Today I dyed my hair. I realize for most of you that’s a pretty humdrum everyday sort of statement, but for me it’s beyond novel, maybe even just a bit wild and crazy.
I haven’t dyed my hair since I was a teenager. After a handful of botched attempts at turning my hair red, I settled in for twenty-some years of very long and very brown. I will admit that occasionally over the years I’ve thought about dying my hair, but hair dye and waist long hair don’t really mix. The good part about this though was that “virgin” hair was just perfect for cutting and donating to the Pantene Beautiful Lengths program, which I’ve done a few times over the years, most notably last February when I took my knee length hair and did the big chop.
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| Official before shot. |
With my hair being shorter now, dying was again an option, but having not dyed it in so many years, and also having memories of my teen-aged attempts at dying going not so great, I was a tiny bit hesitant. Then as a P&G Mom I was invited by Clairol to “Shift A Shade” for fall.
I was a tiny bit nervous. My memories of trying to dye my hair twenty-ish years ago are pretty fuzzy, so I didn’t quite know what to expect. I was amused by the frequent comments from the hair stylist on how much hair I have. To me, in comparison to having it waist-length for so very long, my post hair donation hair still feels so very short. But it still took three boxes to dye my hair. I wonder how much it would have taken before? Sixteen??
The actually dying the hair part was very quick and easy. I honestly think it took the stylist longer to blow dry and straighten my hair then it did to dye it. Clairol Consulting Colourist Luis Pacheco spoke to me briefly, checked out my hair, and asked me what colour I wanted. Part of me wanted to scream “Red please!”, but mostly I just wanted to turn out looking the best possible, so I told him to use his judgement. The answer was more brown, my natural colour but just shifted a shade deeper.
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| So many colours to chose from, I think I’m best off leaving it up to the expert! |
He handed me off to another person, who grabbed three boxes of Clairol Nice ‘n Easy Natural Medium Cool Brown and mixed up my dye. It was interesting to see how she did it, dying the centre section first, then the roots, and finally the tips. I was surprised by just how much dye it took, but also by how quick and simple it all was. Twenty minutes of chatting with a few of the other ladies getting their hair done, and then I was off for a rinse and shampoo. I felt like asking, “That’s it? Are you sure?” This didn’t compare to my foggy memories of teenaged attempts at hair dye. The was simple, and quick. I felt like I could have easily done this on my own at home.
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| Snapping a photo from the seat while I wait for my hair to dye. |
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| Looking to my right I can see Kristen from My 3 Little Kittens getting her hair done. |
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| The view from my seat as I was getting my hair styled. |
Then they sent me upstairs to get my hair dried and styled. At this point I was having second thoughts about the colour. Was it too subtle? Was there actually any point in going from brown to more brown? But as the stylist brushed and dried it I saw these rich sort of auburn highlights shining in my hair. My hair had a sort of nice healthy glow to it. As I later said to one of the other bloggers there getting their hair done, “Dang, my hair never glowed before!”
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| After. |
I feel a bit guilty though, because after donating my hair in February I had originally intended to let it grow out and donate it again. But then I decided to do this, just for me, just for fun. And I have to admit I loved the end result, more so then I would have imagined. I really walked out of there feeling like a million bucks, and frankly curious to try my hand at dying my hair at home. At age 39 I’m all too aware that soon enough I’ll likely want to dye my hair for grey coverage. But today I discovered I have no urge to wait until I go grey, today I discovered that dying your hair just for fun can be just that — fun.
What about you guys? Ever dye your hair just for kicks? Do you shift a shade as the seasons turn?
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