I began coloring my hair when I was 11. My mom asked if I wanted to put blue streaks in at the salon, and I was like DUH let’s do that. Then it was red streaks. Then I was using a box at home to go from dark blonde to a golden blonde. This went on for YEARS. I never liked having roots, so I dyed my hair every six weeks for most of my adolescence.
Like with any good addiction, eventually what you’ve been doing isn’t enough.
Why stick with Revlon Colorstay in Golden Blonde when there’s that whole bottom shelf of PLATINUMS?
So when I was 17, I went all the way to white blonde.
That’s my brother Tom and me in a park in Waikiki (that’s how we dressed then). Guess how often THAT color hair needs to be re-dyed?
Every two weeks.
Guess how long hair can stay healthy when you bleach it every two weeks?
I turned my hair lavender from overdyeing, since there was no pigment left. I had an emergency salon visit, and my hairdresser told me it was dark brown or my hair would fall out. So I became a brunette for the first time in my life.
Of course, given how much time I spent outside in Hawaii, it faded pretty quickly.
I had no idea what to do with faded out brown hair after so many years of taking a bottle to my hair every time I didn’t like it. I spent the next few months with a close approximation to my natural color (although really, who knows? My baby pictures show me with the white blonde hair I so love).
After six months, I convinced my hair stylist to take me back to golden blonde. It was great to be blonde again.
But if you’ve ever seen Intervention, you know how this goes.
I relapsed.
I took my hair lighter and lighter that year. We moved to Texas! I had to be blonder. And blonder.
Until finally, I was forced to go dark brown to save my hair again.
The cycle continued for another two years after that, including fire-engine red hair and the lightest blonde I had ever achieved. That is for Part 2 of my hair story.
🙂
TAYLOR DOROTHY 