the long and the short of it

I've always wanted to have really long, semi-curly hair. I need the curl to help with volume around my face. Alas, my dark hair is not naturally curly and I don't have the 2+ hours every day to use a curling iron and various hair products to achieve that 'natural' look. My hair is hitting a longish stage- the stage where I pull it back into a ponytail and am done with it. I like having long hair. But sometimes it looks pretty boring and conservative.

Another thing I've always wanted to do with my hair is cut it very short. I've had short hair before, and it looks good on me with the right cut. But never very short. There is something very appealing about being able to shower in the morning and stick in some gel, muss it up, and go. But. If I cut it very short, I have to maintain it more or less. And I've had medium-short hair so much that I've been sick of it- and I'm not sure I want the pain of growing my hair out again if I don't like the short cut.

My sisters have suggested, and I've thought of this myself, that I should grow it a little longer, get a perm for the curls, and when I'm tired of it, chop it all off. Very short. I don't know. I'm not sure I want to get a perm- it seems awfully eighties. But I'm not quite ready to chop my hair to bits. But I'm getting a little tired of what I have.

In looking at hairstyles on the internet this morning I have come to one conclusion: what I probably need is a good make-up artist and a photographer to tell me how to hold my head in just the most flattering way to accentuate the positives and down-play the negatives. But, sigh. I can't afford those, yet.

Of course I could really shake things up.


I could go blond...