Pretty Hair

Late this summer on the East coast I treated myself to “pretty hair” at one of my favorite salons.

After multiple swims in the wonderfully cold salty waters of Prince Edward Island and Cape Cod, after gathering sea shells on red, then on white sandy beaches, my hair was officially sun-kissed blonde.

I kept the summer color, and added a pretty cut: below the shoulders, long layers all over, with some ponytail sideswept bangs.

It is, if I do say so myself, very pretty hair.

But it ain’t me, babe.

While I’ve seen pretty hair on many an attractive blogger and know that you can and do pull it off beautifully, I’ve decided that my pretty hair wears me.

In fact, pretty hair takes over my look, hiding my cheekbones and nape, beginning the day clean instead of textured, settling into its desired edginess after the evening meal.

And really, I don’t want my hair to look its best as I’m brushing my teeth before bed.

I prefer a sleeker look—hair up in a messy topknot, occasionally with but more often without the sideswept bangs.

I came to this revelation after seeing two radical hair re-dos. The first: Michelle Obama, whose hair looked pretty on the night she gave her address at the DNC, whose entire self looked stunning the second night, when she wore her hair up. (The image below is not from the convention; Mrs. Obama wore her bangs in a particularly flattering sidesweep that night.)

The second: Victoria Beckham, who looked pretty/edgy with her Pob, who now looks sophisticated and unexpectedly attractive with her hair up.

And when I got dressed to go “back to school” this week, my pretty hair eventually went up—the sides and back in the morning, the bangs after lunch—because, well, pretty wasn’t making the style grade.

Sometimes not looking pretty is the best style counsel around.