Dye, Dye My Darling

I hope you all like my photo-documentary posts, because you're about to get another one.

In case you missed the memo, Wednesday night was Hair Changing Night.

And I may have left out an important chunk of my hair history in my last post...

All through college, I cut my own hair. I got my hair cut to "fix" that self-haircut of mine around July 2002. The next professional haircut I had was in August 2005, if I remember correctly, and that was only because my mother insisted. And I've had a handful of haircuts since then. July 2006. November 2006. July 2007. February 2008.

The point is, I've cut my own hair in the past. And, frankly, I did a pretty good job for the most part.

Me with friends Laura and Grant in Rome, December 2003. I was still straightening my hair daily.

Anyway. Back to the story.

When I got to the salon on Wednesday, my stylist (Karen) and I discussed several possibilities (one of which including me having eyebrow-length bangs... I nixed that one early on. Bangs always seem like a good idea at the time...

The reason that I needed to mention cutting my own hair is that I experimented with bangs not too long ago. It was December of 2004. The night of my Directing Final (meaning that it was the performance of a play I had directed for class). Everything went wonderfully. And when I got back to my dorm room, I had an urge to grab some scissors and cut my hair. So I did.

I had always dreamt of having bangs like 99 on Get Smart. Not when she had the short hair, but when she had the long hair and her bangs fanned out from an upside-down V over her forehead. I thought they were awesome, but I never had the guts to go there. But that night, for some reason I threw caution to the wind.
Me with the 99-bangs, December 2004

The biggest flaw in this plan was not in the execution, but in that I had failed to recognize something crucial: 99 had straight hair. It didn't work out perfectly, as my hair is not straight. Despite this, I actually really liked the bangs at first. Sadly, they were not well-documented. Only two semi-decent pictures of that cut exist: that last one, and this next one (and even these aren't all that great).

At a Christmas party, being sassy. December 2004

Tragically, the awkward growing-out process was extremely well-documented.

One of many pictures I have where my bangs look this horrid. With friends Ashleigh, Crystal, and Monica. January 2005.

The point is, I think I've been permanently scared off of bangs as a result. I'd rather not risk it.

Anyway. Back to the story.

The "before" picture

Okay, so that's not a perfect "before" shot. Karen brushed out my curls before it was taken. But you get the idea.

All foiled up

I looked like a martian. Haha.

Half-bleached, half darkened

I didn't actually get to see this stage. Karen took this picture for me.

And now comes the big reveal...

After shot #1

After shot #2

Me with my stylist, Karen.

Pretty awesome, right? I feel like a total rock star.

Karen darkened up my base color significantly. Then she put in purple and red colors. To be honest, I'm not 100% sure what she did. All I know is that I dig it. And it's also fun to have my hair straight... I hope it still looks as fab once my hair is back to its original texture (I haven't washed it yet... I'm not supposed to... something about the color locking in?)



I loved test-driving it at work today. I got a lot of positive feedback.

And my coworker gave me perhaps the best compliment I could've gotten.

John: I like how it's so dark. It brings out how light your skin is.
Angela: Do I look like a vampire?
John: No, you look striking.

Allow me to quote my own post (Picture Perfect): "I wish I looked more... distinctive, I guess. I would love to be "striking"."

Ha! Success!

*SNAP*

Um, yeah. Have I mentioned that I love my new hair? Because I do. I'm sort of obsessed with it.



I'm thrilled. Effing brill move on my part. I was born to have weird hair. Oh! And now I can check one more thing off of my list of things to do before I die: Dye my hair an unnatural color. Yee-haw!


May you be brave enough to change.

~A~


P.S. As long as I have my Hair-Themed playlist up, listen to "As a Blonde" by Fefe Dobson. I LOVE that song, and it was what inspired me to dye my hair in the first place.

P.P.S. The title of this post is the episode of Daria in which Jane tries to dye her hair to match her painting, "The Lady or the Tiger". And if you caught that, you win major points in my book.