The Space In-Between: In Life, In Hairstyles

Most of life happens in what is best described as the "in-between zone". Sure, those big moments when we move to a new city, change jobs, or start (perhaps end) a relationship seem to be the more crucial points. In the film of our life, those pivotal moments would make it into the hyped-up movie trailer. Not featured would be the routines that make up the average day, and the waiting, always waiting, for the next big thing to happen. But it is those in-between moments that seem to encompass the majority of our story.

Washington D.C, stumbled across this charming tree in between finding an ATM and buying lunch
While there are several areas of life where I'm currently swimming my way through the "in-between" seaweed, one of the most annoying in-between zones at the moment is my hair.

If you're on Instagram and happen to follow me, you may have noticed I like to change my hair. Long, short, dark(ish), blonder. At the moment I am truly in an in-between zone. My hair is growing, but not quite yet "long". My color needs a touch-up but my appointment is not until later this month. This leaves me not only waxing poetic about how much of life happens while we are waiting for some bigger event, but also in search of products to hold me and tell me everything will be alright during the waiting process.

Granting me much needed patience with my hair color, I was recently introduced to eSalon, a website created by (a very chic, French) colorist to provide affordable and custom blended hair color delivered to your home. While eSalon is still working on their own highlighting kit, thus limiting my choice of color as a blonde (surprise, surprise, the in-between zone strikes again), I have been testing out their Tinted Love color enhancing treatment in Beige. Using natural pigments to enhance color between treatments, the formula is actually gentle enough that it leaves my hair feeling softer while adding some shine and a much needed color boost. I'm only two shampoos in and was told that after six shampoos is when I can appreciate the color most.

While Marcia Brady's theory on brushing hair a set number of times nightly may or may not actually work, when I get impatient for my hair to grow, I find myself participating in rituals like brushing hair nightly to help stimulate the scalp and spread the oil (or something) as well as taking a multi-vitamin and Omega-3 fish oil supplements. I've actually started looking forward to brushing my hair nightly after testing out the Olivia Garden Ionic massage bamboo brush. It just gets in there and gets right to the scalp, easily detangling any misbehavior of the hair in its path. A good brush really makes a difference in the overall appearance of hair, and Olivia Garden's Ionic thermal round brush has been helping me gain confidence in an at-home blow out. Miraculously there is no tangling while I clumsily blow-dry my own hair and it imparts a good amount of volume into my super straight, fine hair.

The thing is, when life is full of in-between's, you start appreciating the intricate details a bit more than usual. The smell of blooming trees on your walk to work or the kindness of a stranger holding the elevator for you somehow becomes much more important. On the surface it may seem like not much is happening, but upon closer examination your life is slowly but surely unfolding, one hairbrush stroke at a time.