Hair and Fleece

Traditionally, I have been a 'less is more' kind of girl. Especially in the realm of hair. For example: I got my hair all cut off in the 7th grade, and spent most of my school career growing it back out to all one length and long. I was a romantic sort who dreamt of time traveling back to some era or other where I would need terribly long hair to fit in and be swept off my feet by some hero. This was during the 80's when mall hair was in fashion. Mile high hair. Big, big, big bangs. The bigger the better. Well, I have very fine hair. Let me just leave it that the 80's was not a good hair time for me.

I did try to fit in. I permed and did other unspeakable things to my hair (didn't know about teasing yet) to try to get the frizz that was required by my peers to be considered socially acceptable. I would put mousse in my hair. You remember the terrible stuff that made your hair stiff as straw. Then, I would use a red hot curling iron and spray Rave hairspray on it as I was cooking my hair. The smell was unforgettable. I really wanted hair that sort of looked like this. Fleece. Fluffy and gorgeous. Unfortunately, that curl would last only until I left the house.

My mother, of course, was horrified. She was a child of the 60's and everything was 'just so.' I remember my senior year, I was going for my portrait and mom and I had the biggest fight to date. She slicked my hair completely flat on my head and in a bun. A BUN. This is 1989 y'all. I wanted big hair. Huge hair. Curls. I was humiliated. *sigh* I am glad those days are over.

The 90's were better hair years for me. The style was flat. All one length and pulled back. I loved those years. I just let my hair grow and grow. By the time I was in the People's Republic of China, teaching English, my hair was to my waist. Not healthy, but long and I loved it. So did the Chinese. Long blonde hair in a culture of nothing but black hair. I attracted a lot of attention, not all welcome.

Recently, I have been unable to care for my hair. Due to the fact that I have 3 small, children and I hardly have time to eat much less 'do' my hair. Finally, I had so many tangles in it, I went to the St. Pierre salon in Salem and had a kid with hot pink, blonde, and black hair (Elaine) cut my hair to chin length. I even had the dreaded bangs cut back in. I haven't had them since 7th grade. I came home and my children were horrified and my dh tried to like it. I also found myself the proud owner of some new styling products. All of them to help my hair look 'artfully' arranged or rather 'artlessly' arranged. Who knows. Here is a list and description of them:

1) Rusk Mousse: I have to cover every hair on my head with this stuff. It provides max volume, body, and control. IE: a 'piece' effect with curl separation

2) Rusk BloFoam: Death defying volume applied at the roots for those of us who are 'texture' challenged. IE: hair follicle will be almost at a 90-45 degree angle from my scalp.

3) Rusk Wired: Flexible body and 'pliable' support as it creates texture. Creates gravity defying body. Eliminates frizz and maintains moisture with heat appliances. Contains Thermplex and texture from within. Here is list of ingredients in this product. #1 Wax (I use this in soap for very hard bars), #2 Castor Oil (I use this in soap and it makes huge white bubbles), #3 Alcohol, #4 Dimethicone (this ing has many applications, such as, curing colic in babies), #5 wheat protein (hey, we eat that), #6 rice protein (can't I get that at the co-op?) and last but not least various and other sundry petroleum products.

Do these products work? Yes and no. The bottom line is CONTROL!!! I washed and fixed my hair today in honor of the RV/spinknit night. It was really fluffy and now, it is not. At least it does not look like fleece and yet is not flat either. At least it doesn't look like my hair in my teens nor a place where rats would be comfortable abiding. So, I like my $30 worth of hair styling products.


Here is some of the fleece from above spun up. I had carded in some dark blue, Caribbean blue, and moss green. It reminds me of the John Will Creasy print that I inherited from my parents. Very wintry and cold. Love it. Started to knit some up to see if I want to continue. And, I think I do.