MAUREEN O HALLORAN: TV fashion stylist and business consultant.
"I’m holding my curly head high."
.For those who know me from my fashion styling on TV, they may have noticed that I have very unruly, curly hair. I love it, I grasp it willingly in my daily life and it is a BIG part of my bubbly personality, including my sometimes black sense of humour and very honest approach to styling, but I have not always liked my hair, In fact, as a young girl I hated my hair. I grew up with curly, frizzy hair and I disliked it with a passion, I would be called names and to be honest it could be a bit of a confidence knocker. I envied the girls at school with straight shiny locks. I remember as a teenager someone told me that if I got a brown paper bag and put it on my hair and leant over the ironing board that I could Iron it straight but I’m afraid that manovure almost cost me my scalp. Then, I was advised brush it 100 times every night and every morning, as it would help to unfurl the curl but all it did was to expand my mop until I resembled a yeti.
Eventually I chopped all of it off and it stayed that way for years, as it was easier to manage but when I got into my twenties, I decided to let it grow again and the curls did not seem so bad however Quite a lot of people would tell me: "You should straighten your hair," although I had beautiful curls the whole fashion scene that I was involved with had changed yet again and Straight Hair was the latest craze, but I saw no point in it, it seemed like too much hassle to have to go through all those hours of hot irons and serums and sprites’ and a load more products and I was also unsure if the straight look would suit my face shape as I had lost so much weight.
As my career branched off into even more & more TV work, I gave into the pressure and started to straighten the curls, as I was being constantly told that it looked more professional. Looked more professional? I am a professional in my field of work so why would I be judged on my straight hair as opposed to curly? I was bemused by this assumption; Curly hair meant I would not be taken seriously? It was all about following the latest craze and you dare not be different.Anyway I went against my own judgement and straightened it .This meant that even my own neighbours did not recognise me when it was straight. I had a lady say to me one day: "You remind me of someone?" I said, "Mary, It’s me, Maureen!" You should have seen the shocked look on her face
.I found wearing the straight hair very false for me, I felt I had to behave differently and hide my own personality, so after a while this got me thinking and I realised that with a good hair cut and some products I could wear my hair curly and avoid all the hassle of straightening it, which took at least two hours at a time. I was constantly buying products that were costing me a fortune - and to top it all off all the heat was destroying my hair at a rapid rate. I realised all I needed was to expand the confidence I had in my work to my hair and to wear my hair the way I wanted to wear it and the way It was meant to be worn, Natural!! I’ve learnt to embrace the curls and the life that goes with it and so too have all those people who asked me to straighten my beautiful curls, My career has never been better and my professionalism is taken very seriously indeed, the curls are stunning, nourished and healthy – and I couldn’t be happier..
Georgina Heffernan: Fashion journalist , stylist and PR consultant
"I’m staying straight – good riddance to curls!"
When I was five my hair looked like something Goldilocks would be proud of. But as I've got older those cute ringlets have turned into willful waves with a mind, and frizz, all of their own. As a result, I’ve spent a large portion of my time straightening my hair - but why are we with naturally curly tresses so obsessed with making it straight? Even as fashion magazines trumpet this season’s tousled looks or bouffant updos, women line up to have their hair flat-ironed, blown out and chemically relaxed.
Google "curly hair" and you will find message boards, blogs and products set to offer a sort of support system for untamable, frizzy, disorganized bad hair days. There are, of course, similar guides for women with straight hair, but the first page of Google results for "straight hair" are almost all on how to achieve it. Why? Because straight hair looks more controlled and professional. I have yet to see as much as a wave on the heads of the immaculately groomed newsreaders on SKY news or, come to think of it, any Oscar winning actress.
When I was just 14, I purchased my first professional blow dryer and I have been straightening my hair, pretty much, ever since. I locked myself in the bathroom, and, with my blow-dryer set on high, painstakingly blow-dried my hair and emerged, 53 minutes later, straight. I blissfully walked around, a curly-head incognito, until it rained. Rain melted me like the wicked witch of the West. "I'm frizzing, I'm frizzing!" I shrieked and dove into the safety of the nearest store.After that, I discovered hair straightners and there was no going back...
My hair was pressed through the iron once and I sat there mesmerised by my glossy new mane - the closest thing to a miracle that I had ever seen. Having your first HD experience is like taking a first tentative sip of shandy and before long you're a full- blown alcoholic. There are no Priory Clinics for people trying to come off hair straightners. But the effect is so fast and effective, that when I looked at myself in the mirror afterwards, I felt like a magician who has pulled a bunch of flowers from his sleeve. I wanted to say: 'Tadah!' with theatrical flourish.
The great thing about ceramic straighteners is you don't have to be any good at hairdressing to use them. They are idiot proof. Even if you do make a mistake, you simply pass the irons back over it to make it disappear. On the down side, my hair is very dry and will not grow past my shoulders – a result of practically frying my hair on an almost daily basis. But so what? At least I have straight hair. And where previously my locks had been a messy mop of frizz, now they are straight, polished and, dare I say it, professional. The straight hair suits my face shape and suits my personality – I’m a straight talking girl after all.
0 comments:
Post a Comment