The Blonde Has Left the Building
And a redhead has taken her place.
I've lived as a blonde for 36 years. I am (or was) a natural blonde, though when I was younger it was that dingy, dirty dishwater blonde so I usually lightened it. My dream hair color is that white blond that Peta Wilson has in La Femme Nikita.
Of course, my hair just won't do that color. Before my wedding, I colored my hair and it came out with too much orangy red so my cosmotologist friend bleached my hair and it still came out yellow/gold instead of white blonde.
Since then I've tried everything and always I got frustrated because I'd get that brassy "red" tone to it, that orangy-ness. Also, my skin tone has gotten redder as I've gotten older, and the light blonde just didn't seem to look as good as I tried really hard to cover the red and I ended up looking washed out. I'm sick of wearing foundation though, but I'll save that blather for another entry.
So I said fuck it. I'm growing out my hair to see what my natural color is. I started by slowly coloring my hair darker and darker every few weeks, though somehow, the dark always seemed to fade and my hair would look lighter. Come to find out, my natural color is more like my brother's color, which is a light mousey brown, not gray, but not chestnut. I hate how former blondes look when they grow out the blonde so I bought some ash brown hair color and it was just too... blah. My husband said he kinda liked when my hair did its red thing when I was shooting for blonde, so I figured it was a sign. OK, more of a DUH. Why fight the inevitable? If whenever I color my hair I get red tones instead of the intended tones, why not intentionally go for red?
I went through this with my battle with straight hair versus curly hair. My hair is baby fine straight with the exception of some annoying natural curl along the forehead and down the front sides. I used the tiniest curling irons, spiral permed my hair to make my hair curly when it was much happier being straight, and I finally gave up and just let it be straight. Once in awhile I'll put some big velcro rollers or use some hot rollers, or even sometimes use my waver curling iron, but mostly it's straight.
So anyway, as I gave in and accepted my hair would always be happiest and healthiest if I just let it be straight, so too should I just let its inner red out.
I bought "light copper brown" (Open by L'Oreal). I was apprehensive at first, but I liked it. Unfortunately, the color faded in a matter of days to a dark blonde/light golden brown. Pause here for the irony to sink in. Yes, the red went away.
I just have contrary hair, that's all there is to it.
I bought a different type of color this time, titled "light auburn" (Excellence by L'Oreal) but really, it's nearly the same as "light copper brown" when you compare the pictures. On me, it's not as red as the light copper brown initially was, but at least it is maintaining some semblance of redness. Honestly, though, I don't think of it as red, more of a vibrant brown, if that makes any sense.
To hedge my bet against fading, I bought two different kinds of highlighter stuff, again both by L'Oreal, one is the ExtremeFX, the other is Feria Color Strands. Kinda cool that they make red highlighting color now.
If that doesn't work, I'm gonna go for more burgundy tones (much like Sharon Osborne has now) or go lighter and go for more of the light red hair (think red like the replacement chick on Law and Order: CI while Kathryn Erbe is pregnant and not on as much). Or maybe like the reporter chick in Dead Zone. If I go lighter, though, I'm back to battling with dark roots, so that's gonna be a last resort, I think.
I have to admit though, I seriously miss being a blonde. I don't mean to say that I don't like trying new things, and it's really cool I have a husband who isn't like some who have a cow if their wives change anything about their hairstyle. He's perfectly fine about my experimenting, and he's encouraged it, and it's made it easier for me to consider that there really are other options besides blonde!
I'd post pictures but my computer is not speaking to my camera; won't even recognize it exists, and until I convince a mediator (i.e., the computer expert ::koff:: Ron) to get them talking to each other, there won't be any pictures!
I've lived as a blonde for 36 years. I am (or was) a natural blonde, though when I was younger it was that dingy, dirty dishwater blonde so I usually lightened it. My dream hair color is that white blond that Peta Wilson has in La Femme Nikita.
Of course, my hair just won't do that color. Before my wedding, I colored my hair and it came out with too much orangy red so my cosmotologist friend bleached my hair and it still came out yellow/gold instead of white blonde.
Since then I've tried everything and always I got frustrated because I'd get that brassy "red" tone to it, that orangy-ness. Also, my skin tone has gotten redder as I've gotten older, and the light blonde just didn't seem to look as good as I tried really hard to cover the red and I ended up looking washed out. I'm sick of wearing foundation though, but I'll save that blather for another entry.
So I said fuck it. I'm growing out my hair to see what my natural color is. I started by slowly coloring my hair darker and darker every few weeks, though somehow, the dark always seemed to fade and my hair would look lighter. Come to find out, my natural color is more like my brother's color, which is a light mousey brown, not gray, but not chestnut. I hate how former blondes look when they grow out the blonde so I bought some ash brown hair color and it was just too... blah. My husband said he kinda liked when my hair did its red thing when I was shooting for blonde, so I figured it was a sign. OK, more of a DUH. Why fight the inevitable? If whenever I color my hair I get red tones instead of the intended tones, why not intentionally go for red?
I went through this with my battle with straight hair versus curly hair. My hair is baby fine straight with the exception of some annoying natural curl along the forehead and down the front sides. I used the tiniest curling irons, spiral permed my hair to make my hair curly when it was much happier being straight, and I finally gave up and just let it be straight. Once in awhile I'll put some big velcro rollers or use some hot rollers, or even sometimes use my waver curling iron, but mostly it's straight.
So anyway, as I gave in and accepted my hair would always be happiest and healthiest if I just let it be straight, so too should I just let its inner red out.
I bought "light copper brown" (Open by L'Oreal). I was apprehensive at first, but I liked it. Unfortunately, the color faded in a matter of days to a dark blonde/light golden brown. Pause here for the irony to sink in. Yes, the red went away.
I just have contrary hair, that's all there is to it.
I bought a different type of color this time, titled "light auburn" (Excellence by L'Oreal) but really, it's nearly the same as "light copper brown" when you compare the pictures. On me, it's not as red as the light copper brown initially was, but at least it is maintaining some semblance of redness. Honestly, though, I don't think of it as red, more of a vibrant brown, if that makes any sense.
To hedge my bet against fading, I bought two different kinds of highlighter stuff, again both by L'Oreal, one is the ExtremeFX, the other is Feria Color Strands. Kinda cool that they make red highlighting color now.
If that doesn't work, I'm gonna go for more burgundy tones (much like Sharon Osborne has now) or go lighter and go for more of the light red hair (think red like the replacement chick on Law and Order: CI while Kathryn Erbe is pregnant and not on as much). Or maybe like the reporter chick in Dead Zone. If I go lighter, though, I'm back to battling with dark roots, so that's gonna be a last resort, I think.
I have to admit though, I seriously miss being a blonde. I don't mean to say that I don't like trying new things, and it's really cool I have a husband who isn't like some who have a cow if their wives change anything about their hairstyle. He's perfectly fine about my experimenting, and he's encouraged it, and it's made it easier for me to consider that there really are other options besides blonde!
I'd post pictures but my computer is not speaking to my camera; won't even recognize it exists, and until I convince a mediator (i.e., the computer expert ::koff:: Ron) to get them talking to each other, there won't be any pictures!