Last year about this time, I got a wild hair up my ass and thought I wanted to make a change which I decided was that I needed to become a red head. So first, I set out doing some research because there are lots of different shades of red so I build a Pinterest Board called Hair Do to keep track of the hairstyles and color shades of red.
Hubby was totally against the red, but I was dead set on making the change. For 34 years I’ve had the same dirty blonde color and magically I became a bright and vibrant red head. I liked it. Obviously, people noticed because it was such a drastic change. There were people that didn’t even recognize me because I’m not one who has ever made a drastic hair color change. To give you an idea, below is a photo of my professional headshot before I made the move to red hair which you can see is my current head shot photo also below.
After going red, I noticed right away while attending conferences and events for senior level professionals, that it was easier to strike up a conversation when I was a red head. I’m not exactly sure why. Maybe because the red made me feel bolder, but I believe that the blonde hair made me look younger and therefore, less qualified to be attending those events. At one RPO conference I attended, there was only one blonde there who served as the bubbly MC for the gala dinner I was attending. *sigh*
It was fun for a while but I never felt quite like myself. For months it was like I was looking at someone else in the mirror. The final straw was when my daughter who is 4 at the time asked me to go back to being blonde so we could be “twinkies” (she are what she calls twins) and look the same. And I can’t say no to a face or a cute statement like that.
What no one tells you when you make such a drastic change going from blonde to red is how long, time consuming and difficult the road is to getting back. Over the past four months I’ve had 3 separate visits to my hair dresser that are 3+ hours long in my journey to return to the blonde that I once was and I’m not certain my hair will ever be the same. Add in my current 2 hour round trip commute to go into the city to visit this hairdresser, and I’ve spent 15 hours just on my hair.
What no one talks about is the regular maintenance that occurs as a chemically altered red head or the extreme measures one has to take to remove the red from your head. The pigments are extremely hard to remove. Hence, the reason I had 3 different visits to my hairstylist in order to make the change. We worked slow and over time to avoid frying my hair so I remained patient as one can be. I had to buy a bunch of new clothes and dress in different colors due to my new red hair. I’m a total internet shopper which meant that I had to go to an actual store. Rough. Did I mention I had to dye my eyebrows or use powder? I’m not a high maintenance girl so this was a first for me.
My road from red to blonde has been insane and I’ve had no less than 7 different hair colors as we move to the old me. We’re still not quite there yet. I’m not sure if we ever will be so I thought I would write this post to share with readers to consider a wig, a less drastic option before making a change like it was for me. Beware of red hair. It’s beautiful. It’s stunning. It’s a lot of work. I had to dye my eyebrows and the process to remove the red was extremely unsatisfying.
Everyone makes a change to mix things up, be different or just inject some excitement in their lives. While the red hair was fun, I’m reminding myself it’s not something I want to do again. I learned I’m just not a high maintenance girl, and that I’m most comfortable when I’m a natural me. It’s then I’m comfortable with being in my skin.
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