Today I head back to the city. I discover there are certain things I can only find there. While I love my new home on the Hudson, there are just some experiences of my former life that are irreplaceable. This includes having a haircut with my Japanese hair stylist Jun. I’ve tried a few stylists up here, but they just don’t seem to know how to handle my stubborn, thick, and straight hair. My hair resists them. Another is a bagel shop close to the salon. A trip to Jun always involves a bagel and coffee. Today is no different. I’ve stopped having manicures because I can’t find a place like the one on Lexington Avenue I went to for years.
Wonderful blog post. Sounds like a great trip to the city! Your hair always looks good--long or short! You have that kind of face and style where any cut looks good on you!
A timely read. I have realised at the age of 61 that I have spent most of my adult life trying to make my hair be what it’s not. Thanks to the pandemic it’s no longer artificially coloured but it’s fine, straight and chin length whereas I covet long curly hair. It’s not going to happen so when I visit my stylist on Tuesday I will take his advice to make the best of what I have naturally rather than continue with an unreachable dream. Wish me luck 🙏
As alway you inspire me and teach me to reflect in a gentler way …. My hair has symbolized control all my life … my mother making me wear it so short as a child I was often mistaken for a boy and in my 50s men trying to coerce me to returning to blond as I grew out my grey
I love how you write of how it survives all we do to it and I feel inspired to do what I want with it in my 60s it’s long wild and white now and I have no idea how to handle it or if I want to 💯
ode to hair. our crowning glory. samson. i had wonderful hair at one time. then it started to thin and fall out. years of hair dye? hormones? those old fashioned 'permanents' that were popular at some point? i've tried it all and the remedies, as well. i live vicariously through your hair. now, that said, it seems that i've finally come into my own with my white locks (altho i can't turn around or quite a bit of pink scalp will be apparent). grrrr. see what you awoke in me? in any event, love how you weave your adventures into this 'how to...' you are striking so close to (my) home in your essays. love every word.
and good luck to you and calvin on that adventure. michael and i are an onscreen couple, as well, although he is not particularly comfortable in that role. it's a fun thing to do together at this time in our lives. so thanks again!
Your new haircut looks great! Wishing both you and Calvin the best in this new chapter and I look forward to reading more articles as you embark on this journey together😊
I wish you would change the name of your wonderful newsletter to How to Be Older. I think we don’t honor people our age (I am 72) as is done in some other countries. Just a thought :)
Wow, Lyn! This post parallels my hair escapades. As a child, I was forced to have short hair with curly perms. I was the only kid in the whole elementary school with a perm. In high school I wore it waist length and longer, but when I was a college sophomore, I had it cut pixie short - like Mia Farrow - on a whim. When I met my dad for dinner, he didn’t recognize me until I spoke. I think that’s when I realized that my hair could give me confidence and sometimes control. It’s been every color, shape and length since college (in the early 70’s). For some reason, getting a new cut or color energizes me and makes me feel “lighter”.
Thanks for writing this. I just might go gray now. It’s the only color I haven’t done.
Thank you Lyn. Always insightful and beautifully framed thinking. Owning your hair experiences is part of getting older, a maturing. Being able to laugh at some of the youthful risks taken and accepting the changes imposed by the ageing process. I became ill in 2017 and as a result large patches of baldness made themselves present. I’d always had rather beautiful dark straight hair. Was my identity in so many ways, my strength. It was shoulder length and dyed at the time of diagnosis. I chose, with my hairdresser, a radical step of cutting it very short. Like a boy. Allowed the dye to grow out and the grey to grow in. Best decision ever. I’ve never looked back. Never felt so liberated by an action. Bald patches remain although they can’t be seen. They are part of me too. One of the many marks life prints upon us.♥️living with who I am.
My hair was also "short" for me (really shoulder length) when I was growing up but I dreamed of really long hair to be able to bread them. My parents owned a hair salon and I had to present myself as a advertisement to my friends at school so they would perhaps come and get their hair done as well. So when I left home at 18 I grew my hair long as a rebellion. It did not last long as I found rather tiresome to shampoo and dry them. After that I also played with perms and colours: my hair was a deep brown almost black and I often dreamed of a different shape and colour. How I would cherish my original hair now that I am grey! I am lucky enough to have a good mix of original colour, dark grey and light gray which give an illusion of highlights so I stick now to my natural colour: it suits better my skin tone. Why do we always fight nature??? I stick to a short bob as it is the easier to maintain myself. I am done with curlers and straighteners, etc....
Love your writing. It feels like a personal letter written to a friend or family member about your day and I still have the letters my grandmother and mother sent to me telling me about what they had been doing ( all old news by the time the post delivered ) but personal news none the less.. I am going to be 65 in July and my mother passed away last May and I was given an envelope from my brother after we had all her belongings organized and she had kept every letter and card that my brother and sister and myself that we had sent her. So kept writing and telling us about your day and it still feels like I just got a letter from a friend. Thank you.
Love this! My hair has always said so much about where I am in my life. "Had" to be long with my first husband. My forever husband loves it short and fun, "just like me!" Or long and curly. Doesn't care, as long as I'm happy. Love Anne & Valentin glasses and can't wait to check out Carla Colour.
MY hair is ME.. it is my signature... and yet I am never satisfied with the end cut. I have been in a love/hate relationship forever with my hair. But i am lucky~ I do have GR8 hair !
WOW what a brilliant post. I love how your hair has been so crucial to how you felt at different times in your life. I stopped dying mine in my mid-30s and I felt so freaking liberated by it, but some of my colleagues at the time thought I was nuts. I felt like I was giving the finger to the world, and I loved it! I've also been changing my style regularly for years...sometimes I love it really long and others (like now), I love my pixie. I find it so freeing to ignore what others say and think about my hair!
Wonderful blog post. Sounds like a great trip to the city! Your hair always looks good--long or short! You have that kind of face and style where any cut looks good on you!
A timely read. I have realised at the age of 61 that I have spent most of my adult life trying to make my hair be what it’s not. Thanks to the pandemic it’s no longer artificially coloured but it’s fine, straight and chin length whereas I covet long curly hair. It’s not going to happen so when I visit my stylist on Tuesday I will take his advice to make the best of what I have naturally rather than continue with an unreachable dream. Wish me luck 🙏
As alway you inspire me and teach me to reflect in a gentler way …. My hair has symbolized control all my life … my mother making me wear it so short as a child I was often mistaken for a boy and in my 50s men trying to coerce me to returning to blond as I grew out my grey
I love how you write of how it survives all we do to it and I feel inspired to do what I want with it in my 60s it’s long wild and white now and I have no idea how to handle it or if I want to 💯
Love ur blog
Thank you again for taking us, your readers on your journey. Love the colorful coat, but also the descriptions.
ode to hair. our crowning glory. samson. i had wonderful hair at one time. then it started to thin and fall out. years of hair dye? hormones? those old fashioned 'permanents' that were popular at some point? i've tried it all and the remedies, as well. i live vicariously through your hair. now, that said, it seems that i've finally come into my own with my white locks (altho i can't turn around or quite a bit of pink scalp will be apparent). grrrr. see what you awoke in me? in any event, love how you weave your adventures into this 'how to...' you are striking so close to (my) home in your essays. love every word.
and good luck to you and calvin on that adventure. michael and i are an onscreen couple, as well, although he is not particularly comfortable in that role. it's a fun thing to do together at this time in our lives. so thanks again!
Your new haircut looks great! Wishing both you and Calvin the best in this new chapter and I look forward to reading more articles as you embark on this journey together😊
I wish you would change the name of your wonderful newsletter to How to Be Older. I think we don’t honor people our age (I am 72) as is done in some other countries. Just a thought :)
Wow, Lyn! This post parallels my hair escapades. As a child, I was forced to have short hair with curly perms. I was the only kid in the whole elementary school with a perm. In high school I wore it waist length and longer, but when I was a college sophomore, I had it cut pixie short - like Mia Farrow - on a whim. When I met my dad for dinner, he didn’t recognize me until I spoke. I think that’s when I realized that my hair could give me confidence and sometimes control. It’s been every color, shape and length since college (in the early 70’s). For some reason, getting a new cut or color energizes me and makes me feel “lighter”.
Thanks for writing this. I just might go gray now. It’s the only color I haven’t done.
Thank you Lyn. Always insightful and beautifully framed thinking. Owning your hair experiences is part of getting older, a maturing. Being able to laugh at some of the youthful risks taken and accepting the changes imposed by the ageing process. I became ill in 2017 and as a result large patches of baldness made themselves present. I’d always had rather beautiful dark straight hair. Was my identity in so many ways, my strength. It was shoulder length and dyed at the time of diagnosis. I chose, with my hairdresser, a radical step of cutting it very short. Like a boy. Allowed the dye to grow out and the grey to grow in. Best decision ever. I’ve never looked back. Never felt so liberated by an action. Bald patches remain although they can’t be seen. They are part of me too. One of the many marks life prints upon us.♥️living with who I am.
My hair was also "short" for me (really shoulder length) when I was growing up but I dreamed of really long hair to be able to bread them. My parents owned a hair salon and I had to present myself as a advertisement to my friends at school so they would perhaps come and get their hair done as well. So when I left home at 18 I grew my hair long as a rebellion. It did not last long as I found rather tiresome to shampoo and dry them. After that I also played with perms and colours: my hair was a deep brown almost black and I often dreamed of a different shape and colour. How I would cherish my original hair now that I am grey! I am lucky enough to have a good mix of original colour, dark grey and light gray which give an illusion of highlights so I stick now to my natural colour: it suits better my skin tone. Why do we always fight nature??? I stick to a short bob as it is the easier to maintain myself. I am done with curlers and straighteners, etc....
Love your writing. It feels like a personal letter written to a friend or family member about your day and I still have the letters my grandmother and mother sent to me telling me about what they had been doing ( all old news by the time the post delivered ) but personal news none the less.. I am going to be 65 in July and my mother passed away last May and I was given an envelope from my brother after we had all her belongings organized and she had kept every letter and card that my brother and sister and myself that we had sent her. So kept writing and telling us about your day and it still feels like I just got a letter from a friend. Thank you.
Love this! My hair has always said so much about where I am in my life. "Had" to be long with my first husband. My forever husband loves it short and fun, "just like me!" Or long and curly. Doesn't care, as long as I'm happy. Love Anne & Valentin glasses and can't wait to check out Carla Colour.
Can you post more photos of your hair please?
MY hair is ME.. it is my signature... and yet I am never satisfied with the end cut. I have been in a love/hate relationship forever with my hair. But i am lucky~ I do have GR8 hair !
Oh Lyn, you always look great, because you‘re YOU.
Hair is such an important circumstance for me and my life-it‘s always a challenge.
Have a good time, stay healthy!
WOW what a brilliant post. I love how your hair has been so crucial to how you felt at different times in your life. I stopped dying mine in my mid-30s and I felt so freaking liberated by it, but some of my colleagues at the time thought I was nuts. I felt like I was giving the finger to the world, and I loved it! I've also been changing my style regularly for years...sometimes I love it really long and others (like now), I love my pixie. I find it so freeing to ignore what others say and think about my hair!
Hugs
Suzy xx
Yep, I'm planning to have that great grey when it happens. 62 and just coming on slowly. Right now it looks like wisdom added to my fading brown.