I'm forty one but only for a few more weeks.
I have very thick hair that used to be red, but now has faded to a, well, mousy greeny browny shitty faded colour. So I dye it with blonde highlights.
For years I had a dyed red short bob, but I got bored of it because I had to go to the salon more or less once every three weeks to keep it sharp and sort my roots out.
So I had all the red stripped out, grew it into a long bob, and hated it. The bleach killed the condition, it required endless washing and straightening to keep it tidy, and as it's thick and unruly, the minute I stepped out of the door it did its own thing anyway. It took ages to sort out in the mornings and it was all for nought because it always looked shit by 11 am.
So. I had it cut short. First not too short, then a radical undercut pixie thing. I liked it, but my teenagers told me I had 'speak to the manager' hair, which I took to mean no-nonsense middle-aged efficient, sexless hair.
So I tried growing it a bit on top, to make me more feminine.
Well, now I look like Claire Balding. Lovely woman, Claire, but my style icon she ain't. I saw a photograph of myself at a wedding that bore no relation to the woman I feel like inside.
Now I'm at an absolute loss. How does a woman in her forties get decent hair that doesn't scream Denise Welch/Claire Balding?
What the hell do I do? Help, mavens. I need you.