Hi guys! Just popping in to show you what a difference 1/2 an hour, a skilled stylist with a high-heat blow dryer, and $53 can make.

As a serial overpacker, I am proud to announce that I nailed it this time (if you never figured out the fruit reference and haven’t been following along on social media, then I’ll just clear that up by saying that I’ve been in New York City for the past 3 days). I have worn everything I brought minus two pairs of pants. And that’s only because it’s been so unseasonably warm (apparently, we brought it from Texas), that I didn’t need to change into pants at night like I thought I would.

Unfortunately, this new pared-down packer that I’ve become got a little too spare this time, managing to forget not one but two essential items: my blow dryer diffuser and a razor.

Since we’re in New York, the razor situation was quickly fixed by a jaunt down the street to the corner store (thank heavens; no one wants to see my stubbly underarms!). But the diffuser situation was a bit more puzzling. Sure, I could have bought one of those too, but it wouldn’t have fit on the hair dryer at our rental apartment, and then I would have had to buy one of those too, and then it wouldn’t have fit in my luggage, and that all would have gotten expensive fast…

So, I tossed that idea out the window and blow dried my hair without a diffuser, which resulted in this:

the beast  

Quite a few of you wild and crazy Facebook folks like it (I’m not going to lie, I did too). But we were going out for a fancy dinner and a Broadway show, and I really wanted to do something just a teensy bit more sophisticated than I-stuck-my-finger-in-a-light-socket-and-got-this.

So, I walked down the street to the first salon I found and asked if they took walk-ins. The receptionist  said, “Of course we do, honey.” Well, all right then.

I then proceeded to get my hair shampooed and blown out by two men with shinier hair than I will ever dream of having. I had seen some advertisements in several salon windows about “blowout specials” for around $25, so I was thinking, “Well, since this place isn’t advertising a special, they’re probably a bit more expensive than that…maybe $35 to $40?”

Sure, that’s a lot just to get your hair did, but I don’t ever do this, and once my hair is straight it lasts for a good 4-5 days, and…okay, I’ll stop making excuses. I was feeling frivolous, okay?

At least I was right up until the receptionist said, “That’ll be $53, hon.” I’m pretty sure my fingers were a bit numb as I handed him my husband’s credit card. And all I could think was: Fifty-three dollars to get my hair blow-dried straight. Choke.

But since I was pretty sure spraying it with a bottle of water and saying, “Look see? It didn’t work! Can I get a refund?” wasn’t going to work, I slunk out of the too-fancy-for-my-britches salon and back to the apartment.

Lucky for me, Shaun loved my hair so much that he got over the hefty price tag for it after a brief bout of coughing.

So…how did it turn out?

the beast tamed

Pretty well, I think.

(I will now be attempting to achieve a new record for days-straight-without-washing-my-hair in an effort to bring the price-per-day down below $10).

So, what about you guys? Any (unintentional) beauty splurge stories to share?

17 Comments

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  2. My naturally curly hair looks a lot like your texture… similar cut, even. Here’s the problem… I got it cut once to give it the shape I wanted, but I keep..”fixing” it. It looks fabulous curly. I straightened it last week. Bad bad bad. My sister said “um… did you cut a chunk out of your hair??” Oops. =)

  3. As a fellow curly haired gal, I think a change is well deserved every now and then. The blow out was very cute! 🙂 I do have to share this though, to help on future trips where maybe that’s not an option. I’ve had one for about seven years and it’s still going strong (through about three blow dryers!) Fits every one, and gives a slightly different look than a normal diffuser. I actually prefer it and use it over the diffuser my blow dryer came with most of the time. I travel a lot, so it’s come in quite handy (takes up about the same amount of room as a pair of socks. https://www.amazon.com/Hot-Sock-Diffuser/dp/B0006Q01EI
    (And if it’s not ok to post that link, my appologies. It’s called the Hot Sock Diffuser.)

  4. What a genius idea to hit a salon for a blow out! I think if I forgot my diffuser I would cry…..literally! It is that necessary for me too ;). But, I agree on the blowout lasting many days so that was a great alternative! It does look so pretty & chic ;). My biggest beauty blunder was asking my stylist if she was pregnant when she was NOT before any cutting or coloring. Fortunately she didn’t take out her offense at me on my hair, but I was mortified! It was a long appt after that! I am pretty sure I WAY overpaid just cuz I felt so guilty and I also didn’t go back :).
    Can’t wait to hear more about your fun in the “enormous peach”…..lol! Happy Birthday!!
    Ps: where did you get that cute now necklace in the pic??

    1. Oh, Leigh Anne. I think you were too hard on yourself. I totally did that to a FRIEND I hadn’t seen in a while, saying, “I didn’t know you were pregnant!” and she said, “Well, I just had my baby two days ago.” Eeeep! What an idiot. But she was pretty unfazed.

      Oh, and the bow necklace was from a little shop next to the salon where I got my hair cut. They took walk-ins, but I had to wait 1/2 an hour, so I piddled around in the shop next door and found that little necklace + a few others for crazy-cheap!

  5. Love the straight hair!! Love it curly too. I once tried to highlight my hair by myself. Now I had done this dozens of times before (like before kids) and it always turned out fine. This time it turned an awful yellow tone. Hideous!! I had to pay $125 to fix it! Never again did I attempt to highlight my own hair!

  6. You are so funny and beautiful and I hope you are having a GREAT time in NYC for your birthday! Happy Birthday, sweet friend!

  7. I think it looks gorgeous. I’m a wavy girl myself and I got my hair professionally straightened once. It took an hour but it looked and felt amazing. I really didn’t want to wash it either!

    1. I was surprised it only took him about 30 minutes since my hair is so thick, but I guess it’s pretty short. I made it 6 days without washing, but I finally gave up the ghost today! 🙂

  8. It’s super cute but I also loved the funky before look. I hope sometime when you’re not going on a fancy date you’ll blow dry your hair without the diffuser and show us what you came up with.

I love hearing from you guys!