I finally got a haircut (and I already posted this in General Chatter and on my Facebook, so I apologize for anyone who had to see these twice). I got about 6 inches off the length and got a few layers and very long, gentle side bangs. It's very bouncy and I think I like it.. but the true test will come when I wash it and see what it looks like after I'VE styled it, and not the stylist. Hopefully it'll still look good!

Pictures:

http://s194.photobucket.com/albums/z...e/Haircut1.jpg

http://s194.photobucket.com/albums/z...e/Haircut2.jpg

http://s194.photobucket.com/albums/z...e/Haircut3.jpg

http://s194.photobucket.com/albums/z...e/Haircut4.jpg

Meg Your hair looks beautiful! I too have VERY curly and thick hair and I've never been able to let it grow really long because its heavy, lol. Your hair will have more bounce because its not weighted down. It looks very healthy and nice!!!

Mary- Love the hat and matching gloves--so cute! And you look awesome in that dress.

Megwini- Love the hair cut! You've inspired me to actually start wearing my hair air dried without brushing it, bc I have kind of similar hair, and it's been an interesting experience so far.

Meg your hair looks fantastic! I love it! I need a cut sooo bad, I have to get like 4 inches taken off lol!

forestroad: What's it been looking like? You should post pictures of it! I'm finding that I do need SOME kind of product, or my curls are separating and breaking apart and frizzing too easily as the day goes on, but that a lot of products seem too heavy for me. So it seems like it's all about experimenting!
But I will NOT brush my hair out again once it's dry and go out in public... not now that I know better! It DEFINITELY looks worse that way. I did it last night with my current haircut just for laughs... aw man. Nope. Never again. I wish someone would have told me earlier. :lol:

http://s194.photobucket.com/albums/z...edOutSmall.jpg

http://s194.photobucket.com/albums/z...5911-small.jpg

I think I was born in the wrong decade.. because they would've loved me in the 80's! :lol:

Ooh Meg I love the new hair cut :)

megwini- Gosh it has so many variations that I wouldn't really know where to start. If I blow dry it, I can get it straight. If I comb it and then let it air dry, it gets wavy/poofy/frizzy/curly, and if I brush it out dry depending on its mood it could look like yours in the pic above or it could go kind of straightish. And if I wash it, towel dry it, don't comb it, and let it dry, it gets pretty curly but not too poofy, but frizzy. The curls are mostly loose ringlets but not as curly as yours in the pics of your new hair cut. The image I posted a couple weeks ago here is after combing it and letting it air dry in a low chignon, on a good day.

Here it is in the process of drying (after getting out of a lake so I believe no combing):
http://photos-h.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-...90748_5966.jpg
Usually if it air dries it's much poofier/frizzier but this is lake water and it's still a little damp.

Me on the right, after brushing out the curls:
http://photos-e.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-...878408_422.jpg

This is a better representation of how it looks when I shower, shampoo, condition, and comb it wet then let air dry:
http://photos-h.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-...77302_1654.jpg

Sometimes it does this:
http://photos-a.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-...85295_5999.jpg

Or this:
http://photos-e.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-...585276_995.jpg

Yikes, this is a frequent occurrence:
http://photos-d.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-...52874_4531.jpg

And I ended up finding a pic of the good haircut I had where I could actually let it air dry curly and have it look good:
http://photos-e.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-...21160_9906.jpg

here's another shot of that haircut I actually liked (please ignore the drunk people):
http://photos-c.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-...01265_9416.jpg

I've only done it a couple times without combing and don't have any pics of how that looks.

Mine's a lot wavier if I don't scrunch it at all. I'm finding that of all things, THAT is making the biggest difference. If I don't do it, my hair looks completely different. Have you tried that? (and not combing after you've scrunched it either). If you scrunch with an old t-shirt (not a towel, that creates frizz) instead of towel drying it, you can partially dry your hair this way.

I will definitely try the t-shirt idea. I used to scrunch it after combing with scrunching gel, but that made it pretty crispy and not that great. I also used to do rollers (not hot rollers, never tried those) but it was a lot of work for very inconsistent results. Sometimes it works to put some gel/cream in it and twist the ringlets myself, then let them air dry or blow dry them with a diffuser. I haven't experimented that much bc my go to style is flat ironing it...I can get it pin straight if I blow it out and then straighten it, so it's the easiest thing to do with it to get it to look nice. Day to day I usually just wear it up.

Just for giggles have you tried scrunching it (with a t-shirt) out of the shower with NO product in it, not combing it afterwards, and let it dry (without touching it)? That might be what it could look like if you got the proper amount of product in it.
I've found that if I use too much gel, the curls dry.. 2-dimensionally. They curl, but instead of being round, they are flat like a piece of paper. If I scrunch them once they are dry, it removes the crispiness (you HAVE to do that or it will be crunchy!). I'm not sure if there's a proper way to do it, but once dry I've just been taking each curl/wave that feels stiff and bending it in various places until it isn't stiff anymore. This works really well. Apparently gel is SUPPOSED to make your hair a little crunchy, and then you scrunch it out. But if you add too much gel, it's not good. So if you try scrunching without any product, maybe you'd have an idea of how your hair would look with just the right amount of product. Spray gel is supposed to be lighter and more evenly distributed, too, if you haven't tried that. My hair looks the same either way, it's just that without any product, I find it not LASTING throughout the day, and breaking up.
I dunno. I'm still trying to figure out the best way to do it. But that seems to be working pretty decently for me so far, so it might be worth a shot. Perhaps someone with more experience can jump in and lend some advice.

So I am new here, just joined, I'm 19 :) and thought I'd post on what you guys posted.
Starry night- Your before and now pictures are awesome. Your face looks so much thinner now and you're gorgeous!
Stellarosa- I love your plaid shirt! It looks great on you :)

Oh wow, I am feeling old and out of touch. I commented on the very first page of things that were going on.. Interesting hair scrunching conversation though guys :) My hair is pretty straight naturally, and it's a challenge to get it to curl

Everyone is so gorgeous! Megwini, I love your new haircut, very classy. And Forestroad, I'm jealous of your volume. I can get straight hair if I blowdry, but if I try to comb and air dry, it's just flat and ratty.

Here are a few of me, I've posted them in a few places, but this will be my official picture reveal, haha.

Here are my "before" pictures. At my highest, around 183ish. That's my wonderful boyfriend, Sean. He's a Field Artillery officer in te Army...currently in Iraq.
http://hphotos-snc1.fbcdn.net/hs116...._4528155_n.jpg

Us at the military ball
http://photos-h.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos..._2661080_n.jpg

http://photos-c.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos..._5913242_n.jpg

And these are more recent. Taken a week or two ago. I'm (hopefully) a few pounds down from these.
http://i204.photobucket.com/albums/b...g?t=1261892000
http://i204.photobucket.com/albums/b...g?t=1261892053
And this one is just for fun. I got this outfit because I couldn't believe I was fitting in a size 10 dress. I normally do NOT wear such...skanky clothes, haha. I kind of love this outfit, but I doubt I'll ever grow a chest hair to actually wear it somewhere.
http://i204.photobucket.com/albums/b...g?t=1261891573

Just one of my Sean, lol. I miss him so much and he's so handsome. Although, he does look like a bionic turtle in this picture.
http://photos-g.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos..._4734261_n.jpg

That black dress is HOT!!! You are looking great :D

Wow mkendrick you look awesome! And that dress isn't skanky!