All my world in one grain of sand
Once, long ago, I used to dye my hair regularly. My hair's long, so I only ever go for semi-permanent dye so I don't have to wait for it to grow out. I think I stopped having silly-coloured hair when I started going to business meetings as my CEO's technical advisor and wanted to do an impression of a grown-up professional.
But I don't do that any more, and a few months back I bobbed into Boots on a whim to buy dye. The brand I used to use didn't seem to be available, and Ealing's Boots no longer uses the handy level 1 - level 2 - level 3 categorisation. In fact, they didn't seem to have any semi-permanent dye at all. After a few minutes I gave up on the idea.
Other shops seemed similarly afflicted. There are huge numbers of ludicrous dyes available, but nothing that didn't have scary bleach in it. Turquoise hair would be awesome... But probably not awesome enough to have it slowly disappearing down my back for the next n years.
Then, unexpectedly, Superdrug in Whitby! A nicely categorised display, two for a tenner. Don't mind if I do.
And it turns out... The stuff has improved since I last bought it. It's easier to put on - and it goes further. Despite having mixed up two sets of bottles in anticipation, I only needed one. (Disappointingly, ChrisC refused to let me dye his hair with the spare mixture.)
For the first time ever, the instructions for the allergy test are plausible. They always used to say: mix up the bits, use immediately. Oh, but also do a test 48 hours in advance. At least this one tells you to use one of the unmixed halves for the test. I mean, I still didn't bother doing it, but it's not their fault I'm slipshod.
And here's a thing: the instructions for the allergy test warn you that if you've ever had a black henna tattoo then it's "very likely" you will have become allergic to the hair dye. This is not something I've ever heard before, and certainly not something that festival stalls offering black henna tattoos advertise. In fact, it sounds like black henna tattoos are generally ill-advised anyway; I had no idea. I've never had one, and now probably won't.
Anyway. My hair is now, um, black cherry apparently. As hair colours go it's not that silly - my hair's not very dark, but it's dark enough that semi-permanent dye is never going to have a huge impact. In a slightly dark pub last night, no one noticed my hair had changed colour (or at least, no one commented). I shall have to stand under lights if I want people to notice :-)