I have a loong history of hair color disasters dating waaaayyy back to my days at Western Maryland College (now McDaniel College). So, a week ago tonight just adds another chink in the helmet. A week ago tonight I decided at the spur of the moment to color my hair. I am a light brunette after being blond most of my childhood. Well I decided to reclaim my "natural" color. That natural color is Loreal #9. It has never failed me. It took me a while to find out which blonde was best over the years and some disastrous results. For instance, did you know that "ashe" blonde has a green component to it so that when you apply it to light brown hair like mine, it takes the green out and inserts pink or more like an odd mauve tint to the ends of your hair? True. My other favorite and the beginning of this terrible tale, is that "golden" blonde accentuates the red highlights in your hair. True also only in my case "pumpkin" orange came to my mind.
My first foray into the wonderful world of do it yourself hair color came when I was in a play in college and needed to be a "blonde" not a brunette. Wanting to avoid wig disasters that had plagued me in past productions I decided to be a real actor and dye my hair blonde. It would have turned out ok, except I took the swatch on the box best case scenario for true. Let's just say it didn't quite look like the box. It satisfied our director, but it was only 2 weeks until graduation and I couldn't wash my hair enough. My mother about fell out when she saw me at graduation. I have pictures of myself on that day and really, it doesn't look that bad. Just a little on the trampy side. Over the years, it has evolved to include the pink tips until I stumbled upon L'Oreal #9. That was the perfect color and for years that has been my go to box when I want to mix things up.
You might be asking yourself, "How the heck could she mess it up this time?" I'll tell you. Last Wednesday I decided enough of boring brown - I'm going to get my favorite L'Oreal #9 and be a new person for the holidays! On my way home I dashed into Target and grabbed a box from the #9 slot, paid and dashed back out the door. I was in a hurry trying to get Kaysie to an activity. When we got home I decided to go for it. I read all of the directions, mixed it up and loaded my hair up. Waited the 25 minutes and when I washed it off, I was as "ginger" as a Weasley from Harry Potter! I dug through the trash only to discover that I had grabbed 8G not 9! 8G the dreaded "Golden Blonde"!!! Red, highlights my foot! I was red all over and it did not look good. Being the "smart girl" I thought, well, I'll just go up to Walgreens and get #9 and it will all be ok. There's a famous saying "The enemy of good is better." Let me just say, that was the thought process behind my decision that night. While the results weren't really what I was hoping for, it did tame the "ginger" to a "strawberry blonde" and hair that felt like a brillo pad. Nice. I crawled into my office the next day hoping no one would notice...right. I'll give it to my co-workers, they are so very polite. It looked awful, but they didn't say anything, which I'm thinking they were invoking the "If you can't say something nice then don't say anything rule." Probably a good thing because I was feeling a little sensitive at that point.
A few days later I decided I just couldn't live with it and very sheepishly asked my awesome knight in shinning armor , Steve if he could add color to my hair appointment. He was great. He told me he didn't think the color was that bad. But, he had a plan and it was pure genius - Highlights and a fresh cut! He slayed the "Ginger dragon" big time and once again I feel like a princess with golden hair! Whew. Let me just say, that I was freaking out just a little bit. The thought of facing the holidays and all that is involved this year in particular was terrifying to me. Not anymore! Once again, I have skirted hair disaster thanks to my man Steve. Steve, you made me look good, and also made me feel better. I swear, before The Fantastic 5 and all of my other readers that while I might resort to L'Oreal #9 from time to time I will ALWAYS read the box before I put the color on my head, and if I have a shadow of a doubt I will only let Sir Steve do the deed because he is a professional and for that I am truly thankful! Cheers!
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