Pink is The New Blonde
When I was just 12 years old I got my first highlights ever. I immediately fell in love with the idea of adding a little flavor to my very bland, brown hair. To this day I will remember my hairdresser saying, “You’re so brown — brown hair, brown eyes, tan skin; you need some brightness.” From then on, coloring my hair became an obsession. From blonde, dark brown, red — I’ve done a lot.
Hair is just hair — until it isn’t. Hair has more of an impact on someone’s life than we think. It is the first thing we notice about someone — whether it is the color, the cut, or style. Most of us change our hairstyle, color or cut often.
But, why not reach beyond our comfort zone?
I never once dyed my hair a color that was ‘out of the ordinary’. Now, with this piece I decided to step out of my comfort zone and temporarily dye my hair pink.
I recently noticed the pink hair trend and like the idea of femininity behind pink hair.
For months I thought about dyeing my hair pink, but never mustered up the courage to do it. Maybe it was my own internal battle or maybe it was the thought of society norms. So, on a Thursday in April I proved to myself that I can truly immerse myself in an experience and go against the norm’s society has placed on women’s hair colors.
As I walked over to my best friend, Lauren’s, apartment, I started to doubt what I was doing. “What if this turns out horrible? What if it doesn’t wash out? What will my friends and family think?” all ran through my head in a quick 40-second walk to Lauren’s place.
However, before I could even think about possible answers, I was there, and it was happening.
Lauren had mentioned she would dye her hair with me, but I would have to be the ‘guinea pig’ and I was. While Lauren supported me from a distance, I began the process of transformation.
It is important to note that this was a process. Drastically changing your hair color — especially to pastel pink — requires several steps. Here are the steps:
1. I researched how to use oVertone’s rose gold deep treatment. I watched several YouTube videos, looked on their website and became an oVertone pro — so I thought.
2. Do a test strand. I pulled a piece of hair to test the color and how long it took develop. I didn’t want to immediately go for my entire head just in case I didn’t like the color.
3. Lauren spreads oVertone throughout the ends of my hair. I had Lauren dust the color throughout the ends of my hair and in the front so that it would frame my face. I waited ten minutes to let it develop then washed my hair.
4. I blow dried my hair and was not impressed. I was not overwhelmed by the first round of color. It was dull and not what I expected at all. I expected a vibrant pink, but didn’t get anything noticeable.
5. Completely go for it and use more dye. I used much more dye and drenched the ends of my hair with it. I made sure to get all layers of my hair so that the pink would show more this time.
6. I waited ten minutes and was still not impressed. I blow dried my hair for the second time to find only slightly pinker hair. Moral was extremely low at this point, so I went back home to do more research.
7. I laid in bed and thought about trying it again — so I did. I completely covered my dry hair with the rose gold coloring and let it develop for 15 minutes. Time passed, and it was time to wash and dry my hair for the third time. The results were definitely a lot more noticeable, but still not what I expected. After three tries, I was defeated and finally went to sleep.
The next morning, I went to breakfast with my brother and his wife. He immediately noticed and asked, “Did you put pink in your hair?” — I was disappointed to say the least because I would have liked him to say “Did you dye your hair pink” but he didn’t because my hair was barely pink.
With my initial feedback, I immediately went home — and you guessed it — dyed my hair for a fourth time.
At this point I was more concerned with seeing a complete difference. After telling several people I was temporarily dyeing my hair pink, I could not show them my sub-par pink hair. So, I kept dyeing.
This time I did something different. I completely wet my hair and put the dye in my hair while it was wet. I let it develop for another 10 minutes and the results were a lot better. The pink was more obvious and throughout all my hair this time.
My overall experience was less than climactic, but it was somewhat exciting. That weekend I attended Tortuga Music Festival and got a lot of positive feedback from friends and random people.
I was worried about the initial reactions over my pink hair, but I quickly realized society was much more accepting. I thought about dyeing my hair pink for several months but never did because of these norms. I think as women, a lot of us make a big deal out of our image. I thought by dyeing my hair pink I could reach beyond my ‘normal’ image and explore new boundaries.
I always thought I would get judged for having pastel pink hair, but I finally decided — do it now or later, but not never!
Trends are temporary and so is my hair color. I should have had this in mind going into the experience, but instead I was worried and that impacted the entire process.
However, I did learn a lot from this unpredictable experience.
I learned that society is much more accepting and nowadays like something out of the ordinary. I learned that hair isn’t the thing that gives you identity, it just helps shape your current attitude.
I also learned that I like my hair pink. I felt confident with my pink hair because no one I know or no one I saw over the weekend had pink hair. I stood out, but in the best way.
