FrumpMama's Celebrity Mom Hairstyle

So because my birthday was coming up soon and because the scorching hot summer temperatures have been above 100 here for a few weeks running, I knew something had to be done about my hair.

It was time to finally bite the bullet and dye, too, as being Judah's mommy was bringing grays in at too fast a rate to ignore the problem any longer.

I knew I wanted something short and chic. A definite "celebrity" mom style...with layers and everything.

What I got ended up being something of a deja vu experience, harking back to the time my mom's coworker's daughter Jenny had to get in some hours of haircutting experience for cosmetology school, and came out to the house to practice on our heads.

That was the time my formerly long hair was carelessly hacked off snipped away, and shaped into what was affectionately known as a shapeless blob bob.

On a side note, that lovely jumbo turquoise and black striped blouse I was wearing came to my knees and was worn over black stirrup pants. It was my favorite outfit from my freshman year of high school. I wore it for school pictures, to school football games, and to a *cough, cough* Stryper concert.

Yes, I was the epitome of cool then, my friends. Totally rad. I can still remember getting ready for school that morning thinking I looked fabulous, lol. *rolls eyes*



The style was not all that different from what I ended up with this time around except perhaps a tad longer.

Once again, the stylist gathered my hair into a ponytail and gleefully hacked it off quickly yet carefully cut it.

Call it a lack of experience (having had long hair for most of my life) but I should have known better than to be the last person on the stylist's schedule before the salon closed for the night.

Being under a time constraint, I felt this insane pressure to 'not be any trouble', so when she was obviously done, I caved and pretended to like it.

Even though it was not what I really wanted or liked.

Actually, I loved with she did with the dye. Not a drop of it touched my scalp, so I didn't suffer any adverse reactions. She did something (known in the biz as lowlights), which was where she painted each section of hair with the solution and wrapped it in foil. And she matched it exactly to my normal hair color.

She was a wonderfully capable hairstylist, but I believe she was a little hesitant to go too short having cut 6 inches from my hair already. I'm certain she thought it would be too drastic and I would hate it and never come back again.

I commented that I wanted to go short short while she was shaping it up, but all I got in reply was, "I can always go shorter, but I can't go longer. Let's just go with this for now, I'll style it, and then you can decide if you'd like me to cut a little more off.

Meanwhile, the clock was ticking and the salon was getting closer to closing time, and it became apparent she wasn't going to go any shorter.

I made an honest effort at loving it. It was much shorter than before. Definitely cooler for the summer heatwave.

And getting it dyed back to my original color did wonders for my outlook. Shaved a few years off, even.

Jeff liked it well enough, and Judah said I looked "purdy", and that carried me through the next couple of hours contentedly.

However, after getting home and playing with it a bit, I found the style did nothing for me. There was no volume. No lift. No layers to speak of. It just hung there limp and dull and boring.

So NOT what I'd been going for.

The worst part was that I couldn't do a thing about it for a full week. VBS began Monday evening, and with all that was going on, there simply wasn't time.

Thankfully, we had a "Western" theme going, and I was able to keep my "do" covered with a cowgirl hat all week long.

But the moment the Round-Up Picnic & Country Carnival was over on Saturday, we piled into the car and headed back to the city where I'd originally got my hair cut.

For a do-over at a fine salon.

It went against my penny-pinching grain to have to pay for it twice, but not even frugal, flip-flop wearin' frumpmamas can stand to live with a bad haircut for long.

This time, I went in armed with the knowledge of exactly what kind of style I wanted.

Something layered, definitely. A little sassy.

A "celebrity" mom kind of style.

I was looking for something a little bit Victoria Beckham, short in back, longer in the front



And a little bit Katie Holmes.



Something right in between.

A style that could be worn smooth and sleek or could be curled for lift and fullness.

I asked my new stylist Chrissy if she understand what I meant.

She smiled confidently. "Yes, I know exactly the cut you're looking for, and I think it will look great with your face shape."

Chrissy clipped and shaped it into exactly what I'd envisioned it should be.

I walked out of that salon a happy camper.

I got my "celebrity" mom cut.

But as it turns out, mixing Victoria Beckham and Katie Holme's hairstyles ends up looking like a completely different and yet still well-known celebrity mom...



And surprisingly, I'm totally cool with that!