Ginger-Locks & The 3 Alternative Hairs

I decided I wanted to blog about something lighter for my third blog post and if you haven't guessed by the hilarious title, it's about hair colours.   

I've never been one to stick to the same hair colour for particularly long - and some of have been the tits, and others have been….well, not so great. (I was very tempted to write ‘the pits’ but I want people to read further than this particular paragraph..)  

 I remember being obsessed with The Osbournes when I was younger and in particular, Kelly Osbourne's bubble gum pink hair. So off I went to Nequiba, an ‘alternative’ hippy shop that sold stargazer hair dye and I bought the most shocking pink I could find. It didn't work, and to this day I don't know why - but it's probably a blessing as I don't imagine my high school would have been a-okay with pink hair if they couldn't hack girls having boobs. 

However, it didn't stop my resolve and through the years, I wish I had had shares in Boots with the amount of hair dye I've bought. But how do you know which is the one for you? It’s hard enough committing to a particular shampoo and conditioner, let alone which hair colour you want. I look back at pictures only a year ago and cringe at what I thought looked good, so my biggest worry is that one day I'll get married and then look back on my wedding photos and worry that maybe the perm WASN’T a good idea. So I've decided to do a round up of all the hair colours I’ve had, how they made me feel and what other people made of them. 

   

The Natural(ish) Hair Years

My natural hair colour is brown, so that means that should be the hair colour that ‘suits’ me best...and whilst I've been brown a couple of times, I've never really felt entirely comfortable with it. I jokingly liken myself to a ‘medieval peasant’ with brown hair, in that there's nothing stand out about it on me. On other people brown hair can look stunning and bring out their eyes and complexion, but for me, I've always felt like I sink into the background a bit….and I'm not the type of person who can be described as a wallflower in any sense. 

The good thing about my brown hair is that my grandparents love it and strangers assume I'm intelligent, but for me that's not enough to stick to a chocolatey hue. 

Pros: Strangers assume you're intelligent. You don't really have to worry about clashing colours with what you wear. It's pretty low maintenance on the hair dye regrowth scale. 

Cons: Apparently grey hairs show up more visibly. (I've yet to succumb to the grey menace so I don't know for sure) All your friends are probably brunette so if you want to stand out, no such luck I'm afraid. 

The Blonde Not-So Bombshell 

When I was younger it wasn't just Kelly Osbourne whose hair I admired - I also had a hair crush on a certain Colombian singer with the blondest of curls and breasts so small you'd never run the risk of confusing them with mountains (her words.) The one and only, Shakira. If I had chance of getting my hair anything close to hers, I’d have to hit the dreaded bleach. I've heard a lot of horror stories regarding bleach - of scalps blistering and hair falling out, but I turned a blind eye like I do when I agree to pretty much any terms and conditions. 

My hairdresser wisely wouldn't allow me to bleach my hair blonde - she said that if I wanted to be blonde, I'd have to do it in steps...but I've always been incredibly impatient and one of those ‘but I want it now’ people (I'm sure I was a delight as a kid) so I took no heed and decided to take matters into my own hands. The first time I bleached my hair my ends were shocking blonde and the roots ginger, so I'd really recommend taking a professional's advice on this one…

Do blondes have more fun? Well I don't know if I did...but Mikes blonde and he's with me, sooo… 

Back then I believed the only way to be attractive was to have blonde hair and blue eyes...and as I wear contact lenses anyway, a quick trip to specsavers made that that dream a reality by getting some prescription ‘sapphire blue’ lenses. I felt great, but it wasn't the real me. I didn't really have an identity and people would assume I was a certain way due to my appearance...whether that was judging my intellect or my morals, I think I was a bit TOO blonde. If I was to ever go blonde again, I think I'd go for a softer ‘caramel’ blonde rather than peroxide pornstar. 

Pros: Everyone assumes you have a sunny, bubbly disposition (little do they know…) Barbie was blonde and that bitch had everything (definitely not stolen from a t-shirt slogan). Summer and beachy, surfer hair were practically invented for you, you blonde goddess. You can pretend to be dumb to get out of conversations with people you don't want to talk to.

Cons: You'll probably be labelled as a dumb blonde anyway, so may as well use it to your advantage. Certain men will assume you're more likely to want to have it off with them - prove them wrong. Or don't. Do what you want, I'm not your mother. And of course THE ROOT REGROWTH. 

Red Riding Good-God that stains. 

It was Halloween that did it. I went dressed as Poison Ivy and donned a bright red wig which I fell a bit in love with. Having learnt from my previous mistakes, I booked in with a hair salon in my local town - under the impression that the transition from blonde to red would be an easy one. The hairdresser took one look at my hair and told me I could either go a purple red or a copper red. “Oh...but I want more of a brick red...like Poison Ivy..” I fumbled nervously. “Oh...well, we could try…” she answered back unhelpfully and set to work. 

The result wasn't quite what I wanted...it definitely had some purple tones I hadn't asked for, but I assumed it would wash out to a nicer colour...only it didn't, it just went patchy and weird. I was in bits. 

I went to the salon the next day and was met with the manager who rather than being apologetic about the fact my hair had turned to shit, just tutted and said I should have been more precise with what I wanted. It was only after I burst into tears did they bother to do anything to fix it - because apparently a sobbing woman with crap hair stood in the main reception isn't good for a salon's reputation. 

That's the last time I've ever been to a hair salon. I refuse to go. I'd rather do my hair alone and be angry at myself if it goes wrong than be angry with someone else. Plus I can dye my own hair without having to get dressed, wear a bra or be forced to make idle chit chat about what holidays I'm taking. 

Overall, when it was finally how I wanted it - I liked having cherry red hair. My pillowcases and white clothes however, did not. It's a well known fact that red is the hardest hair colour to keep and a relaxing bath turns into a murder scene with red EVERYWHERE. 

Also there was nowhere to hide - if you wanted to avoid talking to someone you see on the street that you kind of know but kind of don't then tough luck. Your hair is a beacon - it's practically the lighthouse of all hair colours, alerting everyone and their boats to the port...you are the port. 

I got tired of having to re-dye my hair every couple of weeks, and wanted a more ‘natural’ colour without resorting to brown..

 Pros: Strangers will tell you that you look like The Little Mermaid (and who doesn't want to look like Ariel?!) You will stand out. 

Cons: Prepare to dye your hair a lot. Prepare to stain your clothes/pillow/pet cat. You will stand out. A trip to the pool or beach is red hairs worst nightmare - whatever you do, for godsake don't get it wet. 

Black To Business 

I've had black hair once before, shortly after the brunette years. When ever I decide to go brown I always end up actually reaching for the black dye as it seems like browns more interesting cousin, and this time was no different. Black hair is hands down the lowest maintenance hair colour I've ever had, and the easiest to match my hair extensions to because you can't really go wrong with a box of standard black. 

Overall I liked having black hair. I did try and dye my hair blue-black, fancying myself to be a comic book character, but it never seemed to work particularly well. Not everyone was a fan of my black hair - some said it was too harsh, that it made me look ‘witchy’ (is that a compliment or an insult?) 

Pros: If you wear hair extensions you don't have to worry about matching those up, you're sorted. When it comes to picking hair dye, any will do as they're all the same and you literally cannot go wrong. If you get a tan people will assume you're exotic (I got asked if I was Turkish once… in Turkey... by a Turkish man) 

Cons: Intricate hair styles don't show up very well on black hair: those victory rolls you just did? Good luck catching them on film. 

Ginger-Locks found the one that was just right. For now.

I'd never tried to dye my hair ginger before and had only come into contact with such a hue when I tried to bleach my hair blonde. It wasn't a colour I'd particularly fancied or envisioned for myself, but then Christina Hendricks happened. 

If you don't know who Christina Hendricks is then I demand you google her now. She is a beautiful vixen of a woman with the most amazing hair, and my main hair muse. 

The transition from black hair to ginger was easier than expected. I did have to bleach my hair twice, as the tips of my hair were a bit more stubborn and clung to the black a bit more - but the roots were happy to embrace the ginge. 

So far I love having ginger hair. It feels a bit more stand out than when I was a brunette, but not to the extent of cherry red. I feel confident and sassy, and to be honest, I haven't had the urge to change to another colour. I feel like I've found my hair colour match. 

Some people will say they prefer my hair brown/black/blonde/cherry red and it used to annoy me, as I felt it meant they didn't think I looked good now...but then I stopped caring. People can tell me they prefer my hair brown and my look natural, and that's fine, but I'm happy as I am and more confident than I've ever been, so to me that's all that matters. 

Pros: You have The Weasleys in your camp, and that's awesome. The colour green has never looked better on you. You have hair that looks like the sun smiling. Autumn was made for you. 

Cons: NONE. (okay there's probably some, I'm just being biased.) if you wash your hair daily then prepare for fade and the odd person might call you ‘ginger’ like it's an insult, but the hell? you are. 

SO in conclusion, experiment with your locks, find the colour that makes your soul happy and don't give two hoots if someone you don't really care about says they don't like it. Professionals might recommend staying within two shades lighter or darker than your natural hue, I say sod it. Experiment. Dye your hair as dark as your soul when you're forced to chat to distant relations or dye it as bright as your heart when you watch a video of two otters playing on YouTube. Rip up the rule book (but keep hold of that handy leaflet in the dye boxes, as they're actually quite informative.)

You look fabulous, and so does your hair. 

HayleyHeartsxo