehind, I went from shoulder length hair to a nearly-pixie cut last year and I won’t go back! It took 10 years off! Do it. It’s only hair. It’ll grow back!

About a thousand years ago, I was a runner. I had a nice little runner's body. But then I got sick and couldn't run anymore and I sure packed on the pounds. It made me feel so bad about myself. A friend was asking me to go out to some clubs with her and I told her that I looked hideous and couldn't stand to go out in public looking so out of shape.... She just looked at me with her mouth hanging open. She had struggled her whole life with her weight and has always weighed a lot more than I do. I was only thinking of myself when I said I looked hideous and I honestly didn't even "see" her size, she was just my friend in my eyes. But I insulted her nonetheless. I still cringe when I think about it. We often say things only thinking of how we see the world. Posting photos of young, thin, attractive white people and lamenting how awful their hair looks can make a portion of the world who can never look like that feel badly about themselves. There is a whole lot of pressure out there for young women - particularly for young women of color - to have their hair look a certain way. If someone had posted a picture of their actual granddaughter looking this exact same way, people would be gushing about how beautiful she was. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, I'm happy for you. Really - that's not sarcasm. I know this wasn't posted with the intent to make people feel bad. I'm just throwing out another perspective to consider....