BLOG: One Woman's Battle to Wash Her Hair

The other day The Beau and I were contemplating whether to go for a run or go to Tribe - a SoulCyle-like spin class in our neighborhood. I told him I could either go to the gym or for a run, but Tribe was out. My hair had been washed the day prior and a session at Tribe would require a full scrub post-workout, which was not in my schedule.

He can’t believe that my entire week’s workout schedule centers around which days I plan to wash my hair. Which got me thinking - how much of my decision making it based upon this one simple need?

I’m glad you asked . . .

Hair vs. Clothing

I often have to choose an outfit based on my hair. To save time I will use a beach wave spray, giving my hair a lovely tousled, albeit slightly homeless, looking appeal. This look only works with certain outfits and so some outfits are put back into the closet if it is a tousled hair day vs. a fresh blow dry hair day.

Hair vs. Everyday Life

Do you ever wake up on the wrong side of the bed? I do, and often it’s with day-old hair that won't cooperate. Some days day-old or two day-old hair requires nothing more than a quick brush. Other days reinforcements are required and sometimes this reinforcements should be a Xanax to keep me from freaking out about the hideousness of the situation. These are days best spent working from home, in sweat pants, hidden from the general public.

Hair vs. Work

Some clients only know me as Sarah Jane - the creative director with her $hit together. And others have never seen me with my hair down, for I have had to put great care into hiding day(s)-old hair from the realities of balancing motherhood, work and working out. I put great consideration into when to schedule meetings based on trying to accommodate and prioritize clients, while taking into consideration whether I need to run that morning or if I can skip a workout. Which leads us to . . .

Hair vs. Exercise

If I attend Tribe I have to wash my hair, no matter what. Therefore, I have to schedule Tribe on hair wash days and vice versa. If I plan to run and the weather is not super humid, nor is it raining, I can generally get away with a quick post-run rinse in the shower and without having to wash my hair. This also applies to yoga and most gym workouts. Which means I can only schedule so many hair-washing-required workouts in a week.

Hair vs. Sanity

When my husband asks “Would you like to go for a run or to Tribe?” he’s simply asking for a yes or no answer. What most men do not realize is the true thought process taking place in our heads. It goes a little something like this:

“If I go to Tribe I need to wash my hair after, so if we go to the 9:30 am class then I’ll be in the shower by 10:45 or 11 am at the latest. I have a meeting at 1 pm, which means I have to be ready by 12:30 pm, which means I only have 30 minutes after getting ready, to check email and take care of some work. If I wear my hair wavy and skip the hair dryer then I have a full hour to get some tasks done. However, if I do go to Tribe then I can skip getting ready for the morning, which saves me an extra 30 minutes so I can check email before school drop-off. Although, if I go for a run I can be done by 9 am instead with 2.5 full hours to work before my meeting. However, I do have two meetings tomorrow and one the following morning, so today would be the best day to wash my hair. If I work after my meeting and after dinner then that will make up for not getting much work done between Tribe and my afternoon meeting today.”

. . . And so the answer to my husband becomes, yes, we can go to Tribe at 9:30 am.