Ruby and I share a troubling trait: high maintenance hair. I can style my hair with ample product and shellac it with a hefty dousing of hairspray, but the moment I walk out the door it springs to life and morphs into an entirely different shape. If there is any moisture in the air (which is pretty much a constant atmospheric state when you live close to the ocean), my hair frizzes and resembles fuzzy Mohair yarn. Instead of sleek straight hair, I sport a big bouffant halo of crinkly hair.
Shortly after I graduated from law school, I got my first perm. I was studying for the California Bar Exam and thought a perm would be much easier to maintain than my Farrah Fawcett hairdo – both styles were popular at the time. I envisioned a mass of cute curls cascading down my back…but I ended up with hair reminiscent of Medusa. I looked like I’d stuck my finger in a light socket. I knew I was in trouble when I returned home and my mother said, “You’re taking this very well, dear.”
Ruby had the straightest hair of any of the puppies in her litter. We thought she’d have soft wavy hair, but her locks turned into tight corkscrews. Each and every strand resembles a coiled spring. It is almost impossible to keep her tangle-free. I’ve tried an assortment of detanglers and brushes. She has more hair products and grooming tools than I do. No matter how hard we try to eliminate the knots and clumps, she often ends up a matted mess. When her hair is long, she looks like an adorable fluffy Teddy Bear. However, sometimes she becomes too tangled and the groomer has no choice but to shear her, and she winds up looking like a sheep that has been shorn. Poor little lamb.
Any recommendations for hair products for curly-haired people or pets?
