Christmas, yoga and anticipation.

I drafted this post yesterday whilst having my hair done. My last post therefore before Christmas comes to you live (well nearly live) from the salon.

I am writing this post whilst sitting in the hairdressers, you can probably smell the dye, coffee and hair products as you read. I am having my Christmas haircut. I was considering having my hair braided and teased into the shape of reindeer antlers, however have decided instead to have it dyed green and cut into a Christmas tree shape so that I can festoon it with tinsel and baubels. Only kidding, I'm actually having my grey roots touched up and then my split ends are being trimmed.
The dye is on, I'm having a coffee and biscuit, there are Christmas songs on the radio and there's a gentle buz of conversation from stylists and their clients. I really love having my hair done, I like feeling spoilt and pampered, I enjoy chatting to the stylist who does my hair and who always amazes me by remembering what we talked about at the last appointment (I wonder if she makes notes of conversations as a reminder?) and I love the anticipation of knowing that for one day out of six weeks I'll have good hair.
I know people who don't enjoy it though, who worry that they won't like the cut, who when they get home immediately wash their hair as they aren't happy with how its blow dried and I know one person who doesn't like going to a hair salon as she hates sitting in front of the mirror and is embarrassed to stare at herself. I don't have this problem though as I take my glasses off whilst there so all I can see in the mirror are blurred colours and movements. The down side of this is that I have to hold books and magazines right up to my nose in order to be able to read.
I started enjoying having my hair done a lot more when I began to take a book with me to appointments. Before then I read the magazines that the salon provided and there's only so many perfume adverts, photo shoots of clothes I can't afford and wedding details of celebrities that I've never heard of that I can put up with.
The one thing that I don't enjoy about getting my hair done is the torture of leaning back over the sink to get my hair washed. The basins in salons have got to be one of the world's most useless design products. The curved groove which is supposed to craddle your neck has in fact been ergonomically designed to dig into your vertebrae and cut off the circulation to the rest of your body. To get into position where your head is anywhere near the water you need the flexibility of a yogi as your neck is required to twist itself into the lotus position. So you lie back, getting a crick in your neck, your head at such an angle that the rest of the salon can see right up your nose and still the scalding water can only actually rinse your forehead and ears and leaves your hair, especially at the back, full of suds. The price of beauty eh. I wonder what it says about me that I still enjoy getting my hair done.
This is my last post before Christmas and so my new hair and I just wanted to wish you all a very happy Christmas. I hope that the magical fairy of happiness sprinkles you all liberally with a sparkly, cinnamon fragrant dusting of joy and that at least one of your wishes comes true. I need to go now as the sink of torture is beckoning. I hope Santa brings me a neck brace to help me get over the inevitable whiplash.
Happy Christmas everyone.