Karen's Hair: A Retrospective

Let me be clear: Karen hates her hair. Or at least that's what it seems when she curses it most mornings in front of the mirror. (Let's also be clear: she doesn't hate it enough to lose it all...and she hasn't lost it yet).

Wielding a blow dryer in one hand and juggling four different brushes in the other, she twirls it, twists it and bends it into shape. No fewer than five styling products stand at the ready for spritzing, pouffing, glossing, shining, straightening and spraying.

The 30 minute ritual is repeated every morning and it's a good idea to steer clear of her during this time -- especially when she's got a hot curling iron in her hand.

For Karen, the road to perfect hair is littered with stylists who have cut her bangs too short, left color on too long (resulting in an interesting magenta hue), didn't cut enough or, God help them, cut too much. From high-end salons in Washington, DC to a "stylist's" salon in his converted kitchen, Karen has gone from the pixie to the page boy and many bobs (hair, not men) in between.

Chae, Ito, Daniel, Roe, Joseph, Ginger, David, Harold, Martine and Joe (to name a few): All but one has been handed their scissors and sent packing like a beauty school drop-out.

One of chemo's most cruel punishments is the loss of hair. For women, it is a devastating blow, feared more than almost any side effect inflicted by the cancer treatment. Karen will be no exception. But so far -- her hair still firmly rooted as she waits for the chemo to ravage her normal healthy cells -- she has managed to keep on her game face. And thankfully, she still has a sense of humor. That's why Karen allowed me to "produce" this "Hair Retrospective" of her many, many hairstyles over the years. As she nears the day that she will bid farewell to her tresses for a while, you are invited to join us in paying tribute to her hairstory.

To view still images only, go to: http://tinyurl.com/m6mp33

To view the video on YouTube, go to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-BOwB-iZE0