Dying my hair is one my favorite things to do. I love being able to change my hair color, and (usually) love the way it looks. However, there are some inevitable struggles that come with dying my hair. Maybe someone of you can relate:
1. Bleach.
It itches, and it feels like it takes forever. If you leave it on too long, it wrecks your hair. Not on long enough: it doesn't let you get to the color you need. If only there was a magical way to stop bleach once it got to the perfect color. Still, when you do get it right, it looks so awesome.
2. Hair dye gets everywhere.
Hair dye gets everywhere, and I mean everywhere. In my personal experience I've gotten it on the sink, my hands, shoulders, feet, and even on my bra (although I was wearing a shirt and a cape so how that happened I have no idea). It somehow has a way of getting to the strangest places, and staining it. While this may make a cool tie-dye design on whatever it does stains (depending on what colors you use), getting it out can be a massive hassle.
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3. "I'd never be brave enough to dye my hair that color."
I lost track of the number of times people have stopped me on the street, at work, or to talk to me in elevators when I have headphones on, or who introduced themselves with this phrase "I'd never be brave enough to dye my hair that color." I have no idea how to respond to it, even though it's been said to me a million times. What does that even mean? It doesn't really have to do with bravery, and I don't really know why you felt the need to stop me and tell me this. It is kind of uncomfortable.
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4. Cost.
Dying your hair is expensive, more so if you go to a salon or someone professional to get it done. Budgeting for hair dye is something I have no problem doing, but for other people it can be a struggle. The more often you change colors, the more often you may have to bleach your hair, adding to the cost. Dye can range at minimum from $8-$10 to much more.
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5. Time.
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6. "What's your natural hair color?"
I honestly don't know why people ask this question, and usually it's people who I don't even know. It isn't really upsetting, just annoying and irrelevant. Personally, I know mine is in the brown family, but I've been dying it so long, I don't remember the exact shade, and my colored hair now feels more natural to me than the brown ever did.
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7. Finding real color safe shampoo.
Since there aren't a lot of strict regulations on what is defined as color-safe, pretty much the label can be slapped onto any bottle. Color-safe means sulfate-free, and if it isn't sulfate-free, it isn't color-safe. I've wasted a lot of time and money buying shampoo that ended up not being color-safe, having to redye my hair more often, and watching it fade faster than it should have.
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8. Never being quite sure of the color outcome.
While color theory is helpful in creating art, as a general guide, with hair dye it is basically a guessing game. Sure, there is a pretty good chance of it coming out the right color, or as a similar color as it should, but really it is a bit of a guessing game. Color theory in a lot of ways goes right out the window because of the way hair dye chemicals interact. Still, guessing can be kind of fun, right?
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9. Changing hair colors.
Picking a new hair color can be a lot of fun, but also a little bit stressful. I get worried about whether or not it'll look good on me, but the best thing about hair dye is you can change it again. Yay! The biggest concern for me when changing hair colors though is, will I be able to get my hair back to a blonde so the color comes out closer to the way its supposed to. That can be a pain, but hey, it's still so much fun.
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10. Finding a job where you don't have to change your hair color.
The obvious answer for a lot of people here is just to dye it a color that a company would approve of. While I agree that takes two things: time and money. You basically have to spend part of your first paycheck before you receive it on attempting to get a job based on hair color. In reality, this comes from a classist point of view (people who dye their hair funky colors or have tattoos are often looked down upon) by employers, and is hopefully something that will be changing in a few years.
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For me, these are the 10 issues that I have when dying my hair. I love hair dye, and I love dying my hair, but everything has its downsides. At least it's fun!