A LONG story about short hair

After more than a year of contemplation, I finally got sick enough of the eternal pony tail that I did it!

Aaaahhh! So easy, so cool, so SHORT, so stress free! Then I decided I'd like it even better with a few highlights and since the number of "sparkly hairs"(as my little girls call them) is increasing by the day, I thought maybe it would be a good idea to color all the hair just my normal color and THEN add the highlights.

Now, you have to understand that I grew up with a mother who was a wizard with hair! She, trimmed, permed, cut and colored every head in the house (Except our very particular father.) thus instilling in me a great aversion to actually PAYING for anyone else to do my hair so...Guess what! They actually carry boxes of such hair color combinations with color and highlights at my local Walmart! Lucky me, right?!

Well, not especially lucky after all, 'cause the hair color turned out maroon and the highlights were red. --Not even close to my style!

I scoured the internet for ways to remedie the color catastrophe and then I tried them ALL.

I started with simply washing it with hot water, then washing it with dandruff shampoo and hot water, then dish soap and hot water, then bathing my head with hot extra virgin olive oil, and even washing with a mixture of baking soda and shampoo. All of this served only to soften the color a little -as seen here. There were only two other suggestions: Color Oops stripper (for sale at any store carrying home hair color) or admit my defeat and call a real cosmetologist.

So Color Oops it was and....

... YIKES! I looked like a pumpkin!

Luckily the instructions did indicate that the stripper would not restore me to my natural color as I had supposed and prepared me for something much more hideous, but I was still shocked.

I was grateful I'd seen the sidenote on the box that indicated my hair could be REcolored immediately after applying Color Oops and I'd purchased yet another box of hair color - of a more desireable shade for that very purpose.

The finished product is much better - though all of that doing-it-myself took quite a toll (It feels much more like straw than hair) AND I still don't have those highlights I was going for in the first place.

Oh well. After some added trimming and styling I really love the cut itself and - ya know- with hair this short, all of that nasty "straw" will be grown out and cut off pretty soon and then...

I can start all over!