Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Hair Color: My Saga

 

Because I started getting gray hair in my 30’s,

let’s just say I have spent

a great deal of time since

standing in Walgreen’s or HEB or Wal Mart staring at hair color models,

-or-

stopping people on the street and asking them who does their hair.


Some people go to Las Vegas.

I gamble with hair dressers and hair color.


I guess that means

I create my

OWN BAD HAIR LUCK.

(Disturbing…)



Here is a recent timeline:


*About two months ago – went to one of my two mainstay hairdressers for haircut.
She outdid herself.

All is well.



*Went back recently for a trim and highlights-

No dice.

Hair cut different and my entire head is blonde.


Tried to talk to my daughters about my hair.

The youngest actually implied that I talk about my hair too much…

*Asked a friend where she gets her hair done.


Went there and asked for lowlights-

(see? now I am coloring my hair backwards!)

All of my too blonde hair is now a grayish green.


*Couldn’t handle that.

Went to different hairdresser.

She colored my hair chocolate brown

and gave me chunky highlights.


Timeout:

You know how I feel about the word chunky.


She also gave me a short hair cut that I am supposed to blow dry

‘wildly with my fingers to create wispies…’


OK ladies…

I grew up rolling my hair on orange juice cans, after using beer as a setting lotion and then sitting under a bonnet hair dryer for over an hour.


NO DICE.


***

What is your color story?



Can anyone relate to this?


40 comments:

sweetvintageofmine said...

Yeah, I hear ya! Right now, I do my own hair color (we know thats a no-N0) BUT TOO MANY MEDICAL BILLS, SO.....something has to give..can't do $100.00 plus at a salon, but maybe soon? Maybe with us women it's called OCD? LOL!!! We just can't leave our hair alone..I'm sure your hair looks FAB! Any PICS? From one sweetie to another....Roxie

Lorilee said...

Oh my that sounds like lots of visits to the hairdressers. I just use Pro Cuts for haircuts and a little Sun-In for highlights. I have never had it colored otherwise. No gray yet. At 46, I'm sure it is coming soon.
Blessings,
Lorilee

Lorilee said...

Oh my that sounds like lots of visits to the hairdressers. I just use Pro Cuts for haircuts and a little Sun-In for highlights. I have never had it colored otherwise. No gray yet. At 46, I'm sure it is coming soon.
Blessings,
Lorilee

Lea @ CiCis Corner said...

OMG! I have had the same hair dresser for years and years and she does it just right every time. I'm hoping she outlives me because I don't know what I'll do if not. Good luck! If a woman isn't happy with her hair, then the world had better watch out!!! :o)

Judy said...

I went to the same hair dresser for 10 years until she retired last year but was fortunate to also have a back up one that's done my hair color for about 3-4 years now. I'm always getting stopped asking who cuts my hair so I guess my advice would be to find someone you like and stick with that person...that way they "know" your hair (and you). My hair dresser won't do anything she doesn't think looks good on me.

Hope this helps!

Glenda/MidSouth said...

Oh Yes! I can relate to this!
I should own stock in the brand I use, and could write a very long comment on my "somebody done messed up" hair cuts. :-D

Olive said...

I can relate but last year I stopped with the color band wagon circus and went grey. Have you see my new profile pic? Plus because I take low dose chemo for an auto immune disorder I am losing my hair-so if you only have 33 hairs why not be grey and stand them straight up?

Jocelyn said...

Okay, I don't relate to the color story, but I DO relate to the haircut story. Where are these girls learning to cut hair?? I've had the same thing. I go to one girl and she does a great job. Go back in a few months and it's horrible. My hair is usually very easy to style, but recently I've had my hair cut at two different places and both times it's been hard to style. I've been to the salons, and they are no better. They seem to want to do what THEY want to do, not what I want :-( Sigh......

Jocelyn @
http://justalittlesouthernhospitality.blogspot.com/

Helen said...

I could fill a book with my hair color saga .... not enough time today. I found a great website/blog called Killer Strands! Check it out, I have learned SOOOOOOOOOOO much from the author of the blog - a hairdresser in LA.

Patty Marker said...

I can so relate. I have been getting gray hair since my twenties so now at 51 it is nearly white. I have to recolor every 2 to 3 weeks now or else I get this white grow out line that makes me look bald...attractive thought, I know. I have toyed with the thought of letting it go gray but hubby nixed that one. I color myself now or I'd go broke. Yes, I can relate. :) Patty

Renée Finberg said...

i feel you!!!
i would be flipping out.
i color my own hair just because it's easy to.

and i am terrified....
i have had the same hair dresser for 25yrs and i am moving to maine and will be at the mercy of strangers....!
i am not looking forward to my 1st hair cut. ;(

allisamazing said...

I finally found a hairdresser that does a fantastic job on my hair. I won't go anywhere else now. I do color my own hair though because it needs doing every three weeks and I found that when I went to the hairdresser to have it done my hair became super dry and brittle.

Donna said...

You forgot to show us a picture. !
I don't even have to read the directions anymore. :)
Cute post. Sorry you've had such bad luck.

From Beyond My Kitchen Window said...

I hate paying what I pay every 4 weeks, but I hate coloring my own hair more. I don't get the exorbitant prices they charge. I like the color she gives me, but my cut is getting boring and I'm thinking about going shorter. Is there anyone you doesn't have a hair disaster? I don't think so.

Theresa said...

Oh GIRL, I am laughing out loud! I have gray hair too and go every seven (should be SIX) weeks! I have been going to the same lady for a couple of years! She does it fast but I am going back to the previous hairstylist on the 18th! I am babbling on and on about my hair:) YES, it is important! Have a blessed week, HUGS!

Low Tide High Style said...

Oh my, you are singing my song! But a few years ago I started dying my own hair and several eye flushes later (note, don't get color in your eye...twice!), I'm about ready to give it all up. Of course that would mean I would have to give up being vain too and I'm just not there yet! ;-)

Kat

Sandy aka Doris the Great said...

I color my own hair at home (different products -- whatever's on sale; and slightly different shades). But I'm fortunate that MOST OF THE TIME, my hair turns out fine. I have "good" hair for color (so my hairdresser tells me).

Not so lucky with haircuts. I've had the same hairdresser for most of 15 years; she cuts it a bit too short but 2 weeks later it's good. And just like you, I can bring in the same picture, but the haircut may not be the same each time. Still, I've tried others and been totally unsatisfied. So....I stick with my tried and true hairdresser who's great most of the time.

After all, it's only hair.

trash talk said...

You're asking me? The woman who tries to pass off the gray and silver in her hair as frosting? The woman who knows better, but continues to put her hair in Pippi Longstocking braids?
I admire you for your tenacity. The only reason I don't color my hair is I'm lazy and know touch-ups are required!
Anthony
P.S. Chocolate brown and chunky sounds like my favorite candy!
P.P.S. Remind me to tell you the story of toilet papered pin curls and a shag-cut wig some day.

Pondside said...

I'm one of those women who make other women shake their heads and whisper 'She should really do something...' because I don't colour. I leave it and it's growing in with natural streaks - grey....but I'm embracing it!

Patricia @ 9th and Denver said...

ha ha ! You're so funny...I can so relate.
I grew up squirting 'SUN -IN' in my hair and blow drying it to get the hi-lights I wanted. Do they even make that stuff anymore. And...lets don't even talk about home perms!

Now? too much grey and it's RESISTANT TOO! In December it was down to my butt...first time I had it cut by a professional in 12 1/2 years... and I paid to have it cut off straight no style...

Now it's growing out quicker than I'd like... and I can't do a thing with it...
'slave to a pony tail', Pat

Bliss said...

Can I relate? Good Lord yes! I just started doing it myself for 15 years. Had to break down 3 years ago before kids weddings. All was well. Went back 3 times since, first two were good..... last one not so much. She got the color and high (low?) lights right, but the cut..... sucked with the F word.

~Bliss~

Lori @ Katies Rose Cottage Designs said...

Ahhhhh yes I can totally relate! I started getting gray in my 30's and now could really get my hair colored every 4 weeks because it grows crazy fast ~ I usually get a color and highlight every 8 weeks but then do a root touch up a couple times in between ~ I do those myself ~ I hate taking the time to sit in a salon chair that often for so long ~ ADD kicks in very bad! My family says that I am never happy when I come home from getting my hair colored ~ It seems to fade within a couple of weeks anyway ~
uggghhhhh maybe I should embrace gray but I am sure that is never going to happen! hehe!

Dayle ~ A Collection of Days said...

I'm fortunate to have good genes when it comes to gray hair. I've not had the whole salon experience yet but my crop of grays are starting to show. Still, I can't bring myself to get into the hair-coloring rut just yet. Ugh! You make it sound fairly awful too. LOL

Susan said...

I hate to think how many $$ over the years I've spent on highlights and color. About 2 years ago, I just got tired of it and asked a girlfriend what she used (cause she'd told me she started coloring her own hair), so I bought the very same product you show here, but in the color 115. I really like how it turns out, with the "contouring highlights." I've tried the color you show, but it's a little dark for me. As for cuts, I just went to a new lady/salon this week (that another friend recommended) and LOVE the cut. She did what I asked and it turned out great! I told her I color my own hair and she said the color looks great. She has a new customer! Good luck.

Honey at 2805 said...

My bad hair color story is a total nightmare! And the haircut story is too!

Sorry for your bad luck!

Karen said...

I can't WAIT to see your new look!!!
Karen
Ladybug Creek

Anonymous said...

I am sooooo lucky!! I have a great hairdresser....the down side is...expense. It is one of my extravagances, and to compensate for it, I wash my own doggies, use coupons, grow all my own herbs, do my own nails.....worth every penny because I am completely grey and look like a natural brown/blonde.

Linda @ bushel and a pickle said...

How timely. Loved the luahgs i got too from your post and some of the comments. Seriously, I have ot not go to my hairdresser for a financial break. Really. My hair is a pretty silvery grey with nice texture. We have 2 daughters 12 and 13 which is why I started to dye my hair years ago...got sick of being asked it I was their grandmother and didn't want them to be kids of an "old" mom. Going today to a place my adult daughter goes for a cut and will try the color myself. Crossing my fingers it turns out well.

linda @ bushel and a pickle said...

Should add all of you gave me a douse of bravery too!

Beeutiful by Design said...

Hair story is so true and yet so sad as I can totally relate. Have a great hairstylist now, but for years did my own, went from place to place, once even had it turn orange after she'd finished! She apologized I grabbed my purse and left to go home and fix it myself. Good luck -- they are luck husbands once you find a good one you have to hold onto them :)

JB said...

Oh my God Belle....you are hysterical. I remember a few of those conversations we had about our hair color!!! Love ya and miss you!

Pura Vida said...

Laura, this is stinkin funny...not so funny though when I think I'm in that same no dice boat as you!

Unknown said...

you and I are probably just about the same age....I too have hair stories....that rear their ugly head (yipes) every once in a while.....hair rolled on cans; check....coloring mishaps; check.....hair cut mistakes; check....I do my own color now....and keep my hair long....it has always looked better that way.....smiles.

Tina@WhatWeKeep said...

Oh, No.
I feel for you- I have a rule in general about hairdressers. Three times and I'm out the door. It generally goes from great to wth? in three visits.
I'm on a roll this time and she gets better each time, so we'll see.
I can handle anything if I have good hair! :)

Linda said...

Well, I'm happiest when I just have my hair how I like it which means, rarely ever going to any hairdresser.

For a time, I had a short cut that I liked but honestly, since I've grown it out (ha - that's an overstatement since my hair grows soooo slowly - I haven't had it cut in well over a year, and it's just now touching the back of my neck, barely getting to my shoulders) it's so much easier to take care of than when it was in that short style, because I can wear it straight, scrunch and go with my natural curl, or pull it back.

Otherwise, I've never been big on going with trends or spending money at a salon. I've colored my own hair since I was 15 years old and have no plans to stop that. No one will ever see my grays, ha.

Suzanne said...

This post is hysterical! I am still coloring away. I mostly stick with my hairdresser for color, but I touch up now and then on my own. It never looks right when I do it, however. Really, you would think in this day and age, someone (SOMEONE!) could find a solution to this problem, one that does not involve glop on one's head. And last week while sitting in the chair at the hairdresser, waiting for the timer to go off, my hairdresser came into the room, and said, "Look who's here!" I turned around, and to my horror, there is my daughter's boyfriend, looking rather shocked and horrified himself. OY!

Suzanne said...

P.S. Your hair is really pretty, btw:-)

retrorevival.biz said...

Hahahaha! Ahem, sorry. Isn't it ridiculous what we go through to cover our gray?! Still, it beats looking prematurely granny-ish. BTW, as I comment here I really should be reaching for my own box of dye;)

~Cindy

Deserae said...

I wish I could say I have no idea what anyone here is talking about but sadly I can relate. I started getting a few grays in my 30's which at the time I thought was simply tragic. Now at 40 I have a streak of white hair in the very front that doesn't take color at all!!! I have to color it every three weeks so I can't afford to go to a salon and have it done. Trust me, if I could afford it I would because I HATE coloring my own hair!!!! The most frustrating part for me is finding the perfect color but then I can never find it again. *sigh*
Have a great weekend!
~Des

At Rivercrest Cottage said...

I am crying laughing at this post. You are my sister from another mother! Can't believe you got so.many.serious.comments.to.this!

Green hair, had that. Chunky highlights didn't want, had that. Same haircutter, totally different haircut? Had that. Just thinking the other day I need to ask someone else "who does your hair?" I found my newest hairdresser by asking a sweet lady at a garage sale last summer!

 

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