Hair Trials and Tribulations

So I had my hair and makeup trial(s) awhile back but have taken so long to share with you because I’m not exactly sure how I feel about the results. Basically bees, I need HALP!

Based on rave WeddingWire reviews and their reasonable pricing, I scheduled an at home trial with Leanna from Daniela Rodriguez. The package was pretty cohesive and included hair and makeup trials, air brush foundation, and false eyelashes, but the real selling point was that the cost of extra services (hair and makeup for my mom and bridesmaids) was affordable relative to the other vendors I checked out. I’m leaving the choice to my bridesmaids as to whether they’d like to have their hair and make up done. Honestly, they’re all very competent when it comes to getting glam, but I wanted to give them an affordable option should they want the pros to take over.

We started with the makeup trial and I shared a few of my inspiration pictures with Leanna, which mostly focused on a smoky eye rather than a dramatic lip. Since we are having a winter evening wedding, I told her it was OK to go heavy with the eyeliner. (You can take the girl out of Jersey, but you can’t take the Jersey out of the girl.)

Mila Kunis is my inspiration for life | Image via Taaz

So the good news is that I’m very happy with my makeup trial. This was surprising because history shows that I’m picky about other people doing my makeup and will end up touching up fixing whatever a makeup artist has done to me. But when Leanna turned me around for the final reveal, there wasn’t a thing I would change. Well, except for maybe the eyelashes. I sort of felt like a giraffe, or maybe even a Kardashian in disguise—va-va-voom, but obviously not mine. I asked Leanna if she could trim them a bit, but she said I was already wearing the shortest ones. The shortest ones?! Whoever wears the longer ones must have very strong eyelids!

Testing out the indoor and outdoor lighting.

Now let’s discuss the hair. I decided early on that I wanted an up-do because I have a habit of playing with my hair if it’s down. I rake it from side to side, I twirl it into knots, I part it down the middle and pull it together under my chin and yell “I have a beard!” I love the juxtaposition of casual loose waves with a fancy wedding dress, but I know the style would never last with my constant touching. Unlike makeup, I’m pretty easy going when it comes to getting my hair styled. I almost didn’t collect any inspiration pictures because I figured I could just describe the look I was going for and it would magically appear on my head. The only aspect I was specific on was the front—I didn’t want to have a part in my hair since I rarely wear one (too much hair flipping going on). So I asked Leanna to give me a messy, raked look in the front with a good amount of height. We settled on these styles from my Pinterest collection for inspiration: thin braids woven into a messy bun.

Image via Instyle

Image via Jackie Schneider Beauty

I know it might look like I have a lot of hair, but I really don’t. My hair is fairly fine and has been getting thinner as the years go on. I remember the good old days when it only took three loops on the hair tie to secure my pony tail. Now I’m up to four loops, even with a brand new hair tie. Still, my hair is really long (a post wedding chop is in order) so I figured what I lack in thickness, I make up for in length. (Scary side story: when I’m stressed out, my hair falls out. I need to keep as calm as possible before this wedding lest I have no hair for Leanna to work with on the big day.)

I could feel Leanna pinning and unpinning my hair and asked her if I had enough hair for her to work with to recreate the look, already knowing the answer. She said yes, but it probably wouldn’t turn out as full as my inspiration picture. Once she was finished she showed me the back with a hand mirror. Instead of a bun, I saw a mess of curls and braids.

Leanna assured me the bun was in there, it was just verrrrrry tiny. Sure enough, I felt around in the back and found a little nubbin of a bun hiding underneath the braids and curls. “Hmm…,” I said, although I’m sure the confusion and disappointment on my face gave it away. Leanna offered, “If you buy a hair weft and a sock bun, I can make the bun bigger, then it’ll look more like the photos. You don’t even have to get expensive hair because I’ll just put it underneath for volume.” Fake hair? Was I seriously going to add “Buy hair” to my wedding checklist?

“Where does the hair come from?” I asked warily. I’ve never bought hair and was envisioning bald corpses in my mind.

“Well, real human hair usually comes from donations.”

“But isn’t that hair supposed to make wigs for cancer patients?”

“Not all the time. And even if it says 100% hair, you should make sure it says 100% human hair if that’s what you want because sometimes it’s not all human hair.”

“WHAT?!? Whose hair is it?!?”

“Yak.”

Image via The Yak Ranch

Nope. Nope, nope, nope. I made a face to let Leanna know I wasn’t into the yak hair. Instead, I told her that I wasn’t really married to the braided bun style she had done on me. I just wanted something that was loose and undone in the back, yet still classic and interesting. Perhaps it would be better if I just figured out a hairstyle that better suited the amount of hair that currently exists on my head, rather than try to force the issue with yak hair. Leanna said she was happy to come back for another trial once I came up with a plan B.

So it was back to the Pinterest board. I steered clear of braided styles and buns and instead pinned a bunch of pictures of messy French twists. They seemed classic, but a bit edgy at the same time. When Leanna came back for hair trial #2, I emphasized my desire for volume and we selected this picture to go off of.

Image via Indulgy

This is what I got:

SO MUCH HAIR. That is all my real hair. I have no clue where it all came from. At first I was happy with it, but upon closer inspection of the up-do in pictures, I’m not so sure anymore. I mean, it’s so big…and maybe too messy…? But that’s what I asked for, isn’t it? It almost looks like I’m wearing yak hair, but I’m not!

So that’s where I am today. I don’t blame my uncertainty on Leanna’s abilities, nor do I want to have a third trial. She actually took my direction really well and gave me exactly what I asked for. I wholeheartedly believe this is a classic case of, “It’s not you, it’s me.” I seem to lack the vocabulary to properly convey what it is that I want, and this is probably because I don’t have a solid vision in my head. All I really have are key words and a feeling: raked back, undone but not sloppy, loose. The onus is on me to pinpoint exactly what I want so that Leanna can execute it on wedding day. I think I am now committed to the messy French twist, just a smaller, tamer, less gigantic version. Some new muses I’ve pinned:

Image via The Hairstyled

Image via Hairstyles How To

Do you have any advice for me? What can I do or say or pin to narrow down on a hairstyle? What critiques do you have for my hair trials and/or new Pinspiration?