Not that I had incredibly long hair. Ever since I cut it to my shoulders my senior year of high school, I've maintained different lengths and versions of a bob. But I know that with this process, I might have to venture into pixie territory. Thankfully, a pixie cut has also always been on my bucket list (not that I plan on kicking the bucket any time soon), but a round face and short body have always held me back.
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| My hair before the chop |
I know, I know, I was not practicing what I was preaching. Every day I tell women who sit in my chair, that there is a short haircut for everyone. No matter what your face shape, there is a way to counter balance what you consider to be your flaws. But something about actually following my own advice scared the sh$t out of me.
Emotionally, the past 12 months have been taxing on me for personal reasons, and I think I just finally came to the point where I wanted to chop it off as part of a cleanse. I knew my husband had nightmares about short hair, and I jokingly used to tease him that I was going to cut it all off, and he begged me not to. However, about a month ago, I put the feelers out there to him mentioning that I was feeling the desire to go short, and he said to do whatever made me happy. WHAT? Who was this alien in place of my husband? I felt that he was probably just tired of seeing me sad about certain things, and was willing to say anything to make me happy, but I decided not to dwell on it, and run with his blessing!
When I got to the salon that I work at, all ready for my color appointment with two trusted coworkers, I knew I was in for a rough day. My natural hair color is a medium to light brown. I had about two inches of regrowth (roots), and the ends of my hair had layer upon layer of dark color, highlights, toners, keratin treatments, blah blah blah. So, the only way to get to my desired icy hue was what we call in the hair industry, a double process. This means that were bleaching my entire head- roots to ends. Normally this has a slightly tingling effect on the scalp. Not pleasant, but tolerable.
I've known from past experiences with bleaching clients hair that when the bleach would touch my arm, I'd get a small hive, but it would always go away in five minutes, so I wasn't worried.
As the colorist finished applying the bleach to my head, she placed a cap on top to keep the heat from my scalp enclosed, which helps with lightening. I started to feel a tingle, but I expected that.
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| No turning back! |
I went to the back room where staff usually goes for breaks, and I decided to wait in there while I had a snack. 30 minutes into processing, a few coworkers came into the room and told me that my face was bright red. I went to look in the mirror, and not only were my face and chest bright red, but they also began to look incredibly swollen. Thankfully it was already time for my hair to get washed out, so we did that quickly. Normally after lightening the roots, they tend to look very yellow, and need a toner to neutralize the color to make it a pretty pale blonde. However, since I was having such a reaction, we decided to let my other coworker cut my hair first to give my body a break.
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| hives on my arms |
I took a benedryl while the stylist was cutting my hair, but I was feeling extremely light headed, nauseous, and my hearing was feeling very muffled. I excused myself from her chair and speed walked to the bathroom, where I unfortunately threw up. After that, I felt a bit better. The redness in my face went away, the swelling went down, and the hives on my arms disappeared. Sounds attractive, right?
At this point I wasn't even paying attention to her cutting my hair. We went with a versatile pixie cut that I could wear rough and messy, or smooth and sleek. As a group, we decided to wait to tone my hair until the next day, so I had to go home looking a little yellow, which I HATE.
The next morning when I came in I felt a lot better so we put an ash toner on it to cancel out the yellow. Usually with double processes, when you tone the hair, it might look a little greyish/purplish/blueish for a couple of days because the hair is so porous that it really absorbs the toner. And boy did my hair absorb! My hair had a violet tint a-la Kelly Osborne, and coworkers began to lovingly call me Jack Frost.
Luckily, in my own weird brain, I'd rather be blue for a few days, knowing that in a couple of washes it's going to be the perfect shade of platinum, than have it be egg yolk yellow.
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| We're twinsies |
Finally after three shampoos, I was beginning to see my desired color. As for the haircut, it felt like freedom! I think it took a few days for my hair to come out of shock, and for friends to get used to my new look. But day by day, I was getting more compliments on it. Before doing this, my insecurities told me that I was going to feel like a short, fat boy. To my surprise, I've never felt sexier! There is something so amazing about having your neck exposed. Not to mention having the short hair has kept me motivated to eat healthy and keep the exercise going.
I actually LOVE my hair now. Every day I learn a new way to style it. If you asked me the day I colored my hair if I'd ever do a double process again, I would say no way jose! Not with what I went through! But as the weeks pass by, I am beginning to forget the discomfort more and more. It's like my friends say- right after they give birth, they swear it will be their only child. But once you realize how happy you are with the outcome, you kind of forget the pain. Not that I think an allergic reaction to bleach is as difficult as childbirth, I'm just saying that the human brain has a very selective memory when it comes to pain. Maybe just next time I will pop the benedryl first!
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