Wednesday, December 2, 2009. Total color change

Us ladies get bored from time to time or just have those moments when it feels right to make a big change.  That’s how I was feeling today when I visited Dairdre for my hair appointment.  I have been rocking the blond highlights for a while and just wanted to do something completely different.  Prior to the day of my appointment, Dairdre called to verify the services that I wanted to have done, something  I really appreciate because it ultimately benefits both of us in terms of alotting the appropriate amount of time for appointments.  On the day of my appointment, Dairdre really helped me through visualizing the change that I wanted to make.  Her consultation time included talking to me about how I was feeling emotionally/mentally as well as thumbing through magazines to look at different colors.  I knew that I wanted to change to something simpler, no highlights but more of a patch of color.  That’s about where my ability to visualize ends and I trust in Dairdre to help fill in the rest.

As an artist as well, Dairdre is good with helping me visualize alternatives that I may not have considered.  We chose 2 colors, basically black with a red/brown splash of color in the very front.  It’s funny because I used to just like highlights and not the patch of color, and Dairdre remembered that, but I assured her that I was ready to go in that direction.  I also clarified that the color in the front did not have to be perfectly formed.  She detailed the service on services form which also included an eyebrow wax.  Then, together we negotiated the exact area for the color and Dairdre went back to mix.

So here are the before photos that I took at the salon.

BEFORE

It was the photo taken of the very top of my head below that helped me realize how badly I needed to clean up the color anyway.  I’m not sure how clear it shows up in the photo, but I had at least 4 colors mixed in my hair over time and one of those colors had an orange hue.

Below was taken at home before I left.  From this view, you can see that all of the highlights were strictly on the front and topy of my hair and the very back was mostly a single color.  This is close to the color we chose to do all over (very close to my natural hair color).

AFTER

Dairdre did her magic along with the help of another stylist who finished applying the all around dark color.  She didn’t use what she referred to as a filler (I liken it to applying paint primer so you get an even application of new color), and that decision was kind of experimental.  She said by not applying any filler, the previously highlighted areas would show a slightly ligher tone giving depth and visual interest.

Here’s a photo taken the same day when I got home.

Here are photos taken a few days later, in the morning, and without any product applied.

IMPRESSIONS

I was really happy with the change.  I had a vague vision and relied on Dairdre to do the rest so there was not a particular expectation I had in mind.  The all around color turned out jet black which was darker than I expected but I liked the drama in contrast to all of the blond highlights that I had before.  Initially, as you can see in the photo taken right after I left the salon, the front color didn’t seem dramatically contrasting enough, but as I have washed it, the color has become a lot lighter and actually a lot less red.  I’m always getting on black people for putting red in their hair, but I kind of like the notion of having that highlight more red than the chocolate tone it has today.  That’s something I might play with the next time I color.

One thing that I wasn’t expecting was my shedding of color.  I hadn’t experienced that before.  The morning after my appointment, when applying conditioner, I looked at the shower curtain and could see gray drops of water from the hair color shedding.  Also, for next couple of weeks, the hair color was bleeding on things like my pillows.  In hindsight, I wish I knew to expect that so it didn’t alarm me (I wasn’t worried, though) and so I could make sure to be diligent about tying all of my hair up at night in a silk cap so I wouldn’t get hair dye on pillows.  I had been traveling right after and sleeping on white pilllows so it just concerned me as to whether the color that leaked on the pillows would come out in the wash.

I’m super happy with the shape of my hair right now.  The other day, I ran across the last photo I took before visiting Dairdre.  My hair was long but it had absolutely no shapre or style to it.  I’m having fun with this length when I can really rock an afro or apply more product and tone it down a bit.

I did not cut my hair this round and I don’t want to cut it any time soon.  It’s only because I want to grow my hair out and it grows so slowly that I have always found that cutting it too frequently yields the reverse (my hair ends up shorter).  Dairdre and I went back and forth about this for a while, and I’m sure we will continute to do so, but I’m sticking to my guns this time with hair trims/cuts.  I have challenged her, in a way, to continue caring for my hair while letting it grow, something that none of my previous hairstylists have seemed to do.  I don’t care about the ends because you can’t see them when I wear my hair natural, plus I’ve read that trimming split ends and such doesn’t really affect hair health as much as it does the look.  Again, I get it, if I were wearing my hair in straight styles and wanted it to look full and sharp, but that’s not the case.

We’ll just have to let that play out in future blog posts.  Even though I detailed some of my reservations here, I have genuinely happy with my look.

Cost:  I don’t think I remember off-hand.  Maybe $125 plus $15 for the eyebrow wax.  The color cost is an approximation.

JUST FOR KICKS

Here’s a quick reminder of my before/after at my very first appointment with Dairdre.  Looking at the before photo in particular, you can really see Dairdre’s ability to get color and cut just right.