COVID hair has affected my Style Coach business 

Last Easter I was moaning about my hair and about missing my first haircut appointment in 24 years! Here I am, a year later, writing about it again. It’s not *quite* such the big deal as I found it last year during Lockdown 1 – I have been through it before. However, I have been reflecting on how it’s affected my business this week so will share that with you. 
If you’ve been following me for a while, you’ll know that my hair is my non-negotiable me time in my diary. 
I had been going to my hairdresser Brian for the past 23/24 years religiously EVERY 6 weeks for a haircut until last year. My appointments were booked in 12 months in advance, and NOTHING took priority over this hour of time. 
In usual times my haircut is my non-negotiable time and I recognised that losing that essential part of my identity is affecting me. As I sat down to do my review of the first quarter of 2021 I noticed that despite more videos and lives being part of my marketing plan for the first part of 2021 I had avoided doing them. I’d got LinkedIn live, Streamyard & Descript. I was ready to go...only I didn't. I began to ponder why I hadn't taken action. It didn't make sense... 

My confidence is impacted by my appearance 

Then the lightbulb hit me. 
 
It's because of my hair! I've got a mullet and look like Ken Dodd! 
 
It's bothering me, it is affecting my confidence in my appearance. The knock-on effect is that it's impacted my marketing strategy for my business. 
 
During Lockdown 1 I got away with backcombing and lots of hairspray like we used to in the 80’s kind of like a grey Siouxsie Sioux but now it's even too long to do that. On Monday this week I was so fed up with it I tried a headscarf. (I'd watched Escape to the Chateau on Sunday and felt inspired by Angel Strawbridge.) It worked. I felt better. Bolstered by my headscarf I went live in my Style Sisterhood group on FB and told everyone how I felt. There were some lovely comments from people and what I was saying resonated with quite a few. 

Going out again after lockdown 

I’ve shared my feelings (and photos) on LinkedIn too and it has started conversations there. Other women shared stories of how their confidence had been knocked due to various issues around their appearance and how it had stopped them doing stuff too. 
It even inspired one of the members* to write a poem! 
 
Going Out Again 
Where should I go? 
Who could I see? 
What is really now expected of me? 
We've been in lockdown since this time last year. 
Friends and folk are now starting to all reappear. 
It's been so long since I dressed to go out, 
My minds in a flap, 
Not just what to wear is in doubt. 
The truth is not good, 
I'm not feeling quite right, 
It'll take me a while to adjust to 'alright'. 
But the sky is so blue, 
The weather is kind, 
If only I could quieten this wild, monkey mind. 
It's okay to meet, 
They'd have us believe, 
In groups up to six but still no hugs to receive. 
Our families can travel to an outdoor venue, 
To swap birthday presents maybe a year overdue. 
So I choose a fave top and comb through my long hair, 
Then step out in the world, it's a true challenge, like Dare. 
 
(C) Sue McFarlane 30/03/21 

Transitioning to grey hair 

It was interesting that, 12 months ago, on social media, that many women felt insecure and were worried about having a silver parting (the shops were running out of dye too!) and I totally got that. It took me ages to face up to the fact that my hair wasn’t actually dark brown anymore and let the grey become my thing. 
I had it purple for ages and used to have to do it every couple of weeks to keep the white halo of roots from showing – even though I did it myself it was extremely time consuming and became a burden. Embracing my grey was quite liberating to be honest. 
 
If it’s something you are considering check the support groups on Facebook – there are a few. They have all kinds of tips to help you with the transition. Personally, I went from using permanent colour to semi-permanent do the colour didn’t show as it was growing out. This is easy to do if you have short hair. It didn’t take that long. Once the permanent colour had fully grown out, I allowed the semi-permanent one to just fade until it was fully natural. 
I kept it like that for about 18 months – then I did it purple again for mum’s funeral because it was her favourite colour. These days I play around with fun colours depending on my mood. Sometimes it’s magenta, sometimes its purple – the last few times I coloured it I did it blue. It’s just too long at the moment that I don’t even think a funky colour would help. 

Colour analysis and your hair 

One thing I will say is that your natural hair colour is ALWAYS going to suit you. As we age, we lose pigment in our skin and eyes too, so they are fading accordingly. What suited you when you were 20 isn’t necessarily going to still suit you at 50. You might look a bit like Morticia if you are still dying it as dark as it was then. 
When you have a colour analysis your consultant should be able to advise you on what hair colours are going to suit you best. As a general guide don’t go more than a couple of shades darker than your current natural colour if you don’t want to look washed out without makeup. If having lighter hair is more your thing, to keep it looking more natural I’d stick with not going more than 4 levels lighter. 
Also, bear in mind your natural colouring in terms of warm or cool undertones. This is one of the biggest mistakes I see. Your hair is always going to look best if you stick with your innate colouring. So, no ash blonde, platinum or the synthetic grey that is currently in vogue if you have warm undertones to your skin or are naturally honey blonde or have any kind of red tones naturally. Avoid the reds and golden blondes if you have cool undertones as they won’t sit nicely with your skin. 
 
Thankfully, I've had a text from my lovely hairdresser, he’s booked me on his first day back! I don’t have to wait too much longer to feel back to myself. 
Tagged as: Confidence
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