Day 1
Time: 3 minutes
Tools: Balmain extensions
Verdict: Starting off gently, I opt to embellish my everyday style with clip-in faux brunette bangs. I'm hoping for an instant punk rock edge, but instead I look like I've had some kind of unfortunate hair-dye mishap. After sporting the look around the office all day, I conclude that it's not just ugly, but also indecisive: the color equivalent of a mullet.
Day 2
Time: 10 minutes
Tools: Elastic band,
L'Oréal Elnett hairspray
Verdict: Going for an insouciant, messy bun, I put my hair into a ponytail, twist it, and tuck the ends under the elastic band. The result is très Parisian, but also borders on severe and businesslike. In the
unlikely event that I ever need to kick some ass in the boardroom, this will be my hairstyle of choice.
Day 3
Time: 15 minutes
Tools: Revlon Perfect Heat curling iron, Topshop headband
Verdict: A hippie headband might be cool on people like Mary-Kate Olsen, but I've always worried it
would make me look like Björn Borg. Turns out it does, but I like it. I keep getting a puffy mushroom-head effect as the band slides up, so next time I'll secure it with a hidden bobby pin.
Day 4
Time: 1 hour
Tools: Stylist Lishl Rigg-Reives at Blow Salon, NYC
Verdict: I decide to make like a socialite and head uptown for a blow-out. It looks shampoo-ad shiny
and gloriously big, but within a few hours, it falls flat. Whenever I look in the mirror for the rest of the day, I feel sad in ways I can't explain. Later, I spritz the roots with hairspray and—voilà!—the bounce is back.
Day 5
Time: 25 minutes
Tools: Tigi flatiron, comb, pins
Verdict: Facing my terror of revealing my forehead (I've had bangs since birth), I try out a '70s, Partridge Family situation, flatironing my hair and parting it down the center with a tail comb. After a glass of wine at dinner, I begin to feel—dare I say it—kinda groovy. I even stop imagining that my friends are staring in silent judgment at the acreage above my eyebrows.
Day 6
Time: 18 minutes
Tools: Bumble and bumble Spray de Mode, barrette, comb
Verdict: I back-comb the top of my hair and secure it with a barrette, hoping to create a sex-kittenish,
Bardot effect; instead, my best friend tells me that I look "10 years older and kind of like Sarah Palin."
Day 7
Time: 15 minutes
Tools: Round brush, H&M headband
Verdict: My attempt to channel Blair Waldorf ends up more That Girl than Gossip Girl, because I flick up the ends with a round brush while using a blow-dryer (this creates softer curls than an iron), but I'm
happy anyway: I've stumbled upon an easy work look that's cute but not cutesy (and also good for covering up not-so-clean roots).
Day 8
Time: 12 minutes
Tools: Barrette, John Frieda Luxurious Volume mousse
Verdict: Scarlett Johansson looks hot when she rocks this '50s-inspired style; I do not. My forehead
insecurity is amplified by the heightening, elongating effect of the quiff, which I achieve by teasing and
spraying my bangs before pinning them back. The rest of my hair looks like cocker spaniel ears, but when I pull it into a ponytail, I resemble a horse. This do is a don't.
Day 9
Time: 40 minutes
Tools: Vidal Sassoon Gold Series threebarrel waver, bobby pins
Verdict: I get a ping of satisfaction when I create a Marcel-waved bob by curling my hair with a triple-barrel waver and then pinning the ends under. I'm feeling ready to guzzle some bathtub gin and do the Charleston until a coworker says, "You look like you're trying out for a school play."
Day 10
Time: 20 minutes
Tools: Helix crimper kit
Verdict: Crimping cropped up a few times on the spring runways, so I figure, Why not have a little '80s flashback? Answer: It makes me look like Garth from Wayne's World, arrested for a DUI. It also fills my apartment with the bitter scent of scorched hair. I meet a friend at a Santogold show; he greets me with: "What happened to you?"
Day 11
Time: 30 minutes
Tools: Scünci hairpiece, bobby pins, Sebastian hairspray
Verdict: Amy Winehouse failed to revive the beehive, so I decide to give the girl some help. After pinning a swirl of synthetic blond hair (actually a repurposed clip-in ponytail) atop my crown, I feel top-heavy and unbalanced (could this contribute to Winehouse's, um, instability?). I want to pile on black eyeliner and sing to strangers about how my man done me wrong, but there's no time: After an hour, the whole thing slides off my head.
Day 12
Time: 10 seconds
Tools: 2 elastic bands
Verdict: Clearly, I am no longer nine years old, which was the last time pigtails looked appropriate on me. But hey, it's a Sunday—I can regress all I want in the privacy of my own home. Now, where are my Legos?
Day 13
Time: 18 minutes
Tools: Curling iron, hair combs
Verdict: My editor gave me a book on how to re-create vintage hairstyles: I give 1940s "Victory Rolls" a shot but cheat by using a curling iron instead of hot rollers, which is probably why the result doesn't look as dramatic as it's supposed to. Still, a friend deems it "a little Dita Von Teesey," which I take as a compliment.
Day 14
Time: 25 minutes
Tools: Hairdo from Ken Paves and Jessica Simpson clip-in extensions
Verdict: Celebs wear extensions all the time, so why can't I? They're easy (albeit time-consuming) to put in, but even though they appear indistinguishable from my actual hair in this photograph, in real life
they look Halloweenish. Also, I can't get over the fact that I'm wearing somebody else's hair, which is just creepy. Pretty much everyone I encounter asks to touch it, then grimaces.
Day 15
Time: 15 minutes
Tools: Curling iron, feather barrette
Verdict: One of my favorites: Probably as it's just my normal hair, accessorized and with a few more
curls (Day 3 showed me that a quick pass with the curling iron can make a huge difference; after Day
4, I'm feeling okay about pinning my bangs back). Wearing the feathers feels a little Ziegfeld girl, a
little Grey Gardens, which I like. I go to a party and get nothing but compliments, which I also like.
Day 16
Time: 6 minutes
Tools: Blow Mane Tame pomade, water, elastic band
Verdict: Slicking my hair back and slapping on some red lipstick, I attempt the Robert Palmer "Addicted to Love" look. I fail. I do, however, look like I'm addicted to something. The construction workers who usually whistle at me on my way to work are, today, chillingly silent.
Day 17
Time: 22 minutes
Tools: Elastic bands, bobby pins, fine-tooth comb
Verdict: My hair tends to slip out of braids, but twisting them up and pinning the ends at my crown keeps them under control. It's very me-in-eighth-grade-meets-Swedish-milkmaid. I adore it, and it's
supereasy—just be sure to start the braids low on the neck. This might replace my old standard, the ponytail, for days when my hair won't behave. Yodelay-ee-ooo!
Day 18
Time: 15 minutes
Tools: Hair sticks, brush
Verdict: Having noticed a slew of starlets on the red carpet resembling glamorous pirates with eye-concealing hairdos, I create my own peekaboo updo by sweeping it into a French twist, securing
it with hair sticks (they work best when hair is pulled tight), and brushing my bangs down over my cheek. I try to keep the look in place all day but fear I'm straining my unobstructed eye. Also, it tickles.
Day 19
Time: 1 second
Tools: Hands, elastic band
Verdict: I don't have any ideas today. My hair is tired.
Day 20
Time: 3 hours
Tools: Bumble and bumble geniuses Michelle Fiona (cut, style) and Victoria Hunter (color)
Verdict: Exhausted, I finally turn to the professionals. I ask them to "make me a little Mad Men," and I walk out with rich red hair and sassy curls (set with hot rollers and sprayed in place). Love it.
Day 21
Time: 20 minutes
Tools: Curling iron, brush
Verdict: I can't re-create yesterday's bodacious Bumble curls, so I just use a curling iron on the ends to add volume. The color remains a revelation—it's flattering on my skin, and it makes my eyes look greener. The past three weeks have opened me up to change, and I'll now be brave enough to switch
up my hairstyle to suit my mood. But today I feel like me. Wait...who am I again?
