I remember an acquaintance of Gran’s remarking at her funeral that a few weeks prior to her passing, she asked them to help dye her hair in hopes that it would make her feel better. Hearing it reminded me so much of her and her attitude. I instantly thought back to all the times I’ve changed my hair color with the same intent.
For the most part, I’ve always liked the color of my hair—a brownish red (more brown than red). In college, I went red and didn’t look back. I’ve sported a variety of shades, from Strawberry Shortcake to auburn to strawberry blonde, but I never seriously considered departing from that spectrum. I always secretly dreamed of stark black hair, but feared that my fair complexion would result in a whole Wednesday Addams situation. And I’ve always considered blue, but with red hair? That is not the kind of commitment I want to make to patriotism.
Shortly after the funeral, amidst a variety of other disasters out of my control, I decided to do something different and completely within my control and dyed all of it dark brown from a red-to-strawberry blonde ombré. And it felt weird, but fresh. There is something transformative in changing your appearance that goes beyond visual. Even the smallest thing can alter your mood, or at least that’s how it works for me (and apparently my Gran). It’s less about vanity and more about forcing something new upon yourself. And sometimes that is exactly what you need.
The older I get, the more I have an “it’s only hair” attitude. With this shiny new palette of brown to work with, why not try something dramatic? My job involves sitting at a desk all day and barely interacting with anyone. My volunteer work is typically in creative fields, so that wouldn’t inhibit my ability to be a little more “out there.” What’s stopping me? Nothing.
Long story short, I’m living with (some) blue hair for now*. Surprisingly, I like it quite a bit and wished I’d done it sooner**. I’m feeling a lot more like myself than I have in a while. What’s a better way to start the new year than that?
*I used this for the trial run, but I’ll try something more permanent next. Not all of the color washes out after the first wash (but a lot does), and it makes your hair pretty dry. Not really ideal considering my ends were already a disaster thanks to that whole ombré experiment. Don’t let that deter you if you want to test drive colored hair though, it’s just my experience. And It’s a great option if you’re unsure, or need your appearance to be relatively conservative throughout the bulk of the year.
**Let’s be honest though: this was the year of unnatural colored hair in the pop culture arena, so it is less “edgy” and “weird” than it used to be for a conservative town in South Louisiana. And it’s still weird for a lot of them.
Filed under: Fashion, Memories
