Women and Long Hair: Does Age Matter?

Recently, my husband and I have been watching makeover shows, such as 'What Not To Wear'. It's been interesting to see that almost always, the women with long hair are given a much shorter cut, which is deemed 'more appropriate', despite their protestations that they want to keep their long hair. Although they generally love the results, the idea that short hair is somehow necessary once a woman is no longer a young girl is interesting. Why shouldn't 'older' women have long hair too?

Historically, long hair has been seen as a thing of beauty and femininity. The Bible famously states, 'If a woman has long hair, it is glory to her' (1 Corinthians, 11:15). In many cultures, a woman's hair symbolizes her power. Studies have shown that men really do find long hair more attractive than short hair. For example, a study in the journal Human Nature found that when men were shown pictures of the same women, first with short hair and then with long hair, the men rated the longer haired pictures as more attractive. Long hair slims the face and draws attention away from facial imperfections, as well as generally being associated with beauty and youth.

Why should women give this up, just because they are no longer young girls? Of course, not all long hair styles are suitable at all ages, and loose flowing hair is probably not appropriate in the boardroom. However, there are also many elegant, formal long hair styles, which while not suitable for young girls, are ideal for 'older' women in professional situations. If women realized that they had these options, and that with practice, elegant styles can be easily achieved, maybe they could preserve much-loved long hair and not feel that they have to have short hair to give a professional appearance.

New Website Design Up!

We've finally got our new website design up and running! The home page is completely redesigned, and the individual hair stick pages have been modified with new photos and a different layout. We now have hair forks available to order in different lengths - choose from a fork with a 3, 4 or 5 inch functional length and we'll make it to order. Also new on the website are the interchangeable dangle hairsticks we recently posted about - currently we have a choice of 2 hairsticks, each of which comes with 2 dangles, and 4 more dangles are available separately. We'll be adding more soon, we have a stock of new hairsticks awaiting photography!

Individual Dangles for our Interchangeable Dangle Hairsticks

These are some of the individual dangles that we've been working on for our new interchangeable dangle hairsticks. These hairsticks have a barrel screw-clasp which allows a dangle to be taken off and changed for a different one.


We already have hairsticks at our Etsy shop, which come with 2 interchangeable dangles, but these dangles will be available to purchase individually. Once you have a hairstick with this system, you will be able to buy more dangles individually, so creating an extremely versatile collection of dangles, without the expense of having to keep buying a whole new set of hairsticks each time you fancy a change. These dangles will be available at our Etsy shop very soon!

Featured Etsy Artists 5 - PurrPrints

This week's featured Etsy artist is fellow SquidEtsy team member PurrPrints. Becca at PurrPrints is a wonderfully talented artist, who produces beautiful cat-themed art. PurrPrints is also a member of the Etsy for Animals Team, and donates 5% of all profits to the no-kill animal shelter, the Shamrock Foundation. Here's our interview with Becca:

Tell us a little about your shop?
PurrPrints is a relatively new shop on Etsy that sells my various cat-themed imaginings (and I'm starting to introduce some of my art without cats in it now too). It has prints, cards, ACEOs, magnets and (at this moment) a hand-drawn mini-purse. Soon it will also have pendants and possibly bookmarks--oh, and I often do custom work for people with specific ideas for colors and design combinations.

How did you discover Etsy?
It was mentioned in a blog I was reading--I can't recall which one right now--but I fell in love almost immediately.

What were the first items you bought and sold on Etsy?
I first got involved through Etsy's "alchemy" function, because I had a bunch of gift-giving coming up (my first anniversary, step-dad's b-day, husband's b-day) and I wanted to give some really special custom gifts. I think the very first one was a custom clock for my husband for our anniversary. The first item I sold was the red and brown version of "Kitty Love" [top picture] to an absolutely wonderful woman in Canada.

What are you working on right now?
Bamboo pendants with small hand-cut prints of my cat drawings on them and a custom pointillist cat portrait (I'm too ADD to ever work on just one thing at a time ).

What is your favorite item in your shop?
Ooo. That's a hard one for me. My mind changes based on my mood, really. Right now it would be a toss up between the 8x10 print of Existential Cat [see right] and the original of Indoor Cat Dreams [bottom picture].

What are your ambitions as an artist/craftsperson?
On the small scale, I want to continue learning new techniques--right now I've got my eye on sewing, especially. on the large scale, just to continue to get my work out there and meet wonderful people. I'd love to be able to support myself through my art if that's possible--if not, then I'd love to get to the stage where I can sell enough to buy all the other wonderful things I find from fellow etsians every day :)

Anything else you'd like to tell us?
I know I've alluded to it already, but I really enjoy meeting new people and doing custom work. I like making something that matters specifically to one person, something that fits the idea in their head and brings it into the "real" world.

My hope is that anyone reading this on your blog who likes my shop will drop me a line, even if they can't buy anything right now, just because I love making connections with people. That's really the big reason I'm into Etsy: the community.


Thanks so much, Becca! To see more of Becca's gorgeous art, check out the PurrPrints shop at Etsy. PurrPrints also has a lens (page) at Squidoo, with more information and pictures.

Hair Sticks with Interchangeable Dangles!

Another of our new ideas for unique and 'different' hair sticks is now available at our Etsy shop. We've had a line of dangle hairsticks for some time, but were looking for ways to improve. So, interchangeable dangle hairsticks were born. These hairsticks use a silver-plated barrel clasp (like that found on a bracelet or necklace) to allow the dangle to be removed and replaced with a different one. This makes the hairsticks very versatile, as different dangles can make them suitable for many different occasions. We will be selling sets of hairsticks with several dangles, and also separate dangles. This means that if you have already purchased a hairstick from us with our interchangeable system, you can collect a variety of dangles to attach to it.


We've just listed the first of our interchangeable dangle hairsticks at our Etsy shop. In future, these will also be available at our website, once we have completed our redesign. The first hair stick we've listed on Etsy is shown in these pictures, and is a 6 inch wooden hardwood stick topped with a pink faceted Czech glass bead and silver-plated round beads. One dangle features a vintage-style butterfly with black detailing and more pink faceted beads and silver-plated beads. The other dangle is shorter, and consists of jet-black faceted glass beads and silver-plated beads.


We'll be adding hair stick and dangle sets, and also individual dangles, so check back at our Etsy shop soon!

New Asymmetric Hair Sticks

Our latest additions to our Etsy and Dawanda shops are asymmetric hair sticks, like this pair of Green Jasper Asymmetric Hair Sticks.


I started by making the cascade stick with fancy jasper chips, but thought that a pair of them would be a little much. So, instead of a matching pair, I made a more simple, dangle-less stick to accompany it. I love this combination, as the sticks can be worn together, or else individually for great versatility. Of course, if you would like a pair of the cascaded sticks, we'd be happy to make them for you! Fancy Jasper is believed to have meta-physical properties, encouraging mental clarity and relieving worry and depression.


I also made a version using the semi-precious stone Tiger Eye:


These hair sticks are available at Etsy and Dawanda shops so far, we're working on a major website overhaul and will have a variety of asymmetric hairsticks on our website when the new version is up.

Lightening Hair for Summer

As one of those people who had very blonde hair as a child, which darkened with age, I well know what it's like to want to have lighter, blonder hair. The sun can bleach blonde hair, making it lighter, but there is always a temptation to try something to accelerate and enhance this process. However, if you want to grow long hair, you need to always be aware of looking after it and not causing unnecessary damage, so how can blonde and light brown hair be lightened without damaging it?

Lemon juice
Lemon juice is one of the most popular and well-known methods of lightening blonde hair, and it does work. However, the acidity of lemon juice is very damaging to hair, and those who have used lemon juice often complain that their hair is now 'straw-like' and vow never again. The acid of the lemon juice weakens the proteins in hair, causing long-lasting damage that is hard to repair. Lemon juice is best avoided if you wish to maintain healthy, long hair.

Sun-in and temporary hair dyes
First, temporary hair dyes work by depositing a layer of color on hair, and cannot lighten it. The only way to lighten hair with chemical dyes is to strip the natural color. This is permanent and will also damage hair to some degree. Sun-in is a form of bleaching, and will cause damage.

Honey
Honey is not a well-known method of lightening hair, but it is one which definitely works. Not only does it work, but trials by many of the long-haired at the Long Hair Community have recorded no cases of damage to the hair. Honey may leave a slight residue if not washed out properly, but even if this happens, washing again or using a vinegar rinse produces healthy, lighter hair. The current recommendations from the Long Hair Community's honey thread and honey guru ktani, are to use a 4:1 dilution of honey to water by weight. This means mixing 1/8th cup honey with 3/4 cup distilled water, for example. This should be applied to dry hair and left for about an hour, covered with saran wrap to keep it moist. It should then be shampooed out. Any honey should work, but darker honeys, and Jarrah honey in particular, have been found to work best. If it doesn't work, try a different honey. Honey works by producing peroxide, but other honey components are believed to protect the hair from damage. The effects of honey will obviously be more gradual than a chemical dye, but the pay-off is healthy hair. For more information, see the Long Hair Community's honey thread and current honey recommendations in full. If you like, a little extra virgin olive oil can be added (up to a tablespoon), as this boosts the effects. Too much will not be damaging, but will leave an oily residue. Honey lightening has also been reported to work on henna'ed hair.

Cinnamon
Another natural method of hair lightening discovered at the Long Hair Community is the use of cinnamon. Cinnamon generates a weak peroxide, and again, no cases of damaged hair have been reported. Cinnamon is a much weaker bleaching agent that those in chemical products, which much reduces its damaging effects. Cinnamon can be added to a honey lightening receipe, but caution should be exercised as cinnamon is a skin irritant. Patch test your mixture first and avoid it coming into contact with your skin.

If you'd like to lighten your hair this summer, we hope that this was useful in enabling you to make an informed choice about which method to use!