depth
Recently, and out of nowhere, several strangers have complimented me on the depth of my hair color.* While I appreciate them, these accolades surprise and amuse me for a few reasons. The first is that I pretty much wing it when it comes to selecting where to place highlights, so for them to turn out looking normal is quite a feat. That their arrangement creates the illusion of depth in my thin, fine hair is borderline-miraculous.
The second reason is that my hair-coloring routine is worse than amateur. It takes a good 2.5-3 hours to do four foils and one all-over color. The foils are a complete joke: clumsily folded, bulky, and I’ll be honest, sometimes I actually use Reynolds instead of Spilo. It’s sturdier.
After the application and processing time, of course, comes rinsing, shampoo, conditioner, and ph-balancing lotion. Then I apply a demi-permanent color to the hair that was just highlighted, to even out the blond and soften the shade. That has to process for another 35 minutes, after which comes more rinsing, cleaning, conditioning, and balancing. At this point we’re going on about four hours of time spent on changing the color of my hair.
I justify the time and effort I devote to coloring my hair in terms of money. The supplies I buy online are staggeringly inexpensive compared to what’s available at drug stores and to what it costs for color at a salon. And the color and developer I buy are professional grade, unlike the boxed coloring systems at Walgreens.
I realize that salon prices factor in the speed with which the colorist works as well as her or his skill. The ambiance of the salon is also something to consider, as is the fact that someone else does all the work, and there is no clean-up afterward. Still, at this point in my life, the value of these features is significantly less than $120, which is about the going rate for a couple of highlights and one or two all-over colors. So, every once in awhile, I spend a Tuesday evening or Saturday afternoon in the bathroom, painting my head and hoping for the best.
*Depth not well-represented in photos. Sorry.