A Fancy Girl's Guide to Short Hair [Wonderful guest post by fellow fancy girl Bailey T.]

Short shorts, short skirts and now short hair is in this summer. Everyone is doing it. Emma Watson (good grief how amazing does she look?), Katie Holmes, Rihanna, Carey Mulligan (OBSESSED) and new to the pixie bandwagon is Evan Rachel Wood. Oh, almost forgot, and littleole me.

I have what you would call the 6 Month Itch. I can’t staywith a hairstyle or color for more than a few months. I have had my hair super long to now extremely short, blond, brunette and everything in between. Of course now the problem is that when I have a hair meltdown (which is often) it turns into a serious debacle in my head. I can’t just rely on the fact that it will grow back because let’s get real here…it takes at least 2 years to come back from a massacre of the shears.

Now, I have had my moments where I am utterly in love with my hair. I’ve been told I look like Twiggy (late 1960s British teenage model) and sometimes Audrey Hepburn. These comparisons are nothing to scoff at. It’s ridiculous to really ever match up to those goddesses, but it makes the drastic change worth it...sometimes.

Let it be known that I did not take this lightly. I used the best (seriously the BEST) website www.dailymakeover.com where you give yourself a virtual makeover with celebrity hairstyles, makeup and accessories. It’s fabulous. I chose Ginnifer Goodwin’s cropped locks as the style winner, printed out the picture of me and put it on my mirror for about a month. I convinced myself that now was the time to do it. “I’m 22 damn it. Why NOT?!” Well me from 2 months ago, I will tell you why not. You will eitherbe referred to as Bieber or Sir for the remainder of your short lived, short hair experience. You will have to deal with these awkward responses and the glaring eye assumptions that you are in fact a lesbian. If I actually liked my hair on a daily basis, I would have no problem embracing these backhanded remarks and respond with an imaginary hair flip. Sadly, I can’t muster the strength to stand up for what I just did to my poor head.

So, since I keep feeling down in the dumps, I look for ways to cheer me up while I begin the tedious process of growing out my hair. I found this blog (WARNING: swear word quickly approaching!!!!) http://fuckyeahshorthairedgirls.tumblr.com/ It completely celebrates women with short hair; famous to your everyday ladies, all are appreciated. Each picture is unique whether they are quirky, cute, sexy, raunchy and sometimes nude (artfully done however). It makes me feel like I am a part of some amazing group and eases the pain of the scientific growth study “half an inch a month.”

Also, I am yielding some awesome hair products to help me not make so many trips to the hairdresser:

1.

Nexxus ProMend Split End Binding Targeted Leave-In Crème

Walmart: $11

It binds 92% of split ends every time you use it. Ahhhmazing.

2.

WEN Hair Care

I tried this one stop hair cleanser almost a year ago. I kept coming back to it because it is a shampoo, conditioner, deep conditioner and leave-in conditioner all in one. It doesn’t have any harsh chemicals and always leaves my hair feeling soft and well…conditioned.

30 Day Supply- $29.95

(It seems expensive but if you don’t like it you get a FULL refund and it comes with other styling products)

Also, the bottles are HUGE. I only did a 90 Day Supply and stopped getting the product last July. I still have 4 bottles of the stuff left!

3.

Bandanas

Color coordinate AND cover up bed head? Yes please.

And finally something I can’t buy….

4. Patience

Ugh….last for a reason.

All in all, what I’ve really learned from this experience is that what counts is how you feel about your hair. You can choose to embrace it or disgrace it. Being young and fabulous means you can do what you want. I choose to be the biggest flip flopper ever and sometimes it bites me in the ass. But hey! Hair does grow back. Just don’t be an eager beaver. Take your time. Think about it. If it makes you happy, then people around you will feel the same. As for me, I’m about to throw on a pantsuit and work the Bieber flip.

Sheared and Sophisticated,

Bailey T.

Images via Google Images

H&M Coupon!

Good evening everyone! I was craving an Atlanta shopping experience so I decided to check on some of my favorite stores I do not have access to when I am at home. When I visited the H&M website, one of my favorite stores, there is a button in the top right corner labeled "Dressing Room." I clicked there, and I found out it's an internet dressing room where you can dress up both girl and guy models into outfits of your choice!!! While putting together some looks, I discovered that the store did not grant me access to their entire online catalogue for some reason, so that is one limitation. All in all, I had a pretty good time on the website and I signed up because I wanted to be able to save the looks I had created. I checked my inbox for a confirmation notice I was told to expect, and in an email following the confirmation there was a 20% OFF COUPON!!!! I will be planning an excursion to ATL asap to visit my friend Emily so we can hit the mall then hit the club! I have included some of the looks I created on the site, and be sure to sign up so you can receive your very own 20% off coupon too!

Fashionably yours,

Pants

Images via H&M website and Google Images

Summer Dating

It's summertime, that time of the year when many people lust for a little hot weather fling and someone to share the beautiful days with. This got me thinking about what activities normally constitute a first date. As I was browsing the interwebs for some fabulous date ideas, I came across the website AskMen.com which I quickly identified to be an exact masculine replica of Cosmopolitan. They have little tidbits like "What your Watch Says About You," "Hairstyles Women Love," "Man Up Your Girl's Favorite Drink," and an article titled "Drinking in Saudi Arabia" about the measures one must undergo in order to get sloshed in the mostly dry country.

AskMen.com has list of "Top 10: First Date Ideas" and the list is surprisingly good. Well, I think it's good. This list is a compilation of first date ideas to get around the typical 'dinner and a movie' date which has garnered a reputation for being cliché and boring. Some of the ideas the site includes are visiting an aquarium (which I would like to do even by myself), attending a low-key music show (music definitely brings people together), golfing it up at a driving range (teaching or learning something new is a definite bonding agent), and hiking (which is my personal favorite).

Personally speaking, I think the dinner and a movie thing is WAY overrated, boring, and honestly pretty nerve-racking. I believe that spending quality time together doing something like an outdoorsy activity, visiting a new restaurant/bar, or exploring a new city creates more of a union between two people than an expensive dinner and sitting in the dark looking at a screen. I believe that experiencing something new together makes both of you vulnerable and with vulnerability comes reliance and with reliance comes trust and so on.

I do have a bone to pick with this list though (did you really think I found nothing to criticize?). When they talk about hiking, they say:

Exploring the great outdoors and getting some physical activity is a terrific first date idea, provided your date is up to the task. You need to check first to ensure that she's the outdoorsy type. A high-maintenance woman does not want to go on a hike (you know, that martini-sipping girl with the perfectly manicured nails probably isn't up for it) but for the cute surfer girl you met at the pub, it's perfect.

ATTENTION PLEASE. I love martinis and having my nails done. I am very girly, though I am not high maintenance and I love outdoorsy activities. In fact, my ideal date would be meeting for a light lunch somewhere, going on a hike or kayaking, finish up with another quick meal if the activity went well, then taking my butt home and passing out. Then maybe for the next date I'd like to get dressed up with my Louboutins on for a wine tasting. And I bet that "cute surfer girl" would not appreciate only being seen as masculine.

If I wrote a posting similar to his and said something like: A great date idea would be to visit a garden for a walk and talk. But be sure that your guy is not a huge fan of football and manly things because he wouldn't like to be around flowers. A sensitive looking guy you meet at a coffee shop would be a great pick for this date the author of the AskMen.com article sure would have something to say to me. I guess you can't take a website too seriously that has 'related links' under the article with the top suggestion being "How to get farther on the first date." I suppose this is the reaction when many men get a hold of our Cosmo.

I already told you my ideal first date (along with my lengthy rant). Tell me about yours!

Summer lovin'ly yours,

Pants

Images Via Google Images