When I sat down to Christmas dinner with my family, I didn’t expect my upcoming hair
appointment to become the hot topic it turned out to be. My golden blonde hair has a
lot of natural red highlights, and I don’t think the red complements my fair and peachy
complexion. So, I planned to get highlights and maybe dye my hair a little darker. To
me, it was no big deal. Hair is fun to play with, and it grows back. I was surprised by
my aunt’s response, “Why don’t you just love and accept what God gave you?” She didn't
understand my hair color transformation desire. Her comment left me wondering, is changing
my hair color an example of self-expression or is it a form of self-rejection?
My consultation with my hair stylist only left me more confused. “You have such beautiful
hair, leave it alone, because if you die your hair you will forever have to die your hair.” He
explained, “No one is ever ok with the root line that comes with growing out dyed hair.”
Instead, he suggested I add blonde highlights to diffuse the reddish ones, because there’s
less maintenance with highlighting than dying hair. Even though I understood his point, I’m not
sure going blonder will complement my skin tone either. The last thing I want to do is spend
money to damage my hair and still feel unsatisfied. Maybe my aunt was right? Afterall, red
hair is kind of in.
It seems everyone I talk to has a different opinion, and most have some hair color horror
story. I had no idea that there were so many hair color options for blonde hair. As I researched
the topic, I stumbled upon a Teen Vogue article I thought others might also find helpful. If you,
like me, are considering dying or highlighting your hair, there are some things you can do to
make sure you are happy with the outcome: know what you want and bring a few pictures,
be flexible, share your hair coloring history, be prepared to buy new products, consider
starting with a smaller change (like highlights), and try a wig first. My hair stylist also suggests
making sure you understand the time and money required to keep up with the maintenance
of whatever you choose to do.
Update: I decided to highlight my hair and tone the blonde to a color that works for me
Maybe both can be true? You could live what God gave you and be confident it perfectly matches your complexion and still have fun playing with self-expression. Pause and notice what choice you are making beautiful! From the Aunt who loves you so much!