Friday Hair Day

We have colds so I didn’t feel like hiking today. Instead I played hairdresser with my hair and the kids hair.

I resent hairdressers. I put hairdressers in a certain category of people that have a very specific skill set and overcharge for their services. Things like plumbers and mechanics are in the category too. I feel like what they do isn’t anything exceptionally special--anyone can do if they just learn how. That it’s not as much about having great skill as just knowing how to go about it. And I really don’t like over-paying for something I can do my self. That’s why I don’t like going to Olive Garden, but that’s a post for another day.

Anyway. I am trying to learn how to do the things a hair dresser does on my own. Besides using my own hair and my family as guinea pigs to practice, I watch lots of you tube videos. I read articles. There’s lots of warnings to go to a professional that irritate me.

I cut both kids hair today. Honestly, I feel like I’ve done a better job on past hair cuts, in fact I feel like they look lousy, but I refuse to be hard on myself because I’m just learning. Poor kids.

I have being trying to grow Jackson’s hair out a bit, but have really struggled with how to cut his hair a longer length. His hair doesn’t “stay down” and I think it would have to be really long for it to look okay, which I don’t really go for the really long hair on boys look. Boys should look like boys! (And girls should look like girls…) I ended up using clippers and give him a short cut today. Ironically, I made  Annie look like a boy. I was going for a sort of bob/pixie cut thing. I don’t want her to have bangs, but her hair is just refusing to create a part and so the hair falls forward and she has hair in her eyes constantly. So I relented and cut her bangs—I will be letting these grow out. (In my defense with Annie, she was running around for half the time so I was getting a cut in when I could.)

Before (obviously)

After

 

 

Before

After

 

Then there’s my hair. I’ve had  been dye-free for several years but then my hair had dulled and I had too many white hairs. I’ve been dying it various shades of ash (dark ash brown, medium ash brown, dark ash blonde) to try and control the red/oranges that my hair just LOVES to hold on to. There dyes are supposed to wash out after 4 weeks, but they don’t on my hair.  After a year of doing demi permanent dyes every month,  I have a build of red in my hair. I’ve tried clarifying shampoo (head and shoulders) which helps a little, but I realized that I need something more powerful to lift this color out. After HOURS of research  and reading lots of “go to a professional”, but also lots of  success by people that tried it and tips how to do it. I got “Color opps”, which is meant for people that want to go back to their natural hair color (or closer). It works on permament and semipermament dyes, but it is not bleaching. I used the product once today, but I’m not finished. I may need to do it again and then I might put highlights in my hair depending on how it looks when it’s done. Here’s Before:

 

Before (Dark Orange color, tips are very dark)

 

After (Light Orange!!!)

 

I think the light in the bathroom make it look worse. It looks like I peroxided my hair. Which I guess makes sense. The product was supposed to remove artificial color—all artificial color, even ones that make your hair darker, have peroxide in them. I’m intrigued by having lighter hair again because I’ve always fancied myself a blonde. I’m going to have work on it a little more without hopefully a trip to the dreaded hairstylist, which would be even worse then usual because then she’d get to say/think “so you tried it on your own, did you? how did that work out for you?”