Book 20 of 52: Great Hair: Secrets to Looking Fabulous and feeling Beautiful Every Day

Yes, I’m reviewing a book about hair. But before you start asking “oh, Jen, what’s happened?” know this: I read this book for an assignment, and hair is a powerful thing.

How many times have you cringed about a bad haircut? I’ve cried over some awful chop jobs. How much time do you spend styling it, taking care of it, worrying about your next cut or complaining about bad hair days? And I’m not just directing my questions to the ladies — I’ve dated guys who spent more time on their hair than I do.

So while Great Hair: Secrets to Looking Fabulous and Feeling Beautiful Every Dayby What Not to Wear’s Not to Wear might not be a great work of literature, it’s at least been worth flipping through. He gives great advice on working with wavy hair, and how to dry a bob hair cut straight, which is important to me at the moment:

Because that’s my new do.

I’ve had long blond hair for the last few years. I think it looks nice long — I have a lot of hair, and it’s generally healthy since I don’t blow dry it every day, and I don’t dye it.

But it is a pain to maintain, plus I shed (how am I not bald?). It doesn’t take much for my hair to go from tidy long cut to shaggy overgrown do since I don’t get my hair cut that often. But I had kept it long because I thought that long hair was the most attractive way to wear your hair, and I’ve gotten a lot of compliments about my locks.

I went with a shoulder length cut in November, and liked it, but I knew I’d chickened out on going short. So I went back to the same stylist (Louis Alberta at Bauhaus in Collingswood). I told him to do what he wanted without giving me bangs and while making sure I could pull my hair back (with the help of a headband).

Voila, Jen’s got a bob. It looks great wavy, almost like a shaggy do that’ll look better in the summer when my highlights come back in curteosy of the sun. But I’ve been having a tough time getting it back into that slick bob.

That’s where Arrojo’s book comes in. He gives a lot of pratcial advice, from what product to use to what brush (who knew a paddle brush would work?) with pictures.

He addresses a lot of hair issues for all different types and textures, but the book isn’t meant to be read from cover to cover (he repeats — a LOT), but if you’re a hair idiot like me, you might want to take a look.

And I’ll let you know if Arrojo’s tips on bringing out that sleek bob at home works. I hope so!