Sunday 30 January 2011

Thoughts on head-covering



My new emerald Ficcare in a simple cinnamon bun. Its so pretty and it holds well. The green really makes the red tone in my hair pop




Since I had a few things to do, I covered the beauty up with my favourite Coveryourhair pre-tied scarf. Under it I have my newly trimmed fake bangs. I like this set of fake bangs a lot better than the other: They’re choppier and the length of the piece is long enough that I can tuck the bobby pins to hold them up under the Ficcares that holds the bun. I used some Bumble&Bumble styling crème for hold
Also trying to show my mysterious bruise. It was there on the inside of my right arm a few days ago when I woke up. How did I get that in my sleep without noticing?? It’s really sore too. Very strange stuff…




Back view of the covered bun. I tucked some of the fake hair behind the ears. It doesn’t show up on the picture but I have a little patch of rather wavy hair in the bottom of my back hairline that blended rather poorly with the fake hair


Later I went to a friends place wearing this and he asked “Do you want me to comment on the hair?”
I sighed and gave him a tired look, expecting a comment about cleaning lady-hair or something like that “Sure. Tell me”
“I like it! It looks like you hang out at a beach a lot” He said
“So you really like it?” I asked, rather surprised
“Yup”
So, this ‘do is friend approved
By now I guess LHC have figured out I like to cover my hair a lot


In the beginning I did it simply to avoid sunburns. Once you have tried having a real, peeling, painful sunburn on your scalp you will be pretty paranoid to avoid it happening again! I have had some bad, peeling sunburns in my life, but the one I had on my parting simply takes the cake as the worst!


After I started growing my hair out, I learned that the red hair colour is the one that will fade the most from sun exposure and since I love that red tone, I want to avoid that. Also, the UV rays break down the protein binds that are the “skeleton” of the hair strand. So generally to protect the mane, it must be protected from the sun too.


But now, I cover my hair just as much because I simply want to.
I’m not sure I can accurately put into words how I feel but I will try:
I think that for pretty much everything about me, I’m between “average” and “good”. I’m not average-looking, but I’m not a real beauty either. I’m not average height, but I’m not really tall either. I’m not average intelligent, but I’m not really, really smart either. Etcetera, etcetera… But my hair… My hair is amazing!
It’s thick, coarse and a beautiful colour. It’s so unusual that it attracts attention in real life. I take great pride in my hair. It is the physical feature that is most “me”


Now, let me use as example yesterday when I went to a friends place. I got up, turned on the TV to have a little background noise while I showered, got dressed and checked my emails and LHC. Then I ran my errands and finally walked through the city to end up at my friend’s apartment. In the span of those hours, I don’t think there were any square centimetres of the female body I didn’t see exposed in music videos, ads, girls in low-cut or too tight clothes and the woman breastfeeding at a sidewalk café.
I realise this might sound prudish. The irony is that just a year or two ago I would have said “Bah, its just skin” but now I guess I have reached a point where I find that nudity and sexuality is being overexposed. Have a mediocre product to sell? Slap a half-naked girl on the ad. Have a shitty song you want to have played on MTV? Bikini-clad girls dancing like strippers will do the trick.
There is simply no mystery left between the sexes unless you live under a rock. Let’s face it; the only mystery left about our bodily functions is that they still insist on using that mystery blue liquid in menstrual product ads when we girls all know it’s more of a red-brownish colour


I’m not a girl who enjoys showing a lot of skin. I’m most comfortable in a T-shirt, jeans and sneakers. Yet, I have nothing hidden under there that any guy hasn’t seen at least a million times already.
Except my hair that is. My hair is something special and people can tell. But it is something I do for myself and not for anyone else. My hair is for me and not to decorate anyone’s world.


Some times when I snuggle with hubby and have my head on his shoulder, he will take my sleep braid in his hand. Gently, just hold it. Feel the weight and thickness in his hand
He watches me comb and put it up too. Just standing there, observing me and asking me questions about what I do and why
He genuinely pays attention and gives me his honest opinion when I ask him about hair stuff
It gives me a real sense of intimacy. He is the only one who sees my mane down and unrestrained. I share that big part of me only with someone I love


I don’t know if this made any sense to anyone


I guess the best way to describe it is what I told hubby when he asked me why I bother to paint my toenails when it’s too cold to show them off in sandals
I paint my toenails and wear naughty underwear and have my long hair covered up because I don’t feel the need to share it with the world. I know its there and it makes me feel good about myself. But I don’t want to share it with anyone
I kind of like the idea that it’s something that only my boyfriend and I get to see. A little secret to share, something just between us

2 comments:

  1. such a lovely post. thank you for sharing. makes total sense girl.

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  2. It makes perfect sense to me and I feel exactly the same. I realised it even better since I started a blog on blogspot and received many "it's so stupid to grow your hair only to put it up" comments.
    Sigh.

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