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The Sixth Estate
Well, my hair is back to its natural color (at least approximately) for the first time in three years. Dark ash blond, although the dye lacks the reddish-gold cast my hair naturally aquires; then again, if I know hair dyes, (and I do,) they always fade to one tone lighter, more red, more gold. It'll be perfect by the time my roots start to show (or rather not to show).
I look good, which is a pleasant surprise; the last time it was this color, I looked dreadfully frumpy.
It's strange the things I'd forgotten -- for example, that my hair is the same color as my eyes, even though that's impossible since my eyes are adamantly green.
It's also strange the things I'd never noticed -- I look much more historical, as though I was just yanked from a Romantic novel. This came as a particular surprise to Val, who always gives me wheat blond ringlets in an attempt to achieve that very effect.
Mostly, I'm just surprised by how normal it looks, and for once I don't mean that in a bad way. (The other hair color I had this reaction to was dark forest green, although I will always hold an affection for pink.) I didn't have to try on several sets of clothing and play with makeup to get used to it.
I look like me.
How astonishing.
I look good, which is a pleasant surprise; the last time it was this color, I looked dreadfully frumpy.
It's strange the things I'd forgotten -- for example, that my hair is the same color as my eyes, even though that's impossible since my eyes are adamantly green.
It's also strange the things I'd never noticed -- I look much more historical, as though I was just yanked from a Romantic novel. This came as a particular surprise to Val, who always gives me wheat blond ringlets in an attempt to achieve that very effect.
Mostly, I'm just surprised by how normal it looks, and for once I don't mean that in a bad way. (The other hair color I had this reaction to was dark forest green, although I will always hold an affection for pink.) I didn't have to try on several sets of clothing and play with makeup to get used to it.
I look like me.
How astonishing.
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color of the rainbow, and some that aren't. 'Course, I'm naturally blond and I
tend to wear my hair fairly short, both of which help.
In any case, it's easy and fairly painless. If you're really concerned, you can
go to a salon, but that's pretty much unneccessary. I don't know where to go to
buy hair dye in Pennsylvania (which is where you're from, if I recall) unless
Newbury Comics has a branch down there -- otherwise just go to a beauty supply
place or the alternative area of town (if such a thing exists). For unnatural
colors, you're basically dealing with either punky color or manic panic, both of
which do sell bleaching kits.
The kind of bleach and developer that you'd buy from them is fairly safe,
because it goes inert after. . . oh, about 45 minutes or so, so you're not going
to be able to burn the skin off your scalp even if you do it badly. Then
*immediately* apply the dye, because your hair will be very dry at that point
(speaking chemically, not from a water vs blowdrier standpoint) and ready to
absorb the semi-permanent dye. In addition, both of those dyes act as
heavy-duty conditioners, so they take good care of your hair.
A few tips:
1. Do *not* wash your hair on the day you bleach and dye -- otherwise, you
remove the oils that protect your scalp.
2. Do not wash your hair with clarifying shampoos, or the color will fade very
quickly.
3. For the first few nights, cover your pillow with an old towel, or you will
dye it pink. Don't worry about the towel or the clothes, though -- the dyes are
water based and come out in the wash.
4. It's very handy to keep an old toothbrush around for applying dyes and
bleaches if you don't have a bleach brush.
5. Before applying the dye, smudge petrolium jelly (vaseline or otherwise) on
your ears and around your hairline -- that way if you get any dye on your skin,
it will wipe off very easily. (The mark of a bad home dye is the famous
"color behind the ears". Watch for it.)
6. To speed the bleaching process, consider wearing a plastic bag on your head
(although not over your face, obviously.)
7. If you plan to cut your hair, do it *after* dying, not before.
8. I generally rinse the dye my hair out in the kitchen sink rather than the
shower, but that's really just a matter of personal preference. Also, then I
don't have to worry about staining the porcelain (the sink is metal). If you do
choose to use the shower, just rinse it down afterwards.
I think that's about it.
-Romie
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