I’ve been wanting to dye my hair pink for as long as I can remember. During my high school days, my friend Melinda had pink panels, and my friend James had blue tips. I wanted to combine the two and have pink tips so badly, but I couldn’t because I was in the choir. Then I started working during my senior year and since then I have never had a job where pink hair was considered acceptable. I still don’t. It turns out law enforcement representatives don’t take you very seriously when your head resembles a Rainbow Brite character.
So when I realized I would be away from work for two weeks for our honeymoon, I had a lightbulb moment. I should get those pink tips I’ve been dreaming about for 20 years! I could just cut my hair when the vacation is over, which I would probably do anyway because I like having short hair for summer.
First I asked some friends how easy it would be to do at home, and since this would be my first time working with bleach, I nixed that idea right away.
Then I called around to some local salons for pricing, and was told it could be anywhere from $75-$125! Yikes! That’s a serious investment for two weeks time.
I normally get my hair cut at my local Supercuts but I didn’t totally trust them for coloring. Still, I stopped in while out on a run just to ask about it. The person who helped me had bleached and colored hair herself and immediately put me at ease. She told me that aside from her own hair, she has bleached and dyed several peoples’ hair. She told me pink tips were common. She went over all the color options with me, how the process would work and pricing, which was $65. That still seemed really expensive to me but I totally trusted this girl (Courtney) so I made an appointment with her.
I went right after work on Friday to get my hair colored. She braided my hair into two braids, tied them off with rubber bands, and applied bleach to the ends. She kept coming back to check the progress and applying more bleach. After one hour, my hair had barely lightened! Courtney told me it was light enough to work; I was really skeptical but I had to trust Courtney’s expertise.
Next she applied the dye and we let it sit for about 20 minutes, and then rinse. Moment of truth!
I knew things were going well when all the other stylists came over to see and started going, “ooooooh!” and “That’s SO pretty!” I couldn’t wait to see! She showed me how it looked wet but it was difficult to see. When I was back in the chair she began drying my hair and I could see my hair flying around in the mirror, and as my hair dried the pink got lighter and lighter. Everyone around me was still ooh-ing and aaah-ing. When my hair was dry, I had to sit while everyone took pictures of the back of my head, before I could even see it for myself!
When I finally was allowed to get up and look at my hair, I was in love! It wasn’t the shade I had in mind when I walked in, but it was the perfect pink. It looked amazing!
And, bonus, Courtney told me she used less supplies than anticipated so my total was only $40! I gave her a big tip.
I’m so happy with my pink hair. I feel like a new me has been released, someone who has been suppressed for years. This is the “real” Mindy!
Oh, by the way? We leave tomorrow for our honeymoon!! I am going to try to update the blog with quick messages and pictures whenever we can find wifi. So, maybe every day, or maybe never. Oh, the suspense! Regardless, I’ll be back in a couple weeks! Adios, Au Revoir, and Ciao!
