I’ve always been incredibly jealous of people who drop phrases like, “Oh my hairdresser recommended this book to me,” or “I’ve been going to my hairdresser for years.”

Why couldn’t I ever find “my hairdresser”? Since moving to Florida 8 years ago, I’ve desperately searched for The One. The one who would understand that I really hate doing my hair. The one who would understand what to do with wavy hair that tends to get frizzy in Florida’s humidity. The one who took the time to teach me the tricks of the trade.

Today, ladies and gentleman, I think I found The One.

A friend recommended her to me. She’s at a salon that’s definitely a pricier than I usually pay. There’s a lot of things I’m not afraid to do on the cheap — store brand food products, clothes from Target and Costco (don’t judge. What almost full-time working mom of a 3-year-old has time to really shop?), eyebrow threading at Wal-Mart (big fan, actually). So I’ve always tried to do the same with my hair. I’ve had some pretty great haircuts at Hair Cuttery and the Aveda school. But I’ve also had some pretty horrendous ones.

Over the past 8 years, I’ve tried long hair:

 

Gah, I hated those long ring curls. My poor wedding day hairdresser. I was “that bride” and was sorta bitchy about the whole thing. Felt really bad about it afterwards but he refused to listen to me. Oh well. It looked better from the front, which I guess is what counted, photos-wise.

Back to the hair. I’ve tried short, curly hair:

 

I’ve tried short, choppy hair:

 

That haircut convinced me that it was time to start growing my hair back out. It’s just too thick and wavy for short hair and I don’t know what the hairdresser was thinking listening to me!

I’ve been trying really hard to be patient and grow it out over the past year+. To make things more interesting, I even got bangs, despite the lifetime ban I put on bangs after I finally grew my awful high school bangs out in college.

I only half committed to bangs, though, getting a sideswept pair:

 

I actually really liked the bangs until I saw this picture. I thought I looked frighteningly like Amber from Teen Mom. So then I started growing the bangs longer.

Here’s how I’ve been rocking my hair lately. It’s not pretty but it was a quick way to get out the door in the mornings.

 

Now that you’re caught up, maybe you’ll more fully appreciate today’s appointment. First of all, it’s one of those salons that offers you wine, coffee, cookies or other snacks and beverages during your cut. Awesome. Yet it’s really laid back and everyone is very chill and not at all chi-chi.

I knew I’d like the hairdresser since we had the same name! And as she started combing through my hair and talking about it, we realized we have the same hair (and we’re the same age! Mom, do I have a twin you’re not telling me about? She was red-headed, like my father, so someone has some ‘splaining to do).

Immediately she said to me: “With your wave and curls, you should NOT be blowdrying your hair. Even a diffuser will make it frizzy. You should just be airdrying.” She had me at no blowdrying.

Plus, she was all in favor of my grow-out plans and just showed me the spots where my hair needed some serious reshaping and TLC. And when I showed her the bane of my existence — the wicked cowlick that developed on the left side of my head during pregnancy and has never gone away — she didn’t brush it off (no pun intended). She agreed it was fierce and immediately started brainstorming some ways to tame it. Love her.

And maybe this is a salon secret, but here’s why flattery will get you everywhere. She asks me, “Have you had your highlighted?” Me: “No, I’ve always been scared to and never wanted to spend the money.” Her: “Don’t ever do it. You have perfect coloring that looks like a really expensive highlights.”

She’s a keeper!

She got to work and really tutored me through the whole process, taking the time to even show me the proper way to dry my hair (no more towel on top my head) and how wet my hair should be when I apply product (the answer: very). She even spent time showing me the best ways to apply the product and how to shake out my hair underneath so that it doesn’t stick to my neck, yet won’t get frizzy.

She could have been done then, but she said she didn’t want to send me out with wet hair and her next appointment had canceled, so we played. First she tried drying it using a diffuser. To be honest, I hated it. I looked like Bozo. But I have no plans today, so I was just going to let it go. Not her. To her credit, she hated it too so she decided to completely restyle it!

After a long, luxurious blowdry and flat-ironing session, we were done. It was, honestly, heaven. As many of you know, getting a full hour of just sitting, with no nagging kid or husband and all the attention on you is a rare luxury indeed. We talked books, politics, Japan, etc. It was, frankly, lovely.

But wait there’s more! They were out of the product that she suggested, so she got the salon to sell me her barely opened bottle for 50 percent off! AND, she told me to not even think about coming back for 4 to 6 months unless I need a quick bang trim (which is free!).

I’m hooked. I know it’s the first day, but I feel like I really can tell the difference in the more expensive cut. And when you throw in all that tutoring, it was so worth it. So, here’s the finished product:

 

 

Pretty good, huh? Enjoy the view, because my hair will NEVER be this straight again.

By now, you’re probably wondering what my definition of expensive haircut is: $50. I guess compared to what some people pay for cuts, coloring, etc., that’s not too bad, but I do feel a little guilty about that. But if I’m only going two or three times a year, that’s not that bad, right?

If it’s wrong, I don’t want to be right. I’m going back.