(Self Acclaimed) Fashionista, Nerd, & Foodie: Red Haired Wannabe

Every girl wants the hair that they don't have. I'm no exception. Growing up my mother had red hair (it was dyed, but still.. Red hair), my paternal grandfather also had a beautiful shade of red hair. Me - I had dirty blonde hair with natural highlights (it was pretty, but boring).

But being a girl... I wanted what I didn't have. I wanted natural red hair. Now I know that my hair wasn't going to naturally just turn red but I tried to urge it along. I bought John Freida's Radiant Red Shampoo and Condition thinking this would help (it's not even a color depositing system but for some reason I thought it would help).. It made my hair very soft and shiny but of course it didn't make it any redder.

Being 24 years old and having virgin hair is almost unheard of, so I dying my hair was a terrifying thought. People were always saying "why don't you just dye it?" when I would talk about my longing for red hair. I am typically a very low maintenance person and don't like a lot of up keep. I wake up in the morning, run a brush through my hair and quickly straighten my bangs. I go to the hair salon about every 4 to 5 months for a simple cut and thats it. My fear with dying my hair was that I would have to get it done every eight weeks or so, and I didn't want that kind of commitment.

Flash forward to a Thursday morning in May - I was at work and I realized it had been almost 6 months since I had my hair cut. My ends were dry and brittle and needed some desperate attention. I called the salon where I have been seeing the same stylist for almost twelve years (that's right - I've been going to her since I was 12 years old), and asked if Terri had any appointments for that afternoon - of course they didn't. But they said a stylist named Kim had a last minute cancellation and would be able to get me in that evening. I am very loyal to Terri (as you can imagine since I've been seeing her for 12 years), so allowing a new person to touch my hair was a terrifying thought but I figured why not, its just a cut after all. Now, I don't know what came over me next but all I can think is that I was being influenced by the women I work with... the next thing I know, myself and the other girls I work with are looking at pictures of beautiful red hair on Pinterest. My thought: a girl can dream right (I didn't think I'd ever have the guts to actually do it). I saved a few pictures on my phone and kept looking at them throughout the day. I was slowing falling in love with this idea but still wasn't completely sold yet. The girls at work suggested just getting some highlights with these colors put into my hair to figure out if I liked it before I fully committed to going red. This is a fantastic idea, I thought.

I arrived at the salon that evening and Kim greeted me with a cheerful smile. I told her what I wanted for a hair cut - I like keeping my hair long so I only wanted her to take off the dry dead ends and give it a simple cut of long layers with a little bit of an angle in the front. Then before I knew what I was doing, I said, "So I've been thinking of getting some red put into my hair". Kim's response: "Oh my god you have to do it. That would look amazing on you." I proceeded to show her pictures of what I was thinking, as her excitement grew, so did mine. She said that she had done these similar colors on herself and she absolutely loved it. Of course she wasn't going to be able to do it that evening, but said she would look to see what was available coming up. I told her I just wanted to get some highlights put in to see if I liked it first but she urged me to just go full on and do my whole head because she knew I would be thrilled with the result.

I made an appointment for the color for the very next day.

When I emerged from the salon the following day with my new red hair, I felt like a new person. The beautiful, natural shade of red made my green eyes pop. The color complimented my pale skin. Everything about it was perfect. It was a dramatic change but not too drastic.
Now, I'm not going to lie.. I was super nervous about the upkeep (when I got home the night before I think I read every article on Google about red hair). Like I said, I am not very consistent with my hair so I had my reservations about what the upkeep was going to be.
I read online a ton of things about how red hair fades the fastest out of any other color. This is because of the molecules in the dye are more easily broken down. During my appointment I told Kim that this was s a concern of mine. She was encouraging and said the shade she chose for me was going to fade very well and that when my hair started growing out that my roots would not be drastic.
I did everything in my power to keep my new beautiful red hair the perfect shade that it was. I bought L'Oeal Anti Fade Shampoo and Conditioner to keep the color from stripping out . I only wash my hair every other day or every third day if I can. And I don't use any heat products on it (bye-bye straightener for me). Maybe it's what I am doing to help preserve the color, but I will admit to this day - Kim was right - this shade fades beautifully.
I have now been a red head for almost six months and I don't see an end in sight. I thought I was going to have a problem committing to going to the salon every 8 weeks to get it redyed (I have been going about every 10 weeks and the color is still fine), but I now find myself looking forward to these appointments.
I get more compliments on my hair than I ever had in the past. When I say it's not my natural color people are very surprised (I've stopped telling people it's not my real color because apparently it looks natural enough). Since my first appointment I have let Kim experiment slightly - going brighter red and then trying more copper tones - I've realized I love it all.

The only thing I would change about my red hair is not getting it sooner!