so this hair thing

[aelfsciene]

Prompted by my complaints of "long hair is too much work to dye" and the subsequent comments on Facebook, I've been thinking about my hair, and the crazy colors thing I've been doing for the last 15 years (goodness, that's awhile).

Comments

[anonymous]

Have you thought about doing a natural color with highlights or even brightly colored streaks in it? Might be easier than doing a bright color all over, and lets you experiment with a more natural look without going cold-turkey on the bright colors. (Natural doesn't have to be boring --- reds seem to look nice on you.)

And I hear you about what a pain it is to dye long hair. I've had noticeable grey in my hair since 30, and I don't feel good about my appearance without dye at this point. It's such a pain to do myself, and yet I can't justify spending $60+ at a salon every six weeks to have professional color. Ugh.

[eilonwey]

Sorry, that was Stacy.

[aelfsciene]

Yeah, some sort of red or even a dark mahogany (I've always admired your hair color, to be honest!), maybe, but highlights on my own light brown would just look weird, I think. BUt then it's double-process, to dye it a "natural" color, and then bleach part of it for highlights, so I dunno. I just remember trashing my hair not once but twice before, and don't want to lose the length to that again.

Part of the problem is roots, yeah, because man, life would be simpler if my hair was just darker--black or even dark brown roots with bright colors would be kind of fun! And I"d offer to help out with touchups, but I'm so very, very imprecise about dyeing, I'd worry about getting it all over you anyway. <.

[agrimony]

I do low-lights in my hair. I get 'hilights' of dark purple and copper. I really like it. Since I don't bleach out the strips (I live in conservative New England and would like a non-supermarket job some day), the colors aren't stunningly obvious and they fade out in a subtle manner so I don't have to be appalled if I don't have the money to get it done again with the frequency it deserves. I don't think my natural hair color is all that dramatically different from your natural hair color

[phillipalden]

I'm not an expert on hair, men's or woman's, but I liked the look of your hair when I saw you last. I'm one of those people who likes long hair on women.

Of course, as a woman, you have to do so much more than a guy when it comes to looks, (i.e. I don't have to shave my legs or buy/apply make-up.)

[aelfsciene]

Aw, thanks! It's one of the reasons I don't want to lose the length, because I really love it, and other people seem to like it, too. And I'm a particularly lazy girl when it comes to that kind of stuff--I prefer how my hair looks when blown dry, but don't usually wear makeup, and only really shave my legs in summer (tights in winter ftw!). ^_^

[chrysoula]

Have a regularly scheduled dyeing party. :-)

I like Stacy's suggestion, as well.

But let's look a little deeper. What would you like to be doing in five years? How bright is your hair in that image?

I find myself thinking of this as the Coming Of Age story for your hair. :-)

[aelfsciene]

I might just start asking for help to get full coverage, it's true. At least a couple of people have offered (one below, even!), and it would make my life a lot easier. I'll still look like I've been bathing in Kool-Aid for a day or two after, but yeah.

And I'm not really sure, is the problem--that's part of why I'm still jobless, I don't even know what I want to be doing, in an ideal world. So right now, my hair still seems like it should be bright, but as I lean towards pinup fashion, maybe black or natural red is more likely to happen, I don't really know.

I'll have to keep thinking about this!

[aelfsciene]

Yeah, if my hair was less blah to start out with, streaks would be fun, but brightly colored streaks in plain light brown hair just seems odd to me. Though I've been resisting my natural color for so long that it might just be habit keeping me from the idea, I dunno.

And thanks! I don't think orange was the best look for me, and I tend not to use yellow-greens (blue greens are great!), but it is quite nice that all of these colors look, well, "natural" on me, for the most part. ^_^

[annyong]

SHAVE IT ALL OFF

rofl jk

i've got most nights free in summer so i can always come over, and i've learned some trick of the trades, girlie. that would be my suggestion, because you look fierce with your hair how it is, and while the color doesn't define you, it definitely is a part of who you are