In Search of My Roots

I was born blonde. I think of myself as blonde. But, they truth is, that for many of us childhood blondes, staying blonde requires a lot of chemical help. It's expensive, damaging to the hair and probably not healthy to keep up with the maintenance of blonde. The reason we want to stay blonde is that our hair darkens to a non-descript, dull color that is no longer blonde but not rich enough or dark enough for brunette. I saw Chris Rock interviewed on Oprah and he asked Ali Wentworth about her natural color. She shuddered in horror when they showed a high school photograph. Same problem as me.

In order for my hair to look good, I need to highlight and straighten it which I don't do often. So, I have expensively highlighted hair pulled back in a pony tail. I'm starting to wonder what's the point of it all.

Last week or so I threatened to shave my head. As is usually the case when I threaten my hair, for the next few days, it looked really good to me. I think that is the power of denial. Then, I started thinking that shaving my head would be the best way, a fresh start, a chance to become acquainted with my natural hair color again (oh, the horrors of that thought!). Thankfully, some friends talked me out of it and after seeing another friend with a similar problem, I decided to try an alternative solution: going dark. My friend had an all-over base color and then added back in a lot of highlights. The results are much more natural that before. I decided to go dark and stay dark. I did put a few small highlights in the front, but now, I will await the emergence of my natural color (as long as I can stand it). I'll probably still have it in a pony tail a lot more than anyone over the age of 12 should, but at least I'll be saving money. Here it is: