I have a complicated relationship with my hair. I don’t mean this to sound narcissistic, but I think I have pretty good hair. It’s thick, wavy and has great natural highlights. But I have no idea what to do with it.
Every morning, I wash it, rub some some product in and let it air dry. I don’t know how to braid or to make it look “done.” When I have a special event like a wedding or something, I may blow it straight, although that’s a challenge in the Florida humidity. Even the flatiron can’t tame my frizz.
My pal Katy has been experimenting on her own hair with all sorts of great braids lately. I could never do that to my own hair but it’s fun to play hair model:
Apparently that’s called a waterfall braid. Cute, huh?
Part of my problem with my hair is that I don’t have a regular hairdresser that I rely on for advice. Earlier this year, I thought I had FINALLY found The One. Since I’m in a grow-out phase, she told me to not even call for six months to schedule my next cut. When my six months had come and gone, I called to schedule a cut and received terrible news — my stylist has left the salon and they couldn’t (or wouldn’t) tell me where she’d gone. WTF?
I was back to square 1. I turned to Twitter and got a ton of great recommendations. I scheduled an appointment for this weekend at Michelle‘s place but then the universe intervened with a Groupon earlier this week to another salon.
I’ve been really bored with my hair lately and my normal move is to chop it. But after the past few failed short-hair experiments, I vowed my short hair days are over — for now.
So I decided to venture into uncharted territory — color. I’ve never done any coloring in my hair. Wait, I take that back. Once, about a decade ago, I did a box one day when my roommates and I are were too drunk to be making drug-store hair decisions. I wanted it to be slightly red but it turned out more purple. Luckily it was short-lived.
Going into today’s appointment, I decided to get partial highlights (I hardly even know what that means, but Katy’s been teaching me the ways). Using Pinterest, I found a couple colors I liked in the reddish-brown family.
When I got there and told the stylist my plans, she immediately shot them down. She said my hair was “screaming” to be blonde. She said I had too many natural blonde highlights to do them red. She said she just didn’t think they’d look right. She tried persuading me to go blonder, but frankly, I just don’t see myself as a blonde.
After some consulting (and making sure the highlights Groupon I bought would still cover it), she convinced me to go with a glaze, which I think is a semi-permanent dye.
Ready for the big reveal?
Here’s my hot mess of a ‘do before:
About halfway through the process, I started wondering if I’d made the right decision … especially when I saw HOW red the color was and the fact that it was everywhere.
And, ta da …
The hairdresser tells me it’s called Cherry Cola and it’s level 6 (I’m including this oh-so-important piece of information so that I don’t forget later).
It isn’t quite the Amy Adams/Emma Stone I was hoping for, but I think I like it. We’ll see in a couple days. It’s a little brassy right now, but that fades, right? Actually, she told me the whole thing will fade pretty quickly and will be mostly gone in about six weeks. I doubt that. During the great box experiment of ’01, that crap stayed in my hair for MONTHS.
And how do you think my family reacted to such a drastic difference for me?
DadJovi: “I can’t really tell the difference.” (in his defense, he’s color-blind)
E: “Mommy, what color was your hair before?”
Now that I have color, what do I do with it? She told me to only wash my hair a couple times a week to make it last. What else should I do? Do I get special colored-hair shampoo? And how long does it usually last? And even if you think it makes me look like a renegade teenager, lie and tell me it’s not that bad. It’s only hair, right?
Karyn says
Love it!!!
Cynthia (It All Changes) says
Looks good. My stylist tells me to only rinse my hair and condition to help the color last longer.
MomJovi says
So you never use shampoo? Interesting? Not even a couple times a week? I feel like I have a lot to learn! Thanks!
Michelle says
Love it!
It probably will fade, because it’s red — red doesn’t like to stick around for some reason. Boo!
As for washing – I use low sulfate shampoo. I have to wash every day though or my hair looks nasty (although the longer I go, the longer I can go without washing). I would probably start with washing every other day. If it’s too dry, then you can definitely go longer!
Caroline Calcote says
It looks great Jackie!
Paula @ Eat: Watch: Run says
Cute! I love it! Red is a hard color to keep so it will definitely change colors unless you keep getting it touched up. Since my hair is naturally red, anytime I dye it brown – it always changes back to red. Annoying!
MomJovi says
I’ve seen you reference your natural red hair before but I think I need to see a picture of this. Have you ever posted a pic of it on your blog that I missed?
And of course I picked the hardest color to maintain. Because you know, nothing like going from NEVER color treating my hair to having to do it constantly. My wallet hurts already.
Let’s just switch hair, mmm-k?
Paula @ Eat: Watch: Run says
My hair color right now is basically my natural color. If you take out the blonde 6 inch grown out highlights – the base is all me. It’s like a strawberry blonde. I’m getting my hair done on Wed. so that’s about to change. 🙂
Jocelyn @ ScooterMarie says
I think it looks great! I just got mine done on Saturday to cover the grays, ugh. 🙁
Dina says
Very pretty! Red is hard though, it fades quickly. I would suggest hair products with sunscreen in them. That should help the fading some.
You are lucky that you don’t have to color your hair. I’ve had grey in mine since my teen years and even at 30, have to go every seven weeks to keep the grey from showing at the top of my head.