Super-Hair Net: Hair Watch

Super-Hair.Net

Hair Watch

When a head of Super-Hair is on display, it's worth watching. When it's on display day after day and in risky situations, that earns special attention. This section of the site has a goal of providing it -- by keeping regular updates on how women with Super-Hair deal with the challenges they face, whether successfully or not.

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JENNIFER HAWKINS of Australia was your choice in our poll for Season 3 -- selected just days after she was selected Miss Universe 2004. She showed this strong, wavy look 1 June, on the night of the pageant in Ecuador. It could flex in quick turns, yet stay solidly in position as she moved on stage. Latest updates are at the top:

Sat, 17 Jul: Uganda's publication New Vision posts a picture of the African country's President with Hawkins, at the AIDS conference. How about these waves - elegant and solidly in line, instead of loosely tossed as at the pageant? We're assuming she has to slick down the hair around the forehead to keep this style in place; we don't think mere crimping on the left side could make the hair stay all by itself. Whatever her strategy, this look is both impressively precise and delicately positioned.

Because our "Hair Watch" is designed to focus on styles which fit the definition of Super-Hair, and because we've seen Hawkins's hair fall, we will end our focus on her here. But we've left plenty of links, if you want to continue watching on your own - and we frankly wouldn't blame you if you did.

Mon, 12 Jul, Bangkok: Hawkins gives a short talk at the opening ceremonies of the International AIDS Conference. We haven't found a picture of her speech yet, but TV coverage we saw displayed a topknotted up-do.

Sun, 11 Jul, Lopburi, Thailand: One of the official "causes" of the Miss Universe pageant is AIDS/HIV, so Hawkins travels to Bangkok for the opening of the international conference. The Borneo Bulletin posts an AFP picture of our queen greeting a hospitalized AIDS patient. We're frankly surprised her long hair isn't tied back for this visit; instead it's straight and tucked back on both sides for control. It's simple - and if she's careful, should be sound.

Thu, 8 Jul: The Miss Universe web site posts several pictures of Hawkins on the New York party circuit. Did you know she attended the 30^th birthday party for baseball star Derek Jeter? She poses here with hair even wavier than pageant night -- what we'd call practically ringlet curls. They're attractive for a night out, but probably took awhile to prepare.

Our close analysis indicates a bit of lifting at the crown on the left side again. Undoubtedly spray is applied there, to keep hair from dangling down. The right side (closest to us) is well off the eye - and it looks like she twisted a couple of strips of curls together, to keep things controlled. It must have been nice to be Jimmy Fallon, standing next to Hawkins here.

Mon, 5 Jul: The Sydney Morning Herald posts an opinion column calling for an end to cheerleading at Australian rugby games. Do they do any cheers? the writer asks. With this picture of Hawkins in her Newcastle Knights outfit, many fans probably don't care if they ever do.

We're not sure how old this photo is, but Hawkins is showing three different approaches to keeping medium-long hair out of her eyes: an ear tuck-back on her right, a slight hint of a wave close to the left eye, and tips behind both shoulders. The look is very natural and unprocessed -- but overall, this is a weak-looking style. She'd need those shoulders to save the hair inside an open stadium.

Mon, 28 Jun: The Miss Universe web site's "Year in the Life" section is a dream come true for Hawkins fans - as plenty of video clips are posted with the queen in various places. We've selected a picture of her early-morning appearance at New York TV station WPIX. For such an early hour, she keeps the hair simple and bone-straight. With no teasing evident, we're guessing Hawkins applied a light and unnoticeable spray all around the style to keep it from wilting under television lights.

(For some reason, our computer won't let the video clips come up. Miss Universe used to require QuickTime for clips. If you can see them, please let us know what format works.)

Meanwhile, the New York Daily News reports Hawkins visited the birthday party of pro basketball star Richard Jefferson. No pictures are shown, though -- and none have reached legitimate web sites yet.

Mon, 21 Jun: The Miss Universe web site posts a "fashion gallery" with more than a dozen new pictures of Hawkins. We won't abuse the copyright, and will only post this great photo which dominates the section. The wavy style of pageant night is hinted at here, only tossed and loose. Note the part-line hair is lifted in front, to keep it off the face.

But sad to say, not every picture has hair looking this sharp. One has it blowing right across her eyes. If there was any hope of Hawkins remaining unbeaten, it's now gone.

Fri, 18 Jun, New York: Hawkins appears on David Letterman's Late Show. (Don't be fooled by the sash; she's on the right.) We were unable to watch this program, so we can only discuss this web site picture. Hawkins obviously is not minding our "Cutting-Edge" voters, showing a straight look again instead of waves. But she seems to do something below the left ear to keep the sidepart under control. We're guessing she hot-curled it in some way.

(If you had a better look at this program, please e-mail us a report and/or vidcaps at the address below.)

Mon, 14 Jun, Los Angeles: The Seven Network "current affairs" TV show Today Tonight posts a seven-minute report online, about Hawkins's first few days as Miss Universe. The programme (Aussie spelling) surprises her by flying her family from Australia to the U.S. They catch a bone-straight, not-at-all-messy head of hair. Hawkins has no problems letting her mane come forward, but she hand-adjusts it from time to time to keep it off her eyes.

We see Hawkins doing a photo shoot with fans blowing her locks back - and they seem straight as well. You even get a glimpse of her hair being prepared for a Tonight Show cameo appearance. It seems about the only time she has control trouble around the face is when she relaxes with her carpenter boyfriend.

Thu, 10 Jun: DEFEATED. The Panamanian web site Dealante posted a series of Hawkins pictures - and sadly, it includes this one. She was modeling a black bikini with jewelry, which is unusual enough. Even though her face is turned to even more of an angle, there's no teasing at the crown to make us believe hair is not in her left eye.

Perhaps the goal here was a "windblown on-the-beach" look -- but whoever chose this approach could have tousled the hair back a bit to achieve that. Hawkins winds up less successful at staying unbeaten than Amelia Vega was.

(Could the waves of pageant night be the secret to hair success for Hawkins? We open a Cutting Edge Hair News question on that topic. And even though her style is beaten, we'll continue the Watch 30 days out of respect for her selection.)

Wed, 9 Jun: A web site with the great name of Rugged Elegance shows a pageant picture we hadn't seen before: Hawkins in her Aussie national costume. But of course, we're looking higher than that - and with reason. Her hair is even closer than normal to her left eye. And it appears only some sort of spray keeps it out of the eye; it's not tucked back at all.

Because Hawkins is facing the camera at an angle, we can't fairly say the style is down. But it's a reflection of her usual confidence in wearing the hair close. Considering the hair is almost straight, it's even more daring. She does use her left shoulder as a protective device to guard against flyaways.

By the way, we confess we missed a short appearance by Hawkins on the 8 June Tonight Show -- and were unable to watch the 9 June Fox and Friends. Did you see her, and can you share a report or picture?

You can join the "Hair Watch," by contributing reports and/or vid-caps of styles under our focus. Send them to us via e-mail: Super-Hair@email.com .

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OTHER HAIR WATCHES:

Season 2: Stephanie Woods

Season 1: Norah O'Donnell (Final 3/22/4)