"What did you do to your hair?" is not a compliment...

It has been over one year since I had my hair professionally dyed & cut. Prior to that, it had been nearly three years.
Anyone who knows me personally knows that I used to dye my hair seasonally, & always enjoyed sporting different colours. All throughout college & for many years after I had a standard of shades: blonde in the summer, light (champagne) brown in the fall, dark brown in the winter, and red in the spring. Once I moved to Maine, this dying habit, well, died. Here is a photograph of me from last December prior to getting a much deserved & needed hair & dye job... this is my natural colour & curl.

At Abbracci, we had a lovely customer named, Angela, who opened a beauty shop in downtown Searsport where I made an appointment. I told her that I wanted black hair with magenta streaks similar to that of Lacey from Bret Michael's Rock of Love 2 but without so much red - more like highlights - not a two layer hair coloring like hers:

(Photo courtesy of VH-1)

Angela thought I was nuts - said it wouldn't look natural, although, I didn't think or say it would! She also insisted that it would look so bad that if someone asked where I got it done & I answered "Angela Austin Hair Studio" she potentially could lose customers & she didn't want her name attached to a bad hairdo. Understood. She insisted I had to stay within my "colour range" so that it would never look unnatural. Since she only knew me as the owner of Abbracci, she had never seen me with my hair dyed like I used to pre-Maine... man, the photos I could show her - she would be horrified at some of the things I've done to my hair! LOL!

When I left her studio, this is what my hair looked like - mind you the photos of me above are taken the very same day... please brace yourself as this is one bad picture of me!

This was the darkest red she'd agree to put on me. She also cut in layers, which is something I hadn't worn since circa 1996 - & boy, as soon as I let my hair go naturally, they looked awful + the long bangs she framed my face with made me look like Orphan Annie when I wore my hair curly. The Lord knows I don't have patience to straighten my hair everyday at this length, it was a long & awkward growing out phase & I am glad it's over!

In the beginning of October, I dyed my hair Auburn Brown; well, at least that's what the box said - it came out a shimmering brassy red... ridiculous. Actually, hilarious. Luckily, I dyed it two weeks before starting my new job, so by the time I got there, it didn't look so awful. By last Saturday, it was practically back to my natural hue, just a little more orangey:

I decided I still wanted black hair - so I went & bought a box of it at the local CVS, with the intention of purchasing a magenta hi-lighting kit from a beauty supply shop. But when I went to Sally's Beauty Supply they were out of stock of the colour I wanted, which may have been a blessing in disguise, because the black, well...
it came out like this:

I suddenly was no longer upset with Angela in Maine not wanting to dye my hair this colour - it did look completely unnatural!

As you can see from the first photo at the top of this post I barely have any eyebrows, & what I do have they are very light brown/red... with this black hair, it's obvious I have to wear more make-up (although the lipstick shown here may be a bit too much) which includes, penciling in my eyebrows, otherwise it would just look comical if I didn't:
That picture is so wacky, & it makes me despise my nose even more than usual - lol!

I had sent photos to BFF Corinne & BFF Jules, Corinne wrote back, "That looks crazy!" & Jules wrote, "It looks funky!" The reaction at work on Monday was mixed. And I was more self-conscious than usual (if you can even imagine that!). But, I think my trainer put it best when he genuinely said, "It looks good, but I like your natural colour better. There's good, and then, there's better".

I wanted to fix what I had done, & I washed it two times a day for the first 6 days. One day during the week, I stopped at Salon 04, on my way home. I have never been there, & was curious how much it would cost to get it professionally fixed. When I walked in, a beautiful woman greeted me. She had the exact black hair I had wanted - with one difference, hers was natural!

Her name is Maryann, & she is the owner of the shop, here's a bit of our conversation:

Me: "Can you see what I've done to my hair?"
Maryann: "You permed it?"
Me: "No, the curl is natural, I dyed it..."
Maryann: "I would have never known, it looks completely natural on you."
Turning to another hair dresser, she asks, "Don't you think her hair looks good?"
The woman looks me over & answers, "Yes! It matches your eyebrows perfectly."
Me: "I've penciled them in!"
Woman: "You fooled us - we would have never known!"

I continue to explain that it is too dark - that it has blue in it. She confers that blue is the base of black, & reminds me that everyone referred to Elvis' hair as "Blue Black".

In any case, without hesitation, she instructs me how to get rid of it if I don't like it. Instead of trying to sell me on getting it professionally "stripped", which would cost a pretty penny, she instead honestly tells me to use Dawn dish washing detergent or a clarifying shampoo to help fade the colour faster. She doesn't recommend dying over it for at least three weeks. She tells me to just wash it as often as I can stand...

I explain how I originally wanted magenta streaks - but thought now against it. She insists that would look really cool & that she'd be happy to do it for me - but again, I'd have to wait at least three weeks because she would have to strip the black out of sections of my hair, bleach it, and then put the magenta over it.

I am astonished at Maryann's generous honesty & kindness. She definitely has gained a customer for life. I am so glad that I stopped in & met her. For anyone in the Winter Haven, Florida area looking for a good salon - I trust that Salon 04 is an excellent choice!

With all the crazy hair cuts & colours I have worn throughout my life, I am fully aware that the comment, "What did you do to your hair?" is not a compliment!

When I was 17 years old I dyed my hair black - but, somehow, I forgot why I never dyed it black again. Today is one week since I dyed it & I will never forget again...

The opposite of bad is not good... it’s simply not bad. - Marcus Buckingham