What’s up with your hair, honey?

You know my hair is in serious trouble when even my husband of 29 years takes notice. Admittedly, I have never had great hair. My hair is not the shiny, thick, luxurious, abundant type you see in TV commercials. It is thin and I never have had tons of it. However, my husband – as many other husbands - would not typically comment one way or the other… until this morning.

As I kissed him goodbye before going to work, he could not help but asking me if I had brushed my hair! He even gave me tips to “calm it down”. I am surprised it took him so long to realize. My hair has changed dramatically since I hit 40.  It is thinner, drier, and grows very slowly. But the worst part? It's unmanageable frizziness. I never know how it will behave in any given situation. I have tried all kinds of products and nothing seems to work on my “new” hair.

In my 20s, my concern was the lack of volume, but I found ways to deal with that – backcombing, blowing it with my head upside out, using a lot of hairspray and very little conditioner. I wish my current hair troubles were as simple. Now volume is the least of my concerns. I dread the frizz, the dullness as if my hair were like a scouring pad!. Many of my friends have taken recourse to very short hair dos.

I refuse to take that extreme measure, as long hair is part of who I am. So what do I do? Well, I offset my very frequent bad hair days with the confidence and high self-esteem of accomplished women.  “Yes, honey, I brushed my hair. I actually put tons of products on it but did not obey… and so what?”.  And then I think to myself: “One day they will listen to us over 40 and come up with hair care that’s just for us”. In the meantime, I leave the house, walking tall, with my chin up, killing it in my high heels and feeling ready for whatever is waiting for me at the office.