For the past few weeks, I’ve been asked by several folks if I was under the weather or not feeling well.
And, for me, it’s a strange sort of segue into conversation but at the same time it left me wondering if I was looking all of my late 30s finally.
Come to find out, it wasn’t something that bad – not that my age really bothers me!
But, a handful of concerned people clarified their inquiries by asking why I hadn’t been sporting my signature unnatural hair colors for a while.
You know, the intense violet or denim blue that I’ve had at my disposal for several years and routinely switched back and forth depending on my mood and box dye availability.
To be fair, I’d only ever gone without such shocking hair whenever I’d been hospitalized or laid up with some illness in the past – so I can see why they’re making such an assumption.
All it really boils down to is that unfortunately, my luck finally struck out and both of the specific types of box dye I use have been discontinued in those colors.
Don’t get me wrong, those are dang near my signature colors, so I’ve been scouring the internet for any remaining boxes at a reasonable price!
On the other hand, my sister Ashlee thinks I should give up the boxes and mix my own colors via Sally Beauty Supply’s aisle of boxes.
My problem is that I prefer the boxes because I know how my hair reacts to them and don’t’ have to do any measuring – I just add the pre-marked and packaged ingredients in the provided applicator bottle and just go to town all over my head.
Her method involves measuring and mostly mixing the color solution in a bowl then applying with a brush – all of which sounds like more work to me!
So, I’ve spent some time trying to explore other options and not getting too depressed at how fast I’m running out of possibilities.
I’m not sure if this is a problem shared by others who dye their hair as often as I do or if I’m just out of my luck due to my preferences for outlandish and bright colors.
Sporting the wacky hair has always drawn attention and in my profession sometimes not all of it is favorable.
However, I use it to help focus children on myself when taking photos so that I can get as many faces smiling in my direction as possible.
And so far, it’s worked out fairly well even when I let a few kids touch it to see if it is real or fake to the touch and they always seem to get more excited when they find out it’s attached to my head.
Any other incidental pushback or snide comments from adults are met with a shrug.
Sometimes I think it’s a generational thing where someone’s preconceived notions on how I “should” look when I’m working crash into my belief that as long as I’m doing my job to the best of my ability, then I’ll dress myself accordingly to the specific situation I’m in at that time.
Besides, I rather think that my hair is fun and has no true detrimental effect on my job performance, let alone an indicator of my health.
Even then, once this round of color fades, you may see me testing out something else – probably teal or reverting back to my favorite color in high school – random shades of red.
