Mandy's Musings: Me And My Famous Hair
By Mandy Bates
I’ve had a lot of hair – literally and figuratively. I’m not quite sure when I started making my own hair choices. I think it was when I first met Amber and she thought I’d look good with short hair. So we went in the bathroom and I let her cut it! It was pretty long to begin with, and it was just below my shoulders when she was done. My hair escapades didn’t end there with Amber, either. She had a pool and her grandma worked days, so we hung out on the deck all summer long. One day Amber came out with a bottle of Sun-In. She sprayed it all over her hair and then on mine – without asking!!! I jumped in the pool, thinking that would be enough to rinse it out, then continued to work on my tan. After a few hours, I went into her house to use the bathroom and almost DIED when I walked past a mirror – my previously very dark hair was BLONDE!!! It was REALLY blonde!!!! I remember thinking, “My mom is going to KILL me when I get home!!” But she really never said anything. So I kept experimenting with my hair. When I was 14 I got a perm, but hated it, so the next week had it straightened. My mom taught me and my sister how to use the iron to flatten our hair, but that was too tedious so I just chemically straightened it. I don’t remember when I started coloring my hair on a regular basis, but it was
very blonde for years. When I was 18 I decided to go back to brown. But a few days later, I decided I missed the blonde, and again I changed.
All throughout these different colors were different styles. Usually my friend Kelly was with me on cutting escapades. The time I was only brunette for two days, Kelly came over and we decided to use a color stripper, so my hair was orange for a few hours. Then it went back to blonde! That’s when I got my Christina Applegate hair, from when she was on “Jesse.” But that wasn’t my first time copying a celebrity….
When I was 17 I was just about to start my senior year of high school. I decided it was time for a change, and this was in 1996, so this was the height of “Friends.” I went to one of the upscale salons in town, and took Kelly with me. I told the guy I wanted hair like Jennifer Aniston. Everyone knew what The Rachel was. But apparently not this dude. He pulled my very long hair into a ponytail and chopped it off and tossed it into my lap. I can still remember the look on Kelly’s face! It was about a year after that incident that Kelly and I decided to play beauty parlor again, and that’s when I did the Christina Applegate thing. We also decided to cut and color my brother and his friend’s hair. It was a fun night.
After my hair grew out some, I decided I wanted to look like Ginger Spice, so I bought an at-home highlighting kit. I did the big chunks of blonde in the front and a few smaller chunks going back. I also did this style on my brother. Again, I have pics, lol.
A few years later, I tried again for Jennifer Aniston hair. It was better, but it really didn’t work on me. I’ve had J-Lo hair, several more Jennifer Aniston ‘dos (it seemed like every time she changed her hair, so did I), Ashley Simpson hair (when she was on 7th Heaven), Alexis Bledel, Lauren Graham, Rebecca Budig, Erica Kane aka Royal’s fantasy Susan Lucci, and the list goes on… obviously.
But a couple weeks ago, Kassie DePaiva aka Blair Cramer on One Life to Live got a great new cut. I couldn’t stop staring at it. I found myself concentrating more on her hair than on the dialogue, which means I’ve missed a lot of the drama with Eli the psycho, but I just couldn’t take it anymore, I HAD to have her hair!!! I googled Kassie trying to find a pic of her current hair, and I couldn’t find it anywhere!! I went to youtube and got a clip and tried and tried and TRIED to get a still, and finally figured out how, printed a copy, and headed to a salon. A different salon, of course. I’ve only ONCE before found someone who will actually cut my hair like I say. I wonder if I’m speaking Spanish sometimes, they totally do NOT do with my hair what I’ve asked. I’ve taken pictures with me, and that doesn’t help. I’ve even taken the PERSON with me whose hair I want to copy and it never comes out. I had low hopes for this girl named Michelle at a new salon, but I gave her the picture and held my breath. Now, my hair was pretty long last week. My mom went with me, and her face mimicked Kelly’s from years ago. I was nervous, but I was brave. Snip snip snip. Finally, Michelle turned me around, and it was what I wanted!! I couldn’t believe it! She cut my hair just like the picture! And even better, when she told me how to style it, it was easy!!! Now my new hair takes about five minutes to do, and that includes blow drying! I really couldn’t be happier!! (Except for the fact that my bangs were too short from my last venture to a salon… But they’re okay. In a few weeks, they’ll be perfect!)
Ta da!!! Here it is, I call this my Blair do. Royal calls it my Blair Hair. Either way, I’m happy!
