Coiffures

I haven’t done anything with my hair for a long time. And like time, my hair just keeps getting on with growing and now I have long hair. 

Most of the time I drag it into a ponytail - sometimes high on my head, sometimes low - mostly I feel it is “age inappropriate” but that doesn’t bother me all that much except sometimes when it does.

When I think of French women I do mostly think of The Bob - example been Amelie in the movie of the same name. Crisply cut, practical, feminine, framing a beautiful French face. I’m not ready to cut my locks so have convinced myself that my Frenchness shows most when I pile my hair up on top of my head in an effortless bun. 

I find this style hard to achieve though which is weird because when you see a “messy bun” it looks effortless, doesn’t it? Well let me tell you - mine take a lot of effort to look effortless.

I’m not a natural when it comes to doing a  “do” and no two are ever the same. Even when I proclaim <french accent>“Voila! I have mastered the messy bun!”</accent> the next day I find I am still an apprentice at taming my locks and I end up wearing something different at best, weird at worst, and try to avoid reflective surfaces as I go about my day.

One of the strangest things that my long hair has revealed is that it’s curly.

I grew up my whole life believing I had pin straight, thin hair. I spent most of my teens and early twenties with permed curls because of that belief. During the 80’s I kept my hair short because it’s really really difficult finding time for hair when you’re a mum of small children.

When my children arrived with curly hair (the first two did) and then their children arrived with curls and waves (again, the first two) I assumed it was from their “father’s side of the family” but, turns out, I’m no slouch in that area after all.

So now what can I learn from my French counterparts to embody their grace and beauty as relating to my hair?