Keeping Up Appearances

Last week, Christie gently reminded me that it was time to schedule another brow waxing appointment.  I had been a little preoccupied with the holidays, and hadn’t gone since before Thanksgiving.  I try to keep up with trimming and shaping them, but they do sometimes get ahead of my efforts.

I had made my own online account with European Wax Centers, so it was just a matter of going online and setting up my appointment.  I checked out my regular shop, and found that my regular waxer, Shelby, was available on the upcoming Saturday, so I booked the appointment.

Christie also suggested we try something new.  She wanted to take me to a local hair salon and have my hair colored and trimmed.  I admit that since I started growing my hair out, I hadn’t gotten it trimmed very often – usually Christie just cleans up the uneven ends.  Coloring it was a new thing, though.  So I took off early on Thursday afternoon, changed into a pair of jeans and a t-shirt and sweatshirt, and met Christie at a coffee shop near the salon.

We walked next door to the hair salon, and Christie introduced me to one of the owners, Laura.  I felt a little intimidated.  Laura was attractive, about 30, very talkative and had short gray hair tinted with blue.  She sat me down in a chair, and with Christie standing next to me, asked “so, we’re doing a color and cut, today?”  Before I could answer, Christie chimed in.  “Like I mentioned on the phone, I think we want to go a little redder.  Not too much, but just enough to get more of a copper color.  What do you think?”  The two women conferred, while Laura pulled off the band holding my hair in a pony tail, and fluffed up my hair.

“I think that would look great with Gee’s complexion and eyes.  This will be fun.” She turned me around in the chair to face her, and adding “I’m going to go mix up your color, okay, babe?”  One of the salon assistants came over and asked if we wanted wine or champagne.  Christie asked her to bring two glasses of champagne, which turned out to be a pretty nice sparkling wine.

Christie sat in the empty salon chair next to me, and the three of us chatted while Laura applied the color to my hair.  She explained that she would color the roots, leave it for 30 minutes, then pull the color through to the ends, leave it a few more minutes, and then rinse out.  Other clients came and went, too, but the salon wasn’t too busy, so I felt pretty comfortable.  Christie and I waited and talked while the color was setting.

After Laura rinsed out the color, she led me back to the chair.  She explained that she was just going to trim the very ends of my hair, so the ends wouldn’t break off unevenly.  She put a little bit of product in my hair, which enhanced the curls of my already pretty wavy hair.

I looked in the mirror.  It took a bit of getting used to, but I liked the color.  It definitely gave my hair a reddish color, and the curls seemed very light and bouncy.

Christie and I thanked Laura, and left.  We went across the street to a wine bar.  Not surprisingly, the server greeted us with a cheerful “Hi, ladies.”  I felt a little self-conscious of me new hair color and style, but as we sat and enjoyed a few glasses of wine, I settled down.

When Saturday morning arrived, I dressed in my mesh-panel leggings, a tank top, and a white hoodie.  It was chilly, but promised to get warm soon.  I put on a bit of makeup.  More and more, I just don’t feel right without at least some makeup on, and touched up my nail polish.

I arrived at the salon and Heidi, the receptionist, greeted me.  She almost always worked on Saturdays, so I had gotten to know her pretty well.  She checked me in, and we chatted about plans we had for the weekend.  After a few minutes, Shelby came and got me, and escorted me back to her treatment room.  I mentioned to her that they had grown in a bit, since it had been so long since my last wax.  She waxed and trimmed my brows, occasionally letting me check in a mirror to see if I liked how they looked.  After she finished, she offered to fill them in.  I said yes, and she gave me some fabulously arched brows.  When she finished, she took me back out front, where Heidi, the receptionist, checked me out and made my next appointment.

Christie had some plans for us that evening, so I went back to my place to meet her, and get ready.

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