Tuesday 14 June 2016

The girl with the mousy hair








Although I have been colouring my hair on and off since I was about 17, last week was the first time I had it done at the hairdresser's.















Since I'd last coloured it myself (or rather, have Jos do it) a couple of months ago, I noticed that my hair was behaving badly and didn't look as shiny and healthy as it used to.

My hairdresser, who I've been going to for over 20 years, confirmed that it was becoming dry and brittle and told me it was probably a menopausal thing. Oh, dear! He prescribed some medicated shampoo, which was rather expensive, and although I was sceptical at first, it seems to be slowly doing the trick.


He is using gentle products for colouring, so I wanted to give that a go too. I must say that it was worth it, if alone for having the whole thing, which includes the inevitable mess, taken out of my (or rather, Jos's) hands.

1962





Looking at my ramrod straight hair now, it is hard to believe that I was a curly-haired baby and toddler.









Here I am playing in my grandparents' garden in the summer of 1963.

The year I turned 3, we moved from a small flat to the newly built house where my dad still lives. There was a garden, with a sandpit I loved playing in. This, however, resulted in huge dramas every night, when my mum had to comb the knots out of my hair.

1964

Something had to be done and my mum promptly took me to the city (Antwerp) for my first-ever visit to a hairdresser. Not just any old hairdresser, mind: this one had what looked like merry-go-round horses instead of chairs, which he used for cutting children's hair.

A quick search on the Internet revealed that this hairdresser is still around, still using the same horses after all these years, although I'm sure his salon looked quite a bit different in the 1960s.



In spite of the horses, I didn't like it one bit and I remember bawling my eyes out.

1965
The result was a pixie cut, which was much easier to maintain and which I had until I was about 6.

I was allowed to grow my hair again after that, but if my mum had been dreaming of once again having a curly-haired daughter, she must have been sorely disappointed!

As a teenager, I started to dislike my rather thin, straight hair and especially its mousy colour.

1973
So, when I was 17, I started colouring it (and the bathroom mat in the process) jet black, as I wanted to look like my then heroine, Siouxsie. As I was a punk, lanky and mousy hair was a definite no-no! My parents were none too pleased, though ...

I have no photos of my own from around that time (my dad had starting filming with a Super 8 camera), so you will have to make do with this one which surfaced on Facebook. It was taken in front of one of Antwerp's notorious punk clubs in the very early eighties. I'm sure you'll be able to pick me out straight away!




1986







In the mid eighties, after I had started work, I had it permed (as one did), and went back to my original mousy colour.

This photo was taken at my very first flat by my then boyfriend.

By the end of the decade, thankfully, I was thoroughly bored by the silly perm and grew my hair just long enough to have it cut in a bob reminiscent of 1920s starlet Louise Brooks. It was a popular hairstyle at the time, inspired by Cacharel's Loulou perfume, which was introduced in 1987.

I also decided to colour it again, this time a vibrant auburn. It was my signature style for almost 10 years.

Clockwise from top left: 1990, 1992, 1995 and 1998
In 1999, just after we moved into our house, I had it cut short on a whim. It then gradually got shorter and shorter (don't ask) and I also stopped colouring it.

I cannot look at the majority of the photos taken around that time, and I am certainly not ready to share them. My hair was way too short, my weight had crept up and I looked 10 years older than I do now.

It took hours of browsing through photo-albums to come up with some I am reasonably happy with, They were taken after I had lost weight again - if anything, I was too thin for a while, as unintentionally the weight kept dropping off.

The last photo (bottom right) was taken after - nearing 50 - I'd had an epiphany and started growing and colouring it once again, although this time around it was not just the mousy colour I was keen to hide!

Clockwise from top left: 2007, 2010, 2011 and 2012

Now, enough about me. What about you? Do you have any hair issues or stories?

30 comments:

  1. wonderful post - love it!!!
    supercute baby pics! awww! <3
    my hair story would sound a bit like yours - although all things happend some years later and my hair was almost black by nature and thick. short hair was the way to go in my childhood too - no fuss please for the working mum!
    in the midst of the 80´s i had the same hair (and friends ;-) ) like you had at the beginning of the decade - punk took a while to filter thru the iron curtain.... an then i had the perm. and a louise brooks and after that a o´connor cut in 1990. later i growed my hair long - cutted it off ´97 - and since then it was always long. 2000 i got platinum blonde, then henna red. since 2003 i´m "official" gray/white - i was 35.
    and you know what - i never was so happy with my hair as now - especially because i "do" nothing with it beside of washing once a week :-)
    your hairdresser did a fabulous coloring job - pretty shiny hair!! <3
    xxxxx

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    1. What a coincidence! I love your hair, it really suits you and what a bonus that you only have to wash it once a week! Thanks for your lovely comment, Beate. xxx

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  2. What a fab post - I loved scrawling through and looking at Ann through the ages! You were a gorgeous little girl and your punk years were utterly brilliant (Jon would have hung out with you, he was part of the scene, too)
    I do think your current style and colour is your best yet, like a cool vintage dress you improve with every year and I'm glad the visit to the professional salon did the trick.
    I never go to the hairdresser, I hate it but I could be tempted with a visit to the place with the rocking horse!!
    I'm not very adventurous when it comes to hair although I did dye it black (I'm blonde naturally) on impulse when I was 39 and never looked back. xxx

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    1. Aww thank you Vix, I'm blushing now. I hate going to the hairdresser as well (I don't have the patience), but I have to due to my short hairstyle. Although I know that you are a natural blonde and have seen photos, I still can't get my head around it, as your black hair suits you so well. xxx

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  3. Heh, your hair history and mine are incredibly similar - 80s perm (I wanted hair like Carol Decker from T'Pau!), dyed black for a while, even the bob. Your pixie cut suits you.

    My hair's currently very dry and won't hold colour, which I've put down to over-processing. I've got weird pale streaks in it now. I wish it would hurry up and go grey so I can do the Mrs Slocombe pastel thing...

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    1. Over-processing could be a reason, Mim. Most products you can buy at the chemist have ingredients which are too harsh for your hair. At least, that's what my hairdresser says when he is trying to sell me something frightfully expensive! I had a good chuckle at the Mrs. Slocombe thing, at least we vintage girls already have her wardrobe ... xxx

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  4. Ann, such cute childhood pictures! My nan had curls as a wee thing but her hair was cut short and they never came back. My mother has curly hair but she straightens it. I too have naturally curly hair and would never dream of straightening it, though I now wear it shorter as it would not grow past a certain length which was odd! xxx

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    1. It seems to be common for baby curls to disappear for good once cut. At least it didn't happen to you. You've got lovely hair. Of course you wouldn't dream of straightening it! xxx

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  5. Oh my gosh! I love all your childhood images, fantastic, and so cute!

    Loving your new hair, it really suits you ♥

    My natural hair color is auburn, but throughout my 20s my hair was short and I probably dyed it every colour of the rainbow. Now I'm in my 40s I keep it long and dye it black :)

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    1. Aww, thank you, or should I say "Diolch yn fawr", seeing that you're from Wales? I'm pretty pleased with my new hair colour. xxx

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  6. You have beautiful eyes, Ann and the colour of your hair is just perfect. I love 1964 photo sooooooooooooooo much. A true angel face.
    Mil besos
    XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

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    1. You are so kind! That 1964 photo is one of my favourites too. Mil besos xxx

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  7. So funny, I went from stick straight as a kid/teenager to curly hair now in my 50-somethings.
    Blonde as a baby/toddler, brunette up until my mid-40s, platinum blonde for a few years and now have toned it down to a honey blonde because my hair is now naturally pure white.
    Have never worn it short for any length of time tho, it looks good on you.

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    1. Thanks for your comment, and welcome to my blog. I'll be popping over to yours too. Short hair suits me best, I guess, although sometimes I crave longer hair. xxx

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  8. Ooh, I love all your fab photos, what a cute child you were! Your latest style and colour suit you so well, and it is lovely to see you through the ages, where you are now is definitely the best though! I have never coloured my hair or visited a hairdresser, my hair is poker straight and I look no different when I get up than after I have brushed my hair, much to my OH's annoyance as his ringlet curls require a lot of maintenance.

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    1. Thank you Clair! How lucky you are with your hair. Mine is getting more difficult to maintain. I used to get up, tweak it with my fingers and that was it. xxx

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  9. My sister had that pixie haircut, and I'm told she wouldn't speak to our mother for weeks after! When she came after me with the shears a few years later, I fought back and ended up with a Prince Valiant, but at least she didn't scalp me!

    I loved seeing all your hairstyles. Your present colour is lovely, though the black hair looked quite impressive.

    I stopped colouring my hair when I was expecting, and just never bothered again (almost 12 years). Someday, I'm sure I will as I'm getting quite grey now.

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    1. That black hair was quite something, wasn't it? I'm starting to have quite a bit of grey myself, or, as my hairdresser calls it euphemistically: blonde. xxx

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  10. As someone who has had many, many hairstyles over the years, I have to say I love this post! It's also great to see how your taste has changed. Yay, you were a Punk!! You look just like Siouxsie Sioux in that photo. I came of age a little bit later and was a total rock chick!
    You can see just a few of my hairstyles over the years at the beginning of my post here - http://vintagegal.co.uk/vintage-lifestyle/the-perfect-vintage-haircut/
    xx

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    1. Oh my, I've just had a look at your post: that is quite a lot of different hairstyles! I'm in awe! xxx

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  11. I really enjoyed reading about your hair history and your childhood photos are so cute. I've got straight hair too although I did dabble with some 'big hair'perms back in the 80s. My hair has been the same really for the past few decades, apart from the colour which has ranged from henna-red to brown with blonde streaks xx

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    1. Those big perms of the 80s were quite something. I wonder what we were thinking of? xxx

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  12. This was so much fun looking at all your photos! Little Miss 1964 is just adorable, Miss 1975 looks so sweet and Miss Punk is supercool! I used to play my X-ray Spex and Siouxsie records really loud when I was a teen, singing along at the top of my voice. Your hair is perfect for you now and actually that's a rather nice treat to look forward to from now on. xxxx

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    1. Oh yes, X-Ray Spex! They were brilliant. I still have that record with the test tubes somewhere ...

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  13. You were the absolute cutest child! Oh my word! Sweet Ann, thank you for sharing this heartfelt and very intimate post with us. You are a beautiful person and soul, inside and out, and I feel honoured to have gotten to know you better through this entry.

    Many hugs,
    ♥ Jessica

    *PS* I swear by homemade avocado hair masks to help with brittle/dry locks.

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    1. Thank you Jessica, that's very sweet and you got me blushing now. Thanks for the avocado hair mask tip too. xxx

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  14. I really like all of your hair incarnations and the current color is gorgeous. I too have been dying my hair for years, sine high school. It wasn't until Last year when I turned 37, Im 38 now, that I decided to do it professionally and went blonde after decades of red and reddish brown and I love it! I plan to stay blonde for the foreseeable future

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    1. Thank you, glad to know I'm not the only one finally going for professional hair colouring. xxx

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  15. Oh my goodness, I LOVE your hair story!!! SO cool to see young and growing up you!!x

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    1. Thank you Kezzie! I got the idea for this post because I was so frustrated with my hair ...

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