hair envy.

{instyle magazine, january 2009. photos by pamela hanson. styling by kusum lynn.}

Although pretty much everything in the above photos is perfection, the hair is what had me Googling for hours. 

See, once upon a time, I had a perm. 

I realize the cringes that very phrase is sure to induce, and I understand. The very word "perm" conjures up images of Richard Simmons in my own head, so you are not alone. What you have to understand is this: I got my perm for practical purposes. I was going to be spending three weeks in Italy. I did not want to waste time or money purchasing overseas appliances, and I know myself. The likelihood of me spending any time on my hair while in a foreign country was rare at best. So I took the plunge, and I loved it. 

My perm and I were on fabulous terms throughout the better part of 2005. It's 2006 that things got ugly, and stayed that way, probably until the internship of 2007. Sad, I know. 

But curls are fickle things. And the hairstyle that once felt international and spunky and practical and carefree (no hairdryer? amazing!) soon began to get long. And bushy. And no one told me to for pete's sake, child, get a haircut. So much of my 20th year was spent looking very much akin to an African lion.

I refuse to even post a picture here for my self-esteem's sake. It was not a good time.

Yet looking at these pictures has me wondering: Do I dare perm again? Or do I take a less-permanent, but still slightly scary risk, and purchase a curling iron, or, heaven forbid, get out mom's old curlers? 

What can I do, Keri Russell, do achieve curls like yours? 

Because I can buy straight leg jeans and chunky scarves and Annie-Hall vests, but hair? Hair I cannot buy. 

I can, however, crimp and curl and cut to my heart's content. 

Tell me, blog readers, what is a girl to do?