Most women wish, at some point, for different hair than they were blessed with.  In many cases, there are ways to circumvent nature: perms and curling irons, straightening devices and chemicals, dyes and cuts and styles and products, and more.  Today, I got to thinking; people with long hair can always cut it shorter, and there are lots of interesting style options when your hair falls below your shoulder blades; you can put it up if you want it to look elegant, or keep it out of your way.  But what do you do if you’ve got short hair and are longing for some length?

When a celebrity needs longer/fuller/more dramatic hair, they spend thousands of dollars on professionally-applied human-hair extensions (more…)

When giving gifts, whether for birthdays or weddings or holidays or because I feel like it, my personal style is to blend whimsy with practicality: I like to find something useful that also happens to be really cute.  So when I saw a whole bunch of my favorite headbands in Rite-Aid on Friday, I immediately bought a pack – and gave several to a friend at her bridal shower this weekend.  These particular headbands are perfect for wearing under tichels to help keep them in place, and I know that this friend has a fantastic collection of tichels waiting for after her big day.  (She’s Orthodox Jewish, and will be covering her hair once she’s married.) (more…)

Have you ever seen women working out with their hair down?  I’ve never understood how people can do that.  Doesn’t it get extra-messy?  Isn’t it annoying to have it flapping in your face as you run/bike/dance?  And don’t get me started on the ones I’ve seen wearing wigs on the treadmill!

When you’re exercising or playing sports, the last thing you want is your hair getting in the way.  It can even be unsafe; if vision is blocked or loose hair gets caught in equipment, you could get hurt.  The same problems can apply if you make the wrong choice of hair covering, not to mention that certain items can be ruined from sweat or frequent washing.   (more…)

We’ve done a few posts about washing and caring for your hair – but caring for your hairCOVERINGS is just as important!  If you don’t know what to do, you could end up ruining a favorite item.  Last summer, a bird pooped on my navy tichel with lurex stripes (yet another reason to love covering – at least it ended up on a tichel instead of my hair!).  Without thinking, I threw it into the regular laundry.  It came out shrunken, faded, and with broken lurex threads poking out all over the place.  Clearly, I need to be more careful with my washing methods.

How often you wash your headgear is up to you.   (more…)

Spring is finally here!  Which of course means ’tis the season for weddings.  And without a doubt, the most important and noticeable accessory at most weddings is The Veil.  Rings are more expensive, shoes can make or break your dance moves, the bouquet totally counts as an accessory – but the veil is on the bride’s head!  Assuming that people are looking at her face and not…elsewhere…the veil (ok, and the headpiece) are going to be what everyone sees the most.  And, perhaps ironically, I bet the veil itself is the accessory that the bride spends the least time choosing.

There are in fact many different styles of veil, suitable for different types of dresses and events.  Here’s a rundown of the options.

• Cathedral – think Julie Andrews in The Sound of Music.  A loooooooooong veil to go with a loooooooooong train.   (more…)

Short-haired people sometime get short shrift.  So much of the information about hair styling out there only applies to shoulder-length or longer hair.  But as little as there may be about styling short hair, there’s even less advice on how to cover it.

Think about it.  If you have long hair and want to cover it all, you need to tie it up and tuck it in.  So items like pretied bandanas and snoods are designed with that in mind.  Many tichel-tying methods assume that you have a bun of hair to anchor the style.  But if your hair is short, you lose that anchor, and you don’t need extra hair-room in your covers.  Some women choose short hair styles specifically because it allows them to cover their hair differently.

So, whether you have a pixie or a bob, or are considering cutting your hair, check out the tips below.   (more…)

Did you ever wonder why chemotherapy treatment for cancer often results in hair loss?

Basically, cancer cells grow really fast.  In order to kill them, or stop them from spreading, drugs need to inhibit cell growth.  So while chemo is running around your body killing off anything that grows too quickly, your hair will get caught in the crossfire.  Hair loss tends to begin within one to three weeks after treatment begins, and can continue to happen for several weeks after it ends.   (more…)

Whether your hair is long or short, layered or single length, curly or straight, thick or thin, there is a hair clip for you.  Even if you cover full time with a scarf or wig, you can still use clips, both for function and fun.  Hair clips (also known as barrettes, hair slides, hair clasps, or hair pins – depending where you’re from), are great for keeping hair out of eyes (especially growing-out bangs!), for holding part- or full-ponytails in place, and for decorating otherwise simple hairstyles.  Here’s a rundown of the most common styles and who/what they are good for.

• Bobby pins were invented in the 1920′s because short hairstyles – bobs – were in fashion for the first time, and women needed new ways to keep them in place.  Someone took the u-shaped hair pin, which is great for keeping buns and other heavy styles in place, and flattened it out, so that it would work for smaller pieces of hair.   (more…)

The basic life-cycle of a hair is that it grows about half an inch per month for 2 to 6 years, rests for a while, then falls out.  At any given time, about 85% of your hair is growing and 15% is resting.  Baldness is when hair falls out, but nothing grows in its place.

Female pattern baldness isn’t exactly like the male version.  Instead of the classic receding hairline, women tend to lose hair from the top of their heads – a center parting becomes gradually wider.  And they rarely lose as much as men; women experience general thinning, but they still have hair.  It is caused by changes in the level of certain hormones.

How do you know that your hair loss is a result of female pattern baldness?   (more…)

Big flowers have been big news for a couple of years now, in the world of fashion.  On pins, clips, headbands, and hats, we’ve gone back to the days when nature was your best source of beauty – and the perfect accessory.  Flowers come in so many shapes, sizes, and colors; they can also be dried, to add a hint of spring to even the warmest outfit.

Large, colorful flowers dress up an outfit, and add an element of fun and playfulness.  A satin and lace flower headband is elegant for a special occasion – and is there anything cuter than a flower girl with a wreath on her hair?  You can even wear flowers to work; (more…)

Ok, I freely admit that this is my opinion, and you all probably disagree with me.  But in every generation, there are some fads that come and go that people look back on and say “I can’t believe I went out looking like that.”  Here are my predictions for styles that, twenty years from now, people will remove all images of them from their photo albums to avoid having their kids snicker over them.

1. The big hair bump.  If you push your headband forward a little, ok.  But when your bump towers over your forehead like Marge Simpson’s bouffant, it stops being flattering and starts looking ridiculous. (more…)

Are your tichels taking over your bedroom?  Do you have headbands draped over your bedposts?  Are you at your wit’s end trying to find the blue belt with the silver buckle underneath the mess in your closet?

Managing your haircovering stash can be a big job, especially if you have as many pieces as I do.  I have four different locations where I keep different types of doohickeys stored.  There are a few problems to consider when you’re trying to put stuff away: you want things to be accessible, organized, and neat.  One storage solution might not work for every type of haircovering that you use.   Here are a few ideas for keeping your gear under control – I’d love to hear your ideas as well.

• Boxes: I have one small box overflowing with stretchy headbands on top of my dresser. (more…)

So, I hit my favorite good-weather outdoors event (I’ve mentioned it before) this past weekend, and it was fabulous.  The awesome thing about Renaissance Faires is that you can wear the wildest, wackiest outfits – or at least ogle people in them – and it’s totally ok.  You don’t have to be authentic, although people are more impressed when you are.  It’s the one chance a lot of people get to indulge in their romantic, old-fashioned, Gothic, Celtic, or witchy sides.  You can be anyone you feel like dressing as!

Of course, I made sure to inspect every clothing, jewelry, and (duh) hat shop or vendor that I passed.  Here’s a rundown of the most popular headgear styles you can get and wear at a Renaissance Faire.  They make excellent costumes for the rest of the year, and if you’re feeling adventurous, totally put one on and hit the mall. (more…)

Every few years, some new trend in fashion sweeps around the world.  Some “gotta have it” items are so unique and ubiquitous that they become symbols of a certain era – like poodle skirts or bellbottoms.  I had a chat with a second-grader about his Silly Bandz the other day, which inspired me to take a look back at some of the top accessory trends of the last fifty years.  Did you wear any of these?

• Cat-eye glasses were a staple of the fifties wardrobe, preferably decorated with rhinestones.  And don’t forget the scarf around the neck!
• The sixties were all about big hair – teased, back-combed, ratted, and rolled.  The bigger the bouffant, the better.  The more Aqua Net and Dippity-Do, the better.  And then, moving into the seventies, hairstyles took a total 180; hippie-chic called for long, straight, air-dried, single-length hair.  Curly girls, as my mother likes to tell me, had to tape their wet hair around soda cans to get it fashionably straight. (more…)

You’re going out for the night.  To a wedding, a party, the theater.  You’ve got the perfect dress, awesome shoes, and a new pair of earrings.  But what about your hair?

Sure, you can always just blow it out, straighten it, flip the ends up a little.  Let your curls down for once.  But when the sun beats down during the outdoor ceremony, will you wish you had put it up off your neck?  Will you yearn for the bride’s elegant updo? Or when the dancing starts will you suddenly discover just how sticky your lipstick is – because your hair keeps blowing onto your mouth?  Maybe you’ll realize that a plain black dress (hee hee) looks awesome – but also kind of boring.

There’s an answer to all of these questions.  Elegant hair accessories are easy to find, easy to coordinate with your outfit, and just might make you more comfortable – plus, you’ll look even more put-together than you already do.  Here are some ideas for dressing up your do for special occasions.

• Headbands are probably one of the simplest ways to get fancy – they come in shimmering, bejeweled, velvet, feathered, and dozens of other exciting styles.  If you wear a headband-fall, try one of our satin or studded wraps! (more…)

This is the beginning of a two-part series about what to do with hair that is being grown out – whether you’re letting it get extra-long, or you’re waiting for it to not be too short.  Feel free to share your own tips or experiences by commenting!

Between my younger sister and my best friend, I believe they have donated a total of seven feet of hair to Locks of Love and similar organizations that make custom wigs for children suffering from medical hair loss.  They’ve both grown their hair to incredible lengths several times over.  So when I decided to do this blog post about how to care for extremely long hair, I went to them first.  Here are their tips – plus a few others that I discovered along the way – about dealing with crazy-long hair.  The better care you take, the more show-stopping you’ll look, so pay attention!

• Braids are your best friend.  They’re the best way to keep your hair neat, and they really show off spectacular length to the best advantage. (more…)

Have you ever looked out the window after a long day at work, only to discover that while you were tapping away at the keyboard, a mighty storm is blowing pedestrians up and down the street?  I’ve been caught in sudden wind or rain too many times to count, and had to run screaming into the nearest drugstore for supplies.

Years ago, I got in the habit of keeping a ponytail holder in every purse and toiletry bag and backpack that I own – and in a few coat pockets as well – to protect against the eventuality that I would need to walk up the street with the wind at my back, trying to blow my hair into a Cousin It style over my face.  I try never to leave the house without emergency hair accessories! (more…)

Weddings are an excellent time to discover what’s new in the world of accessories.  And I don’t just mean people-watching.  Everyone has realized the day of an event that they left their necklace at home, or they took the wrong shoes, or the bride’s veil has been eaten by her puppy.  Stuff like that.  And when you’re rushing to the mall to fill in a last-minute gap in your wardrobe, you don’t take the time to shop around; you grab what’s on display at the front of the first store you go into and run.

My cousin got married this week, and my mother had a new black (!) dress that needed some blinging up.   (more…)

Let’s face it.  There are times when your hair gets dirty, and you don’t have the time or ability to get it clean. You’re camping, and the nearest shower is on the other side of the mountain.  Your kids are sick and the plumber is coming by to fix the stopped-up bathtub drain.  A bird dropped one on your head on the way to work…

What do you do?

Well, in that last example, you run to the bathroom and scrub with hand soap and a handful of paper towels.  But if that’s not an option, here are some other ways to deal with dirty hair that won’t leave you looking like a hobo.

1. Baby powder works wonders on greasy hair – just sprinkle it on your roots, rub it in, and brush it out.   (more…)

No matter how many hair coverings and accessories you have, you always need more.  A new color, a new style, something on sale, something because you’re hungry and trying to avoid the Ben and Jerry’s in the freezer.  I can come up with any excuse for needing a new accessory, even though my tichel drawer is overflowing and I keep knocking over my hat and headband box and making a mess in my closet.  So I got it in my head recently to count up how many tichels, headbands, etc., I have.  And here are my results!

• 5 pre-tieds (more…)