"Hair is terribly personal, a tangle of mysterious prejudices"

[naomi_jay]

So, I was just speaking to a hairdresser on the phone about going from reddish brown to blonde, and the words "bleach bath" came up. Now, I knew it wasn't going to be straightforward, but the idea of bleaching my hair makes me cringe a little. I don't want it to end up orange. Or fall out. Basically I need to go into the salon so they can get a look at my hair and decide the best way forward. Since my hair is currently a terrible mess, I suspect this will involve all kinds of arcane processes such as strand tests and them telling me I can't have the colour I want and encouraging me to settle for some hideous blonde-brown mash-up. (That has happened to me before. I looked the chavviest).

My hair desperately needs some TLC. At the moment I dye it myself because I can't afford to have it done professionally every time my roots start peeking through. Hair care in Cambridge is stupidly expensive. I'm pretty sure it's a good year since I last had it cut, because, again, it's expensive to get it done professionally, and I haven't exactly had money to throw around recently. Besides that, I'm terrified of putting my hair in the hands of a stranger.

I know! But I'm a freak like that. My hair is my shield against the world; the experience of watching someone chop it off is harrowing. So much of how I feel about myself is tied into how I feel about my hair. I like having it dark and long, and I like my fringe when it's ever so slightly too long; that's when I feel I look most like myself. The decision to go blonde is based purely on laziness: my natural hair colour is white, and I'm fed up of having to redo my roots every six weeks to avoid skunk-head. I've also got loads of nasty split ends which need getting rid of, and the whole mess could do with a bit of proper shaping, all of which means the trip to the salon is inevitable.

I guess I'll mosey on down on Saturday and see what the verdict is. They might say it can't be done, in which case I'll just settle for a decent hair cut and maybe some highlights. Or I might dye it all black and get them to put blue streaks in and then get fired from my job. Win?

Comments

[dwg.livejournal.com]

I don't know if you can get it your way, but over here there's a mousse that's got a mild bleach in it, and it works as a leave-in conditioner. It takes about two or so weeks to really get results, but it's a gradual process and you can get a mousse that's suited to your hair (ie, you can get a lightener if you have black hair that will take you to a mid-brown, there's a brown mousse to take you to a dark blonde, and for REALLY DRAMATIC BLEACH there's a superblonde that I never had the heart to try) -- it worked for me when I was growing out my bright red Agent Scully hair and took me to a nice sorta honey colour. I *think it's by Sunsilk? It's great because you can control how much or how little you want to use.

I have no idea if it'd be of use, but it might be worth looking into?

[naomi-jay.livejournal.com]

That sounds pretty ideal. I'll have to check it out - we do get Sunsilk over here, so we should have something along those lines. Thanks!

[etaknosnhoj.livejournal.com]

Was it you I was telling about the Body Shop hair mask thing? The Brazil nut one. It's the awesomest. I know I've told someone about it recently.

During one of my many salon visits over the last year, going from brunette to redhead to blonde, I had a 'colour stripper' applied to take some of the dye out. Apparently this was less damaging than bleach (but smelled bloody awful). Then I had highlights. Then some more...

I'm madly jealous that you have white hair. Mine is such a none-colour I have to keep dying it wacky shades so I don't die of boredom every time I look in the mirror.

(And my vote is for the black and blue, BTW)

[naomi-jay.livejournal.com]

Yes, you did! I need to pick some up next time I'm in town. My hair needs all the help it can get.

Everyone tells me I should just grow the dye out and have the white hair, but I'm too impatient. The only way I could do it would be to shave all my hair off and start again, which ... is untenable.