Winning the Hair Wars, Part 2

Hair Day 2 after using my new curl technique.

My previous post talked about how I've come to no longer hate my hair. As I mentioned in that post, part of why I've been so frustrated with my hair that I've been desperate enough to have it permed, is that I hate having to style my hair in the morning.

My hair is so fine that sleeping on it reduces any hairstyle to limp rags. My challenge, therefore, was to find a way of styling my hair that salvaged my mornings. With my hair long and straight, I could clip it up, but often the ends looked awkward - they simply stuck out straight.

Here is the solution:

Sponge rollers

Here's what they look like inside the pink nylon.

Square-sponge Bob Pants?
(Does anyone else think this looks like some kind of medieval tampon? No wonder they cover it in nylon.)

One day, on a whim, I picked these up in a drug store. For a few months, I had been trying the "sock curl" technique, but my hair was simply too fine to hold the style longer than a couple of hours, even with mousse and hairspray.

But, by applying the sock-bun technique (a top-knot pony tail, damp hair, sleep overnight), I discovered curls that last all day!

What the top-knot looks like when I get up in the morning, after sleeping in the curlers all night.
(No, I haven't tried Botox. Why do you ask?)

They are really easy to sleep in, and Steve even says they look cute.

The picture at the top of this post shows what my hair looks like at the end of Day 2 (my hair was still quite damp when I put it up the night before and had not dried completely by the time I unrolled it, so the curls sagged a little over the course of the day).

As usual, I get too hot to wear my hair down all day, so most of the day, I wear it up which, with curls, is much more flattering than with straight hair.

Not exciting from the front, but check out the back.

Trust me: it does not look as pretty as this if it doesn't have curls.
Without curls, the hairs at the top simply poke straight up in the air.

The best thing is that I do all the work the night before. In the morning? Remove curlers, run fingers through hair and go.

The second-best thing is that this does not damage your hair as it does not use heat.

The third-best thing is that it is probably better for the environment as it doesn't use electricity or heat up your house. (If I were really environmentally conscientious, I would use rags instead of sponges.)

Now, to reward your patience for following this whole post, here is an outtake picture. (It's really hard to take a self-portrait.)

For those of you who think I am photogenic: this is evidence to the contrary.
I'm trying to figure out if the remote shutter-release is working: "Is this thing on?"

Stay tuned for Day 3!