My sister-in-law and I are wandering through the Palm Springs Saturday market, browsing through row after row of tables covered with wrinkled dates and avocados, juicy tomatoes, glittering jewelry, fake designer bags, colorful sarongs, and a whole passel of this-will-really-TRULY-change-your-life products.
I’m sipping my coffee, munching on a donut, and contemplating the joys of outdoor shopping sans children when I see her.
She’s young and bronzed and beautiful, with long flowing golden hair… the kind of hair that every woman would die for. The kind of hair that keeps me buying product after product, each time thinking that this one will make my hair look like that.
“Carol,” I nudge my sister-in-law, “look!”
Her back is to us, and as we watch, she reaches up and pulls her glistening hair into a cloth rectangle, gives a couple of expert twists, and voila! creates an impeccable bun of gleaming gold.
She turns around, catches my eye, and smiles.
My mouth is gaping, I’m sure of it, and in an anxious attempt to regain my composure I look up at the sign hanging over her booth.
QwikBuns
A mother with two daughters have wandered up, and the blond goddess asks the girls if they’d like to have their hair done. They nod in wide-eyed awe.
She gestures toward a rack filled with colorful cloth rectangles.
“Pick a color,” she tells the girls.
Carol and I watch in amazement as she deftly twists and pulls and magically turns the girls’ hair into perfect buns. This one a little messy (but stylishly so), this one smooth as silk.
“Wow,” Carol says, “that’s cool.”
A little crowd has formed, mostly older women with short-cropped curls, and a couple of young girls with their mothers.
And then there are Carol and I, standing slightly off to the side, two middle-aged women holding coffee cups and wearing star-struck expressions.
“Also,” says the blond, “wearing your hair in a bun with one of these makes it curl.” She demonstrates by pulling her hair out and tossing her head ever so slightly so that the rippling waves of spun gold fall over her shoulders.
oooooh!
ahhhhh!
“You should get one of those!” I say to Carol, pushing her towards the stand.
“I’ll buy SEVEN.” she announces, and she does. (but really, can you have too many QwikBuns? I’m thinking no). She even gives one of them to me.
We get back to the house and proudly show our purchases to our husbands, who are decidedly underwhelmed.
We pull out the QwikBuns and I sit down, ready to have my hair TRANSFORMED into a graceful bun or elegant twist.
But a funny thing happens. I insert my hair into the QwikBun just like I was shown. Then I pull it out and twist and then turn, turn, turn…
But half my hair has fallen out of the thing, and the other half is hanging in a limp half-bun.
This is NOT such a cute look.
“Here, I’ll try,” says Carol. She deftly maneuvers the QwikBun into my hair and then steps back to admire her work. “There! It doesn’t look half bad.”
I walk over to the mirror to see for myself. Ok, so it doesn’t look half bad. But it doesn’t look half GOOD either.
I pull out the QwikBun and toss it on the counter.
this is dumb.
Well, I may not be able to pull off the bun look, I think, but at least I can get the curls. And so I have Carol redo the bun, seeing as how I’ve proven incapable of such a feat.
I leave in the half-bad bun for several hours, excitedly checking my watch every few minutes. Is it time to take it out yet? Ooh, I can’t WAIT for the curls!
Finally I decide that enough time has passed. I pull out the bun with eager fingers, and race to the mirror to gaze upon my lusciousness.
My hair is sort of kinked here and there, with decidedly straight sections in between.
WHERE are my glowing curls?!
WHAT ABOUT the new, beautiful me?!
HARUMPH.
You know that thing they say about things that are too good to be true?
I guess it EVEN applies to QwikBuns.
***
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xo Jen
May 7, 2008 at 4:59 am
that sucks. I am also a sucker for those kind of things. Exercise infomercials always seem to get me!
May 7, 2008 at 5:36 am
Har! Oh, how the “professionals” can make it look so, so easy!
The one that gets me now is that towel that picks up gallons (okay, maybe not) of cola from your carpet with two quick wipes.
Yeah. Suuuuure it does….
My condolences for your absence of curls, BTW.
May 7, 2008 at 8:38 am
I wonder how mcuh that woman got paid to stand there and make that QwikBun look easy and glamerous. I’ve got to say, I’m rocking your QwikBun ‘do every day with just a rubber band. Of course, “rubber band” is not nearly as fun to say as “QwikBun”.
May 7, 2008 at 9:32 am
i’m so laughing…
May 7, 2008 at 9:59 am
It’s like when you get your hair cut too…it looks great in the salon, but when you try to style it the next day…UGH!
I get sucked into those kinds of things too.
May 7, 2008 at 10:48 am
QwikBun. For a second, I thought I would get little buns, quickly, from the name of that product! :)
You’re still adorable, QwikBun in your hair or not!
May 7, 2008 at 11:27 am
That sounds just like the hair thingy I bought at the drugstore a while back. I couldn’t get it to work for me either. In fact, I’d say you did a much better job than I did LOL!
I ended up giving it away to a friend. I hope she’s still speaking to me…:)
May 7, 2008 at 11:57 am
Awww, that totally sucks…Hopefully they weren’t too pricey :)
May 7, 2008 at 1:11 pm
*raises hand*
I’m a sucker too. And we the same hair – except mine is two bits frumpy.
May 7, 2008 at 1:26 pm
Everytime I see the word QwikBuns, I think of dinner rolls.
Or of a toddler running away from a diaper change.
May 7, 2008 at 3:09 pm
But how good was that saleswoman. I’d go back tomorrow and see if she can do it any better. I bet she has special quick bun serum on it or something.
May 7, 2008 at 4:39 pm
Have nothing to do with Qwikbuns – unless they’re loaded with sugar and hot out of the oven!
And girl, you are NOT middle aged – if you are does that make me geriatric?
May 7, 2008 at 10:34 pm
Wow. That first half of the story really had me going… I was ready to buy a QwikBun! I am SUCH a sucker too!
May 8, 2008 at 8:33 am
First of all, you are NOT middle aged. Second of all, your hair is beautiful. I would LOVE to have straight, smooth, sleek hair like yours.
May 8, 2008 at 1:01 pm
I am not interested in QwikBuns but your story telling roped me in.
So this Qwikbuns episode is like when you see awesome looking burgers on tv and when you get to the restaurant, the burgers are soggy…
chris at watdawat.com
May 8, 2008 at 2:36 pm
I’m sure I’d be able to take a 2 week family vacation to the Greek Islands on the amount of money I’ve spent on quick fix hair accessories in the past 5 years. And yet I never give up.
May 8, 2008 at 3:49 pm
I didn’t even think the Quikbuns girl on the package looked that good. It seemed kind of old fashioned or formal. Who wears their hair like that anyway. Just stick with a ponytail or clip if you want to wear your hair up.
May 8, 2008 at 6:12 pm
gotta love the marketing experts.
May 8, 2008 at 7:11 pm
This brings back such memories … about five years ago I bought my very own QwikBuns at the very same Palm Springs street market you’re talking about. The only time my hair did the QwikBun thing right was when the woman at the street fair put it in. On my second try, even with five girlfriends helping, we couldn’t manage it, and it was downhill from there. QwikBuns sends those saleswomen to some sort of intensive, year-long training program.
May 8, 2008 at 8:19 pm
So you know the not so cute hair picture? Um..yeah..totally wear my hair like that Every.Day.
May 9, 2008 at 8:03 am
I am so inept in fixing my hair. :( It’s nice to know I am not the only one. :)
May 9, 2008 at 3:51 pm
I have suckered into things like that WAY too many times. They never work when I get home either!!
That said, you should thank the girl with the head of spun gold for giving you FABULOUSLY funny blog fodder!!
May 12, 2008 at 7:24 pm
you want curls? try braiding your hair and leaving it over night. (extra points if you can actually sleep with braided hair)
October 24, 2008 at 9:02 am
Just have to say that this, as with anything, takes some practice. And no, I’ve never found that my hair is curled after using Qwikbuns in such a way that I would consider it a hairstyle for going out. With practice, I’ve found that I can take my somewhat thin, straight hair and make a respectable bun on bad hair days. I did find that if my hair gets too long or if I have a layered cut, these don’t work well.
December 16, 2009 at 2:38 pm
I’m surprised by your problems with the QwikBuns. I’m THE most inept at handling my very fine, very straight hair. Don’t think mine has looked good since the days of my Mom making barrels on top of my head. Never even could braid my own hair! But I saw those QwikBuns last spring at the Palm Desert Street Fair and bought one to try.
I’ve had total success with it and keep getting compliments on my lovely bun. So I ordered two more on the web for my trip to Ireland this summer. Everyone loved them, so they are my top little gift for friends with long hair.
Don’t give up on them! It took me a few tries to learn how firmly to hold my hands out firmly to the sides after tucking my hair through the slit. I tend to wear mine lower on my head. Bet that trying up high the first times may be a problem if your hair is really layered. However, I have long layers and have got it to work beautifully.
I now wear mine in a bun nearly every day. For the curling only, just dry your hair first after washing and then put in the QwikBun for lovely soft curls (which I haven’t had since sleeping in rollers as a child!!!!)
These really have been great products for me, and it is a shame to hear everyone blasting it just cuz you haven’t got the knack of it yet. Once you do, you will wonder how you ever had trouble because it becomes second nature. Please give ‘em another try.
Jan from Bermuda Dunes
(positively NOT associated in anyway with the makers or sellers of the QwikBuns products)
December 16, 2009 at 2:41 pm
Oh, and the online videos on their website give you nore helpful suggestions on making them work and different hair styles!