DIY - messy bun for long hair

The longer my hair gets, the further away it moves from functional. Don't get me wrong, I love love love my long hair. I think it's probably moved into the "part of my identity" realm, which is maybe weird, & perhaps a sign that it's time for a change ;)

Since I picked up a part time job that has me getting up & at 'em earlier in the morning again, I've been desperately seeking ways to wear my hair that keep me from spending 35 minutes with a curling wand. Over the past year or so, I've also jumped on board the infrequent shampooing train, so I'm not only working with 2.5 feet of hair, but 2.5 feet of dirty hair. This messy bun has been a staple Day 3 or 4 hairstyle, & gracefully eases me into a Day 5 top knot the next day.

It really is a super simple style, made easier by working with textured hair. My favorite products these days are: Not Your Mother's Beach Babe Texturing Sea Salt Spray, Alterna Bamboo Texturizing Body Boost Volumizing Liquid Powder, & Dove Dry Shampoo. Hopefully this tutorial makes sense - Three cheers for simple updos for the long haired ladies!

bleachy keen, jelly bean

the thing about hair coloring at home is my pride. I am just a smidge terrified of walking into a hair salon with sunglasses on & a beanie covering my head, looking around to make sure I don't recognize anyone while the hair gods of the salon look at me with disdain. because we all know what happened. the proof would be lying underneath the stolen-from-jared's-side-of-the-closet hat. my hair would be orange & I wouldn't hardly be able to blame anyone but myself & maybe the girl on the box who was giving me bleached-blonde flirty eyes that said, "come on... you can do it... you know you wanna..."

so, I tried to highlight the tips of my hair. yeah, that trend. at home. it was a holy fumes, batman! sort of experience, that had me in tears more than once & maybe nearly ended up in chunks of hair falling off my head because I got too wrapped up in an episode of Cupcake Wars & left it on for approximately 34 minutes too long. nearly, only because there were no chunks of hair falling. yet, anyways. the rest of that was true.

the bad news is that years & years of "partial highlights" (because I'm all sorts of cheap) has left the top layer of my hair practically impenetrable in a match against a $7 box of blonde goodness. also, that I spent a total of $14 & 6 hours over the course of two days on something that, let'sbehonest, no one has noticed.

the good news is that I lightened the underneath layer of my hair draaaastically &! there is no immediate need to slink into my hair god's chair & avoid making eye contact while I tell her my carefully fabricated story about a terrible accident involving me & a truck carrying "gallons & gallons of bleach!" I definitely feel more confident going forth in my highlighting endeavors.

but mostly, I'm just more convinced to save my pennies for a trip to the professionals & their mystical hair powers. this was such a letdown of a hair revolution. the hunt for happy hair 2012 continues. sorry for the delay + letdown. total double whammy.

*50 highlighted blonde hairs to our dear friend malcolm 

 for (unknowingly) lending his 50mm lens to me for a day.

it was great fun.

malcolm, you can claim your prize at any point in time,

but especially if you find yourself on the floor in our bathroom.

or folding our laundry.

plenty of hairs to go around.