What DO I Wear?!?!? What DID I DO?!?!

“I always feel good after I change my hair. You get a haircut and feel positive and ready to take on the day.” ~ Kirstin Maldonado

Always a Jetsetting Blonde 

If you follow my Instagram you are already prepared for the major, drastic, take a deep breath, no actually take a gazillion, life shattering change I just did.

Okay. Yes. I am being a tad dramatic. And by a tad, I mean I am being way over the top, I could reach the Empire State Building levels of dramatic.

While I might be exaggerating, it was a huge change for me. One that after seven years, I didn’t think I would do, and I might have been hyperventilating when I finally decided to do it. I am of course talking about changing up my blonde locks.

Surprisingly it isn’t something that came from of outer space, but that I have been thinking about for awhile, despite having said I would always be a “Jetsetting” blonde. Which, I always will be. Now I am blonde with a big shadow root.

Low Maintenance 

While I love being blonde, I hate the stark line I get when my roots grow out. To the point I am sure I annoy my friends as well as my amazing hairdresser with how much I lament about my roots and loving like a skunk. Just the slightest bit of ashy brown sets me off on a tangent and I am itching to reach for the dye. (thankfully I learned THAT lesson!)

Unfortunately, I don’t have the time nor the patience nor the moolah nor the desire to destroy my hair, in order to color it every two weeks. Which ideally is what I would love to do. Blonde at heart peeps and I like to stay that way. Alas since I can’t, nor is it healthy for my hair, I have learned to embrace it-ish.

Knowing I am gong to be traveling and very much balling on a budget, I had been thinking of ways to stay blonde whilst not having my roots drive me cray-cray. Which has led to the “Event” on Friday.

Andrea

I am blessed to have the best hairdresser in the business. Legit how she has not fired my high maintenance derriere I have no idea. Andrea has been doing my hair since I was pretty much in diapers. Okay not quiet, but she did give me my first major hair cut at nine years old and we haven’t looked back since. From perms, to highlights, to lowlights, to keratin straightening treatments to everything in between Andrea has taken the hair journey with me and never steered me wrong making my hair visions come to life each time. Of which there have been many.

She really has the patience of a saint because through out my teen years, every appointment I would want something drastically different from what I currently had. I was always switching it up and she always was game to do it. Despite moving to New York, I would and do still go back and see her whenever I am home. She has kept my locks healthy and didn’t even freak out on me (which I totally would have understood if she had, because even I thought I was insane to do it) when I dyed my hair blonde for the first time. From. A. Box!

Platinum. Blonde. From. A. BOX!

I essentially put bleach on my hair that I had gotten from boxed dye. FYI boxed dye is horrible for you hair!

Andrea didn’t even blink, nor yell at me as she fixed my dye job and made sure my hair was healthy despite all the peroxide. I might have lost my hair marbles by using a box, but I had met my forever hair color. For the last seven years I have rocked platinum with pride. I guess now I understand why they call it the seven year itch. Kinda.

Shadow Root

Andrea and I had been talking about doing a shadow root my last couple visits to her and when I went in for my appointment on Friday at the Root Cellar which is the Aveda salon and spa she owns, I decided to finally do it. It would be a test a run and if I truly hated it, I could always go back to being a full blonde. At least that is what I told myself so I wouldn’t pass out.

Yes I know it is just hair, but when something has worked for you and been your identity for seven years it is kinda hard to change. Not to mention the fact that dark hair and I will NEVER happen again. It is a period in my hair journey I prefer to forget, and hopefully all pictures have been burned. So when I saw her put the color on my roots which at a level four was the darkest I had seen in a LONG while, I was freaking out wondering what in blue blazes I was doing. If I hated having roots WHY did I think a bigger root would make me happier? Oh wait it would be more blended. I think.

My critical thinking skills amaze me sometimes.

The Result 

Andrea washed the color off, and then put a toner on to make sure the rest of my hair stayed the ashy white platinum I love so much. After she washed my hair, I could already see the difference. Before she dried and styled, she trimmed the dead ends, taking off a couple inches so it would be healthier and giving me lots of layers.

Change can be intimidating even when it is as simple as switching up a hair style, but pushing aside those barriers and going for it despite that anxiousness is incredibly freeing. The thing about change is you can always change it again whether it is to something else or back to the way it was. Nothing is permanent, despite the attachments we give things. By changing things up, we are breaking free of that box we put ourselves in, and opening ourselves up to new experiences.

I was so apprehensive about doing a shadow root, I built the anxiety up, making all these excuses for why I shouldn’t, wondering if it would drastically change my appearance and if I would have to change my make-up or clothes because of it. While it has changed my look, I absolutely LOVE it. It has changed my look but in the the most subtle and chic of ways. My roots are much thicker and darker then my natural hair color, yet it is more blended no longer leaving that ruler straight line I had before. It is a change despite fighting for awhile I am ending up loving it. Not only will it make life easier for when I travel, it is also the perfect transition for fall!

What do you think of the shadow root? Have you ever dyed your hair a drastically different hair color? How do you deal with change?