'Highlight' of my Weekend

Last week, I caught a glimpse of the ends of my hair and nearly jumped out of my train seat in horror. They were a mess!!! Then when I glanced in the mirror later that morning, I noticed that my roots were about three inches long. I am always so prompt with every other appointment but I struggle with keeping up with my hair cuts and highlights. Which is even more weird because I love highlighting appointments. I generally fall asleep within two seconds of sitting in the chair and wake up about 45 minutes later. It's so relaxing!!!

It was as though fate was on my side that day because an email from Aveda Bethesda was waiting for me in my Inbox. Aveda Bethesda sends out this fantastic email on Tuesdays that lists all of their available appointments for the remainder of the week (and there usually are not many) and offers a discount on these appointments. Check to see if your local spa/salon offers the same service/incentive. It is a fantastic way to pamper yourself at the last minute at a substantial discount. Anyway, I saw "Friday, noon, highlights and haircut, 20 percent off" in the list of available appointments. I called immediately and the appointment was mine.

I had never actually had my hair done at Aveda Bethesda. I get facials there fairly often though (If you have problematic skin, the Outer Peace facial is fantastic!). I have been pretty loyal to Patrick at the Bubbles Bethesda Salon since I moved to D.C. He does an amazing job.

However, I am currently reading the book Not Just a Pretty Face which exposes "the ugly side of the beauty industry." This ugly side includes the scary chemicals used in so many of the products that everyone has made part of their daily primping rituals. Because of my work with Whole Foods, I am probably more aware than the average person about the chemicals in the products that litter my tiny bathroom. I choose organic and natural whenever possible and avoid the red flag ingredients (parabens, SLS, etc.).

But I never really thought about my hair coloring. In Not Just a Pretty Face, Horst Rechelbacher, the founder of Aveda, is quoted as saying, "There is no safe hair color, unfortunately." But Aveda has made strides where others have not. I had read on the Internet recently about the color used by Aveda and was immediately drawn in by the fact that the colorings are 97 percent plant based as opposed to the petroleum based dyes used by most salons. I am no chemist but I have read that petroleum chemicals can make the hair quite dry. More information on the risk of hair dyes can be found here.

And yes, I know the obvious answer to my concern is to just stop highlighting my hair. But I like how it looks, and I am vain like that.

Anyway, I settled into my chair at Aveda on Friday and let Adrienne work some magic on my hair. Then she uttered, "It's my first day" and I nearly darted out of the place. But then I remembered reading that Aveda has a pretty intense training program for all its stylists. So I sat back....and fell asleep. She did a fantastic job. Really, I think it looks so good and SO much healthier than it did a few short days ago. (I always look awful in self-portrait photographs so I am not posting a photo. Whenever I take self-photos, I either look mad at the word or my upper lip disappears when I smile. Ick. So sorry, you just have to imagine it until you actually see me.)

But seriously, the best part of any hair cut is that it always looks SO good the day of the appointment in the day after. I LOVE how the stylists always say, "Oh you can easily do this at home." And then you get home and discover that you need seven arms and a Ph.D. in Physics to get your hair to look the way the stylist did it.

Nonetheless, I was rocking some fairly fantastic hair when I met some friends for dinner on Friday night and it continued to look fantastic all day on Saturday. The straight sleekness of it was a huge contrast to the frizzy, curly, messy ponytail-bun hybrid (buntail?) that I usually sport.

A little change that just made me feel fabulous!