Back when I was in my early 20’s I would venture to say I tried at least 5 different hair colors.  I got pretty good at the process but the day I chose to perfect “Auburn” is the day I said goodbye to hair color for 26 years.   It’s a rather sad story as it took place in the early 1980’s before “kool-aid” colors for hair were publicly accepted.   I thought I chose well when I chose a nice rich shade of auburn and I really thought I had it right so as soon as my freshly altered locks were dry and curled the desire to flaunt this fiery new shade led me right into the only store there was in the tiny little town that I lived.    I was super confident with my new look when I sailed in the door.  That is until I received my first review and that incredibly audible voice said, “Hey Bev, I like your hair!  It matches your sweatshirt!”  I wish I could tell you I was wearing a deep rust colored sweatshirt but in reality, the sweatshirt was pink.  The wind that had originally filled my sails stopped abruptly and once my sails…….er, ah, I mean feet hit the ground, they were running!

Tonight, after 26 years, I decided to give hair color another chance but the reason varied slightly from the “1980’s, I’m bored and hair color is cheap” mentality I had used before.  This time I selected a light ash brown that may perhaps lessen the appearance of the gray highlights that have been making their presence known for several years now.  I expected the process to be as simple as it was 26 years ago but I read the instructions anyway and decided, just like then,  not to do the allergy test first.  I was ready to do this now and not 48 hours from now so I tossed the possibility of losing every strand of hair on my head to the wind and soon the “fun” began.

Due to the fact that I love to live on the edge at times and exhibit a bit too much confidence when it comes to not spilling things I opted to wear the white tank top I had on under my gray sweater.  I own a light ash brown top but I didn’t wear it.  Here’s bit of advice for you.  If you decide to color your own hair, wear a shirt that closely matches the project taking place on the top of your shoulders.  I didn’t….I should have.  I also decided to use the shower head on the hose thing to rinse out the dye rather than the kitchen sink when my 25 minutes had passed and that ended up being my second mistake.

I learned that they are right when they tell you the dye will sting if it gets in your eyes and that when letting go of the shower head on the hose thing while the water is running causes it to spin around in circles and I learned that laying the towel for your head on the edge of the tub when you’re wrestling a shower head on a hose thing is a bad idea if you want it to stay dry.  I learned that I could get completely undressed with one hand while the other was on the spinning shower head and that it is entirely possible to take a tank top off without taking it over your light ash brown, dye drenched head!

I’m all showered now and ready for bed.  My hair looks great and tomorrow, when I get the courage to enter the bathroom again I hope the light ash brown dye looks as good on the shower walls, the shower curtains, the floor, the towels, the rugs and the white tank top as it does on my silky smooth, luxurious hair!  It’s sort of a shame that no one will be here to tell me, “Hey Bev, I like your hair!  It matches your shower walls, shower curtains, the bathroom floor, the towels, the rugs and the spots on your white tank top!”