Misadventures in hair dye

[kellinator]

Dear Me,

Next time you are in the store trying to decide on hair dye and you can't make up your mind and you can't get any of your girlfriends on the phone for advice, just go home. Go home, go home, go home, go home, GO HOME.

Love,
Me

***********

So last night I went and got my hair cut at Salon Red. Samantha, as always, did a terrific job. However, I may have made a crucial tactical error. I requested "edgy."

Now, everybody knows that I do not have an edgy personality. Everybody but me, that is. So I now have an edgy cut that is terrific, don't get me wrong, but I don't really know how to style it (I am a klutz with styling my hair) and my coworkers are remarking that it doesn't have as much body as last time. So now I am asking myself what possessed me to not get the exact same cut I had last time, which was adorable. This cut looks kinda like Lola's in Run Lola Run, but I'm not sure if I can pull it off. And now I'm freaking thinking about having hair that doesn't really suit me for the next couple of months.

So I decided that since my roots were showing, it was time to get new color to go with the new cut. I headed to Tar-jhay and the hair-dye aisle.

This is the part where things get really dicey.

There it was: the box of Feria Power Red Blowout Burgundy that served me so well last time. Gorgeous color. All I had to do was get the box and go.

But no. I just had to look around. And that's when I found the Garnier Nutrisse Black Cherry. The little sample swatch of hair had actual purple strands in it. And this, of course, only reminded me of my quest to be The Purple-Haired Chick.

At this point, an angel popped up on one shoulder and a devil on the other.

Angel: Kelly, be sensible. Stick with the color you loved so much last time.
Devil: Aw, come on. What's the fun in that? Be adventurous! Try something new!
Angel: Why mess with perfection?
Devil: Look at it! It's even MORE purple!
Angel: Do you really want to take the chance? It's your hair!
Devil: Look, it's a buck cheaper than the other one!
Angel: Aw, the hell with you. I'm going back to my cloud.
See, even my guardian angel swears.
Devil: And look, the chick on this box is prettier than the chick on the other box!
Brain: Logic... synapses... failing... *BOOM*
Me: I'll take it!!

So I went home, popped open a bottle of cider (atomicnumber51: "Nobody dyes their hair sober"), and got started. This time I think I managed not to get dye all over the apartment. I left it on longer than the directions said, per ariedana's instructions, watched some basketball and got pissed at all the reporters talking about having compassion for Kobe Bryant, then rinsed my hair and promptly fell asleep because I was exhausted.

I woke up at 4 in the morning. This is a new and very annoying habit of mine. I'm blaming the meds.

I got up, looked in the mirror, and... well, let's just say suddenly I was living my own version of the Talking Heads song "Once in a Lifetime."

And you may tell yourself
This is not my beautiful hair
And you may tell yourself
MY GOD!! WHAT HAVE I DONE?!

My hair was black. Or, at least it looked pretty damn black. This was not what I intended. I don't have the complexion for it. I'm not really a Goth. I made a note to forget about being a punk for Halloween and just be a Goth instead.

Well, in the bright light of day and the fluorescent lights of the library (and an extra wash to fade the color), maybe it's not that bad. It's an almost-black reddish purple. Or purplish red. Something like that. The coworkers I've polled say it looks fine. But note to myself: Be more careful next time.

Comments

[football-swan.livejournal.com]

Don't worry - it will fade out in a few days. Apparently, red-based hair dyes fade faster than any other. I know my Feria Ruby Rush is long gone.

[nanne.livejournal.com]

PICTURE?!

[kellinator.livejournal.com]

That's why I left the dye on so long. Actually, my Blowout Burgundy held up really well... Oh well. You're right, it will fade a bit. I just wish it looked a bit better right now... it really has no body. Which is not Samantha's fault, it's my fault for not being able to style it.

[zanzara.livejournal.com]

Oh my, I've been there myself 1,000 times (I'm old so I've had years and years of opportunity) and it can make one feel such remorse !

I always say "never again", but then some great idea works itself into my head, impulse hits at the wrong moment, some spurt of creativity...and then I'm singing your little song.

The color should lighten up really quickly (if you were desperate to get it lighter you could mix a tiny amount of weak peroxide with shampoo and suds it up well...let it sit for a few minutes, and when you rinse the color will be ligher...but on second thought, best leave it be).

[weaktwos.livejournal.com]

This is beautiful. I'm glad we were able to profit from your slight lapse of judgement. It made for the better yarn. Talking Head moments are the best.

[kellinator.livejournal.com]

I'm hoping to acquire one tonight... One of my Margarita Friday companions has a photo phone.

[girlvinyl.livejournal.com]

Hi.
color is fun.
:D

If you want it to fade faster you can wash with prell shampoo. Its recommended for its dye-breaking down abilities.

Also...

PICTURES!!!!!!!!

[kellinator.livejournal.com]

Oh, I'm sure there's worse in my future, considering what I really want to do is bleach it and dye it crayon purple...

[kellinator.livejournal.com]

Well, you know me... I'll do just about anything for a good story.

[kellinator.livejournal.com]

I love color. I'd do so much more with it if I could get away with it at my job...

[jennay138.livejournal.com]

props to you for being adventerous regardless of the effects!

[ariedana.livejournal.com]

Also, if you want to strip your hair really fast, wash your hair with shower gel. Two washes and you'll barely have any color left.

And if you're on a mission to get purple hair, go for the brightest-red Feria. I think it's Cardinal Red. Or let me go to Sally's and pick it out. There's a Wella color that's pretty darn purple.

[kellinator.livejournal.com]

Thank you! Now I need to have more adventures in other areas of my life.

[kellinator.livejournal.com]

This may be an option worth exploring... Thanks!

[football-swan.livejournal.com]

Call and see if you can schedule a quick lesson. She certainly doesn't want you to not like your hair, and most cosmetologists are happy to take a moment or two to teach you.

[soulfire.livejournal.com]

Heh, thanks for the story Kells, I'm sure it's just a bit of an adjustment, and a couple of showers from now you'll be liking it a bit more. I know I flipped when I did the dark burgandy/purple colour and it looked black. I too did the "oh my god I went goth" moment, but it kinda grew on me. Just think you could have been going through this weeks ago if I had gotten off my ass and sent you some of that hair dye we started talking about :P

[kellinator.livejournal.com]

Good idea! Thanks!

[kellinator.livejournal.com]

I'm sure you're right. Hell, by the time it's all said and done this may be my new favorite color. Thanks for the tips!

[theashifaction.livejournal.com]

thats the color i used and it turned me purple. maybe your hair was too dark to begin with

[kellinator.livejournal.com]

Probably was. That's what I get for dyeing over already-dyed hair... I'm hoping it might actually look really good when it fades a bit.

[mellowdramamama.livejournal.com]

Oh God, i sympathize with you on this one. My boyfriend cringes everytime I walk down the hair dye aisle, because he knows I turn into a total zombie. Just how red do i want to be this time....it goes on until he looses and grabs my arm to go. Whichever bottle i was staring at at the time is the one I buy!

[kellinator.livejournal.com]

Hee hee! One time in college atomicnumber51 nearly talked me into going bleach-blond. I was actually walking to the register with the dye in hand when I suddenly said "I think I'll see if I still want to do this in half an hour." In half an hour I basically yelled at her "WHAT DID YOU NEARLY TALK ME INTO?!" To this day I am convinced she wanted to see if she could talk me into it.

[vikkilynn.livejournal.com]

when it comes down to it, I always choose the box with the prettier girl, too.

[daraflower.livejournal.com]

whynotwhynotwhynot???

obviously you want to! please don't let your job stop you! there's no way people will come to accept unnatural hair colors until they start seeing it more often, and by people with authority. think about it, if the only purple hair you see is among those Bad Kids smoking outside the high school, it will still be thought of as a juvenile/rebellious thing to do. it isn't. it's PRETTY.

see, this is funny. one of my biggest regrets about dropping out of grad school was that i was no longer on my way to becoming a blue/purple-haired neurobiologist. i was SO excited about being blue haired and TENURED! plus, it would look extra smart over the white lab coat. :D

seriously kelly, i know you don't even know me, but i have got to tell you... if you're thinking about it for this long, it may just be worth the trouble. i dyed my hair a normalish (if obviously unnatural) reddish-brown for grad school interviews. then when i got there, after a few months it was seriously bugging me that i wasn't purple anymore. blue and purple shades are apparently my natural color. it's what i feel most ME in... i can't tell you how at home i felt when i did dye it back. and, i got nothing but positive comments from my colleagues, my profs, and my students. i lost no authority with them; if anything, i think they paid *more* attention, because now they saw me as more on their level. i think one of my teaching evaluations said it best... "dara is cool but still teacher-like." *grin*

i can't wait to see photos of your current color. if it's as purple as you say in the later post, surely the bleach-and-manic-panic-dye can't be much "worse." :)

...and although all i've seen of you are your lj photos... for some reason i have it in my head that manic panic plum passion is the *exact* right color for your complexion and personality.

[daraflower.livejournal.com]

Also, if you want to strip your hair really fast, wash your hair with shower gel.

hmm, thanks... that's good to know! lots of times, when i need to re-bleach, i'd like to get as much of the old dye off as possible beforehand... that way it gets as light as it possibly can before the new color(s) go(es) back on.

[ardentdelirium.livejournal.com]

ooh I've done the cardinal red route, its nice! though if you go tooo long without re-dyeing it turns a bit orangey