THE VIRGIN: (not)

The Virgin

Guessed blogged by Crescent, Owner and Stylist, Salon Monaco.

So much of helping a client with a makeover is to really listen to them. Not just to listen to their words, but their body language and personality, too!

The minute I started listening to Shella, I knew I wanted to be the stylist to help her create her new 'do! With all of Shella's enthusiasm, inspiration and sense of adventure, I couldn't wait to get started.

After consultation, then reading her blog, and one more consulatation at her first appointment, we agreed to take her on a "hair journey," changing her color and cut in stages.

Stage One: Took "before" pictures. Started with virgin hair (professional term for hair that has no artificial color), and highlighted it slightly to begin the lightening process. We also removed about 2 1/2 inches of length, shaped the hair and added soft layers.

After 2 hours in the chair, we finished stage one, blew her hair out straight and took our "after" pictures! Shella looks great, and did a great job of not "freaking out" during stage one!!! I'm hoping she's as excited for stage two as I am!

Hi Crescent, I sure am excited to move on to stage two! See you in a few weeks!

Barnful of Vintage Cars

This post is dedicated to Mr. Fixit who will soon be wishing he'd bought the barn.

Thank you OhGizmo for bringing this story to my attention.

As the story goes someone in Portugal bought a farm on a plot of land that had been abandoned for 15 years or so.

While exploring their property they found a large barn that was locked up tight with a rusty padlock.

After a bit of brute force they got the lock off and opened the doors revealing a mind-blowing collection of vintage cars.

I could list all the vehicles they’ve managed to identify so far but I know the effect is a lot better if you scroll through the collection of photos yourself. And while most of the vehicles are understandably pretty dusty a good number of them appear to be in great condition. I’d gladly spend a year or so fixing up that Porsche 356 in particular.

Also I’m sure I speak for everyone when I say “Congratulations you lucky son of a b….”

Part II: More Salon Info, Pics, Etc.

The first pic is Crescent (Oh god, Crescent - we've got to take another pic - I didn't see the LCD screen on my digital cameria well enough to know that this pic doesn't accurately reflect your beauty!) My eye sight sucks!

Second pic is of the other great stylists, Valarie and Sarah.

The third is of the signage (obviously).

More soon!

Wavy version...

So... this is the official, unfooled-around-with version of what the cut and highlights look like with air-dried hair.

Its a tad dark, I had to turn off my camera's flash, and also I moved.

I had assumed that my waves/curls would hide the highlights, however the highlights are even more noticable with wavy hair. Go figure.

Gettin' Used (to it)

I am getting used to it. The hair I mean. This is how I look today, purchased goodies..... Jackie O sunglasses.... new red lipstick and lip pencil... amazing (expensive) blush/bronzer duo.... and a couple of other personal items.

Today's weather was remarkable. The kind of day that inspires memories of perfect summers from years gone by.

God I love California.

Part I: Chopsticks and Afro Combs.....

<--------This is the after.

This is the before------>

I chose Salon Monaco (http://wwww.salonmonaco.com/). Crescent the owner is the person who worked with me (Hi Crescent!). She's out of town this weekend but is writing a little something for this blog which I'll post next week. Also, I want to send a big "Thank You" to the other stylists, who were not only helpful but really friendly and fun to talk with. I had a very pleasant experience - local readers should check them out!

This post is my third attempt to get the pics to upload correctly - let's see if it works! This is a before shot of my hair from behind (it's long huh).

You've got to be wondering why this post is called Chopsticks and Afro Combs. Well, let me tell you.

Aside from the fact that they had take-out Japanese food for lunch, it appears that Crescent is most comfortable using a chop stick to separate wavy hair for highlighting. Go figure. It begs the question, of course, how on earth did she discover THAT preference! I'll bet the story involves a late night (or early morning), a bottle of sake, and yet more Japanese take-out. And in lieu of a typical wide tooth comb, clients get the Afro comb treatment. Talk about quirky, eh?

One thing that strikes me, is that the hair color doesn't appear all that different in the two above pics. In actuality, the color is very different. My hair is quite a bit lighter, but why it doesn't translate in the pics is a mystery. I'll be sure to show you what it looks like unstraightened (wavy).

It was a great experience. Crescent said I should wait a couple weeks to get used to this before I decide the next step. However, I make a prediction (cue the drum roll): I'll want to go lighter (and get a prettier pic of myself)

I'll post more later.

--Shella

P.S. Thank you Janine, for taking the pic!

Update: One year in Hair

As you may (not) recall, my 2007 new year's resolution was to spend one year experiment-ing with my hair.

I consulted with four different stylists/salons and just didn't get moving forward with any of them for one reason or another.

A month or so ago I was having dinner (Japanese) when I spotted two women at a nearby table. The woman facing me had dark hair like mine, but she also had a great color of blond (a good color of blond is hard to come by).

Well, I figured I didn't have anything to lose, so I approached her and asked if she was local (there are so many tourists around here you can't assume, she could have gone to someone in another country.) Hesitantly she said "yes", so I asked where she got her hair done.

She was super friendly, I'd tell you her name except that it's pretty distinctive and I didn't get her permission, she smiled and spoke of a newer, smallish salon around the corner and said they're really good and reasonably priced as well. Just my kind of place!

I waited a couple of weeks then called to schedule a consultation, which we had yesterday. We spent a good amount of time talking about my hair, my expectation, the color, the cut, the style, and she gave me some really great suggestions. I feel very comfortable that we're on the same wavelength about starting out slow. And she wants to keep my hair long for now - which is great. I am a little nervous about the "thinning" out - it's gotten quite thin on its own over the last couple of years (you know what I mean, ladies) and the thought of losing even more volume is scary.

We had a pretty interesting conversation about how people look at hair service. How some folks are simply looking for a change, some folks want to find the "perfect" style, cut or color they can keep forever, and for some people (like her) it's been all about the journey. Like what you learn about yourself and others when you do different things with your hair. To tell you the truth, it was pretty profound so I am going to ask if she'll write about that as well as maybe some other comments.

One last example, it was interesting how she talked about how color, cut and style need to look "lived-in". How too bright, too linear, too "new" was not attractive to her. I gotta tell you, I agree - it's part of how people "own" a look. Anything can look great so long as the wearer owns it. You know, feels good and has pride.

So anyway, I will be taking pics, I told her all about this blog and that I wanted to document things. She's not intimidated at all and gave me permission to use her name and identify the salon. I'll send an email with links so she can take a look. If she still agrees, I'll post all.

--Shella

What’s This World Coming To?

THIS LINK takes you to a news video segment that you will find disturbing.

It shows cell phone video of the abuse and assault of people with developmental disabilities by their paid staff.

I cannot watch it a second time, the thought of it makes me nauseous. It represents my worst nightmare. It is incomprehensible in its utter cruelty. It is surely a hate crime, the perpetrators are criminals worthy only of life in prison without the possibility of parole.

For those interested in reading more about the incidence of abuse among people with intellectual, cognitive and developmental disabilities, the below links should sufficiently turn your stomach.

http://ici.umn.edu/products/impact/133/default.html;

https://www.abanet.org/irr/hr/winter00humanrights/petersilia.html;

http://www.scdd.ca.gov/Abuse_and_Neglect.pdf;

http://wind.uwyo.edu/resourceguide/resources/Bibliography.pdf;

--Shella

Simone's Midnight Art Project: Cool or Creepy?

When I first moved into my house, and at Remarkable Simone's request, I did a quick sketch of her on the white coated cardboard insert from a new set of bed sheets.

It hung around in Simone's room for about four years, she never wanted to get rid of it (God only knows why, I am no Rembrandt).

A day or so ago, around midnight she pulled out her crayons and much to my surprise, colored the sketch. She wouldn't go back to bed until she finished it.

The result is shown here, but my lousy photo does not really do it justice.

Simone's art is actually --- well, remarkable. Her use of vibrant and untraditional color is lovely. And primitive.

I guess the only thing that I can't quite figure out is why she didn't color in her eyes. It gives the art a very odd quality. I can't quite decide if its cool or creepy. Not that it really matters, I am so taken with this that I am going to have it framed.

--Shella

UPDATE: Mr. Fix-It cleaned-up Simone's art. How's this?