The Hair

"There. Back to ashy blond." My hairdresser twirled my chair so I faced the mirror.

"Wow. It looks so different. Normal. I like it."

After nearly 10 years of different cuts, colors, and styles (with a few interludes of non-experimentation), I'm back to "natural."

My hair journey started with a temporary rinse in high school. I had half a head of purple hair, but I didn't have to commit to it. What I didn't know then was that blond hair--even dirty blond--stains. Commitment it was. The only way to get rid of the purple was to dye my entire head a shade darker. When that color faded and grew out, I went red, light brown, and deep mahogany.

"Chocolate Cherry"

I was hooked. I rarely missed being blond. I saw girls with great hair and thought "I want that. I could have that. It's only a box away." I dyed my hair (or enlisted a friend to help), and enjoyed several months of an alternate personality--every color has its own attitude. My cuts changed less often, staying within an inch of my shoulders. Bangs came and went. I got a perm. I wouldn't get another, but I don't regret it.

long bangs, semi-natural color

Soon, only several hairstyles and colors remained unworn by yours truly, and recently I crossed two more off the list: impossibly long and incredibly blond. Having long hair was always something other girls did--girls who cared about deep conditioners and Moroccan oil--but just once I wanted to try it.

My hair weathered a summer and a winter and another summer. I still dyed it and played around with bangs, but we (my hair and I) were going for length. Then, last spring, I went Beach Babe Blond. I was a little scared to do it myself, but I’ve always done my own coloring, and besides, it's just hair. It took two treatments, and the results were a little uneven, but I had super light hair and the upcoming summer sun would only help to brighten and blend the color.

long and blond

Then fall and winter came, and with them, hair growth that was decidedly NOT blond. I had a horizontal line in my hair--below the line, blond, summery and long, above the line, dull, dark, and quick to look greasy. Headbands and high ponytails could only help so much. I was also completely over the long hair. It was fun for a while, but brushing was a huge chore that left our apartment littered with long bi-color strands of hair.

That's how I found myself in a salon chair, telling my stylist to chop it off. She nodded, knowingly, and suggested a toner to take care of the awkward color line. She did a great job of matching the toner to my original color--the bleached band is only recognizable if you already knew it was there. I’m back to looking natural, and feeling that way too.

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THANKS: Dara, for the new hair and the new personality!