So, a month or two ago I pulled out my hair clippers and #8 guard and did this:
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| Freshly cut for the first time. No gel yet. |
Luckily my social circles were supportive of me making such a dramatic change, and I like it a lot better than I thought I would. So basically I don't feel very self conscious about it, which I thought that I might. And man, it felt good!
Anyway, I'm still working with the exact cut that I want. Part of the reason I wanted to do it was because it's a style that I can cut and maintain by myself without visiting a stylist every 6 weeks or so. Talk about freedom! Also it's super easy to take care of. Can I just say that men have it good?
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| This gel covered my color too much. It also turned to white powder when disturbed. |
One thing I didn't get before was why on earth my Sexy Man was so particular about his hair products. I was rather confused why he was so broken-hearted when Fructis discontinued his favorite pomade.
Now I know.
Looking for the right gel is annoying. You have to buy a whole tub(e) just to try it once and realize it isn't right for what you want. And one gel that might work at the beginning of your haircut might drastically lose it's effectiveness or look once you get a few weeks of growth going on. Then there's the ones that get that white powder look if after they dry and get ruffled around a little.
So what's a girl to do? Make your own of course!
I found this recipe for a Flaxseed Hair Gel online. It's supposed to be for ladies with long curly hair, which is not exactly (by which I mean "not at all") me. But I decided to give it a try anyway.
Basically you take some flax seeds and boil them in some water for a while. Strain out the seeds, throw it in the fridge and wha-la! Hair gel.
So how is it?
Well...once you get past the egg white texture...(Seriously. The stuff is like troll snot!)
Texture aside, it has a light brown tint from the flax seeds, but surprisingly, I feel like it maintained my natural hair color better than other gels I've used, which tend to make it look darker than it is. (Note: my color is important to me. If it's wet-looking it just looks brunette, but it's naturally a nice color of auburn, and I want that to show through.) I'm not sure if the tint would be noticeable or not on lighter hair.
It even helps it look shinier, but in a healthy way. It doesn't look greasy like I expected it might.
I can let it dry and it will hold a crispy look if I want it to. Or I can ruffle it up a little for a softer look that still holds the shape I'm after.
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| Trying out homemade flaxseed gel. |
I added in a few drops of essential oil just because I could, but strictly speaking it's not necessary.
On the down side, apparently it's best to keep it in the fridge because it can go bad. Bummer. That combined with the effort to make the stuff, and keep making it every couple of weeks might mean it might not be a forever solution, although I'm pretty happy dealing with that for now considering I haven't found a commercial product that suits me yet.
Interestingly, even though short hair tends to be more of a masculine feature, I've felt less frumpy since buzzing it all of. I also have been more motivated to wear makeup and earrings and I think overall I feel and look better with a pixie than I did with long hair.
