I’m not highlighting my hair blonde anymore. It’s at the point where the outgrowth can’t be mistaken as just the shadow of my part and it’s apparent I’m long overdue for a touch up. Personally, I’m tired of the upkeep. I was never one to refresh the color as often as advised but even then, it’s just another thing to manage.
In all honestly, it’s about vanity. Sure it’s expensive and, for the amount of hair I have, the process takes hours. However, in the end, it’s about looks. I find my natural color lacking. When I was young, my hair was blonde; in the very beginning, it was very, very blonde. It has continued to darken through the years and currently, it is an unremarkable medium brown. It looks extra dark next to my highlighted ends but it is undistinguished, garden-variety brown.
I am not an especially vain person. There are days when I have done school drop-off in pajama bottoms and bed head without a stitch of make-up. The look was often paired with my winter coat and snow boots so, as you can imagine, I looked amazing. I am not especially stylish; I don’t have a ‘look’. Most days, if my face is clean, my teeth are brushed, my hair is without strange humps and my clothes are mostly spot clean, I call it good. I would rather spend my time on activities other than my appearance.
The thing is I recognize myself more as a blonde. I grew out my highlights early in our marriage because it was cost prohibitive. When I started it up again, it was like ‘Hey, I know you!’ when I saw myself in the mirror. My brother has deep, dark brown hair, my sister has a more caramelly brown tone and I am/was the blonde. It almost feels like I’m hanging on to my youth with this light color. Yet, like an elderly woman pointed out to me a few days ago, I’m not that young anymore.
The truth is: I am not blonde and I’m just lazy enough not to keep making it that way. Feelings of beauty and identity need to have deeper roots than hair color (fantastically unintentional pun). I will probably always look for that fair-haired person in the mirror and in photos, it’s too ingrained at this point. But I can adjust my perspective. I can accept my hair as is, embrace my darker locks.
Hello, my name is Amy Christie and I am a recovering blonde brunette.
What are your thoughts on hair coloring? Love it? Hate it? Would love to know what you think.
Personally is a column of personal opinion on whatever random topic I choose.
I really love my hairs to be colored all the time, but…
Whenever I do that, everyone says so nice, but this is so close to your normal hair color!!!!!
It seems like that I’m afraid of big changes!!!!!
Haha! People have said that to me too, Sara!
I was a strawberry blonde when I was younger and I have always tried to keep my hair a reddish shade. To keep the costs down though I have done the coloring myself which is something I am just not able to do since my shoulder disagrees. I find that I am starting to stick with my natural color simply because I can’t afford the $80 every month to keep it looking good.
I hear you! I once tried a box highlight. It turned out so horribly, I had to then go get it professionally fixed. Haven’t done that since. Haha!
hi, dear
my name is zoshta.
I have 21 year old.
I live in iran.
nice to meet you
Hello!! Nice to meet you too!
I used to spend big bucks on maintaining my hair every 6 weeks. I since have stopped because I can upkeep my hair at home for my current style that has been the same for a good 2 years. I can trim my hair and for those grays that sneak in, I use box color that is close to my natural color so I’m only coloring my roots when needed. I’m not ashamed of it anymore… it does the job and my hair is still pretty healthy. :)
Good to know. Thanks Rachel!
First of all – I LOVE this post. I could almost hear you talking as I read. Second, that was a fantastic pun. Third, I have never colored my hair apart from a lapse of judgment in college that involved an overly confident roomate and a box of hair dye. I had blonde highlights that looked zebra-ish. Since then, I too have had an unremarkable shade of brown. I always wonder what I’ll do when I start to go gray – my hope is that I’ll have the confidence to just rock it for what it is.
I have a box hair dye story too. Zebra stripes for me too. Explained it in one of the other comments. I want to embrace the gray. However, I’m really hoping for that silvery gray that looks better. Maybe I’ll have to do some silver hair treatments later in life… :)
Oh, Amy! I love this post! I too, have an unremarkable hair color. You met me as a redhead, but I’m really not. I’ve had almost every color in an attempt to be more interesting. I have not, however, done any conventional dying for about 6 years because I’m (rightly) afraid of the chemicals. My red is henna, which is a fun and natural (albeit messy) way to change up hair color. But I especially love and admire when people embrace their natural selves, as you are doing. My red has been fading for a while and I’ve been too lazy to redo it, so I might take the same path. Cheers to you and all of the time and money you’ll save!
I thought you were a natural red! It fits you. Henna sounds interesting. Maybe next time we see each other we can celebrate our natural tresses together! :)
Hey,
I think your hair looks really pretty and well maintained whatever the colour it is. Sometimes you gotta let go things for whats easy. Hey, that’s life! I really don’t think looking young despite ageing is a crime. You can always start colouring again when you are less busy and have a few extra cents ^_^
I have light brown-black hair which turns whatever the colour it wishes between that range time to time. I haven’t colored my hair yet. When I do I’d like to have sea green for a change not for keeps. But well I’ve sported a beaded extension for a short while and maintaining that without combing it off was not easy. As for now I do have a quite a busy schedule where I don’t get to wash hair with right shampoo or conditioner at least. So I’d refrain for now.
Cheers!
I’m only 20, but I’ve never, ever dyed my hair. My family has bad genes when it comes to hair (I’ve begun to find gray hairs recently, my mom started going gray by 25 or so), so I know I probably won’t want to just naturally go gray (gray hair at 25 or 30 isn’t quite my thing), but I’m dreading having to dye my hair. My hair was VERY blonde when I was young and just keeps getting darker (it’s now a pretty dark brown), but I love it.