My Life in Haircuts.

Every woman goes through phases in life. The time you spend trying to get in with the 'popular' kids at school, the moment you first discover tweezers and over-pluck your eyebrows to oblivion, the realisation that a person you really trusted is only a fair-weather friend, and the period of time where you pair black ankle boots with absolutely everything (I'm still stuck in this one). But if you're anything like me, then you can define memorable moments of your life by what your hair was doing.
My hair has been through a lot in almost twenty years of life... almost too much, come to that. Going through my 'Facebook' archives looking for photos of my many hair transformations was beyond cringey. But you live and you learn. At least I got some of these disasters under my belt before I hit my twenties - and that's what your teenage years are for... right?

I am so lucky to have very thick, fine hair. Don't get me wrong, I love it. But it can also be a bit of a nightmare at times - check my 'bun donut' post for details. Some of my earliest memories involve running away from my mother while she was trying to brush my hair. Bath-time was torture - plus my hair was the perfect festering ground for nits during primary school. Mum used to tell me that I'd learn to appreciate my thick hair when I was older, and like always, she was right. Because I was such an active child, Mum always kept my hair very short so it didn't bother me too much. I carried this cute little bob look right up until secondary school. Why fix something that isn't broken?

In 2008, Kate Moss got a fringe. In girls-school terms, this meant anybody who was anybody had a fringe. I tried to follow the trend, and thought I looked pretty good - hence the truly terrible selfie. The fringe also overlapped with my headband days. Instead of using headbands for holding back hair, like normal people I might note, I thought it'd be a good idea to stick them slap bang in the middle of my hair for good measure. This pink-spotty one was a favourite at the time (like the cool kid I was, I even had one with 'LYDIA' printed across it in shimmery writing when I was really little). Even though I was only about twelve or thirteen, my fringe gave me such awful spots. Somewhere along the line I realised how bad it looked and moved onto my next hairstyle.
This is mortifying to admit but holds great comedic value. Like I mentioned in my Lauren Conrad 'Fashion Inspiration Friday' post, I was obsessed with 'The Hills' as a teenager. Lauren Conrad was a goddess and I loved her style - I clearly still do. So when she cut her lovely hair into a sleek bob in Season 4, I thoughtlessly copied her. It didn't turn out so well. This wasn't just a case of bad judgement, however, the trainee hairdresser in charge of my LC-inspired transformation cut it much too short. I spent that Summer in hiding. I remember researching hair-growth methods on the internet - even upping my intake of ham when I heard protein was supposed to help! The above photo was after a couple of months had passed. My hair was looking a little better and I thought it looked really cool pinned back with my cheapo 'H&M' heart-shaped clip. I had so much to learn.
After my hair had recovered from this, it was onto the next disaster. I know I'm not alone in this, but like every natural blonde, I'd always wandered what I'd look with brown locks. Like the old saying goes, we always want what we can't have. So when Mum asked what I wanted for Christmas that year, I declared that I wanted to be a brunette. She was unimpressed but booked an appointment - I think she wanted me to make my own mistakes. But like the wonderful parent she is, Mum made sure it was only  a semi-permanent dye job, 'just in case'. At first, I loved it. My hair was a deep chocolatey brown and everyone at school noticed it. This was such a big deal when I was fourteen. Yet because it was only semi-permanent, the colour began to fade with every wash. I found this so incredibly distressing that I hastily dyed over my dye job with some sort of 'John Frieda' product. I didn't give it much thought. Everything was all lovely and fine till I became ginger overnight. To this day I'm unclear about where it all went wrong - I assume my original dye faded underneath the new colour. Anyway, for about three months I was walking about with the strangest coppery-coloured hair. The tone was almost luminous and I hated every second of it. By the time my sixteenth birthday arrived, I was begging my Mum for blonde highlights to cover up my ginger disaster. Basically, the moral of the story is you can't mess with your hair colour without investing a lot of time and money into it - and your Mum is always right... always.

So I'm now at the grand old age of nineteen and I'm sporting long, naturally-blonde hair. It may be boring but I feel like I've found a hairstyle that suits me. I'm lucky to have thick hair so I might as well make the most of it. If I had clear skin, it wouldn't make sense to pile on loads of make-up. For so many women, hair is like a comfort blanket. If anything, your hairstyle is your most important accessory. Which is why it can be confidence-shattering to have a bad hair moment. The upside to my many hair ups and downs is that I now know what works for me. Unlike my Lauren Conrad, I can't pull off a bob. Dark brown hair washes me out and is a nightmare to maintain while fringes give me a spotty forehead - not such a good look. I can't say that I'll have this hairstyle forever, but I imagine I'll always keep my hair on the longer side. However, I would love to try my hand at some of these looks (above). Like I mentioned earlier, we always want what we can't have. As the owner of relatively straight hair, I've often wondered about curling irons. Beachy waves look so effortless and sexy - a look I'm desperate to try. Plus, I wouldn't write off a choppier fringe that simply covered any spots they may cause. I can't resist cute hair accessorises and I would love if my hair co-operated long enough to tie a bow. For the foreseeable future, it'll be about trying out new looks with the style I already have. I suppose we're never really done experimenting with our hair. I must admit, it would be boring to sport long blonde hair for the rest of my life.