(shirt and skirt: Forever 21/ shoes: GoJane.com/ headband: AliExpress.com/ earrings: Femme de Bloom on Etsy.com)
As the photo evidence demonstrates, the purple hair is now gone and I am once again a brunette. The change took the whole day yesterday, but it felt very natural when the deed was finally done and I looked in the mirror.
It was just time for me to really start transitioning back to my natural hair. I knew I was not going to have "crazy" colored hair forever because of jobs and responsibilities, and I originally had intended to keep the purple for just my fall semester. However, when I dyed it I liked it so much that I wanted to keep it longer. The purple just felt so natural to me. I have always fancied my soul to be the color purple, so it just felt really fitting.
Towards the end of last semester, however, I was really getting tired of the constant upkeep and having to bleach my roots. I kept lengthening the weeks I waited before I touched up my hair, until all of a sudden it had been four months and my roots were very visible and I still couldn't bring myself to bleach my roots.
At that point I had gotten an internship for the summer and finally convinced my indecisive self that I was going to dye my hair back. I don't really know what my internship's policy is on dyed hair, and I have a feeling the particular internship would have let me keep the purple. I know the reality, however, is that I am going to be making lots of important connections this summer, and I will make a better impression on most people with a natural hair color. And honestly, when it comes own to it, I just really miss my natural hair color.
I love my natural hair, which has always been one of my favorite personal features. I have always loved the way my dark, rich, deep brown hair contrasts against my quite pale skin and lights up into so many different shades of brown and red in the sunlight. I love the feel of combing my fingers through my very straight, silky hair, and how it always seems not to have the perfect amount of volume and bounce to it.
It will probably be at least a year and a half before my whole head can turn into different shades of browns and reds when the sun shines and healthy enough to be silky smooth through my fingers. For now, I am stuck with just plain black and hair that is not very happy about all the bleach (I had to bleach it one last time for the black dye to hold sadly) and which is far from being silky smooth. What I already have back though is the high contrast between my dark hair and my light skin and the high impact of my favorite red lipstick.
Although I did love my purple hair, my natural hair is my favorite because I feel like it is just the perfect shade made just for me. We should all appreciate our natural beauty and all the different hair and skin and eye colors that we are born with, because they are all our own.
That being said, it is fine changing the way you look for whatever reason you want. Doing so might even make you appreciate your natural looks even more, like it did for me. Before doing so, however, there is definitely a lot you need to consider before. Below are my own personal list of pros and cons for purple hair after having done it, although everyone's considerations and concerns will probably be different.
Pros:
- I got to try something dramatically different that I thought would look good but took a risk on
- I learned how dying hair works (more or less)
- I got to have one of my favorite colors on my head everyday, no matter what
- I expressed a part of personality through my hair
- I got out of my comfort zone majorly
- I got to see what I would look like as a blond along the way (and didn't like it)
- It was a very dramatic change, and I love change
- I got to experiment with what would and wouldn't look good on me in a way that I haven't done in a while
- I had interesting experiences with some people that approached me because of my hair and make for good stories
- I was easily recognizable to my friends at a distance
- It made me feel very brave for taking the risk
- I will not have any regrets about not trying out a non-traditional hair color while I still could
- I would get compliments on my hair almost daily which sometimes made me feel better on bad days
- It was easier to imagine I was a magical fairy unicorn or flower when I looked in the mirror
- It was just fun to have purple hair
Cons:
- It was pretty expensive. I probably spent close to $200 total on hair supplies, and I did it all myself and avoided touching it up as often as I should
- I never was unhappy with my natural hair, and I constantly missed it and considered dying it back at least once a week
- It is a lot of work and time (and I am VERY lazy)
- My hair is super damaged and I have to worry about breakage. I noticed when my roots grew out quite bit that there were some chunks of hair that broke off where it was purple (although to be fair I always left bleach in almost two times longer than I was supposed to)
- Some colors just didn't look as good as they used to on me. Pastels looked wierd when my hair was super purple, and red (AKA my favorite color to dress in) looked strange when my hair was faded. Green looked wierd always, and if my outfit was too dramatic or I had a very loud,colorful piece on, I just looked like a clown
- It seemed that my hair made me more approachable to certain people who would use it as an excuse to talk to me when I didn't want to be talked to
- I got hit on more often by guys that were boring, dull, unoriginal, and annoying
- A lot of people will swear they have met me before just because other said person they actually met or saw probably also have purple hair
- I had to have the same discussion over and again about bleach and hair dye
- People would ask me why I would dye my hair purple
- People would compliment me on my hair to the point that it just became so unoriginal
- Literally almost everyone I met had to say something about my hair
- I was easily recognizable at a distance and it was harder to avoid certain people
- People regularly assumed I was a hairdresser. Some would randomly ask me (a stranger) to dye their hair
- My hair never looked completely natural, and as a result, I couldn't really pull off the natural look
- People (usually strangers) would sometimes give me nicknames. Some of them were cool, but others were trying to be clever and weren't. An example: "PHG," which is apparently meant to stand for Purple Haired Girl
- People would sometimes ask me to take pictures with them and it was really weird and half the time I was running late to somewhere or other (because I always am) and I would try and get away without seeming rude
- It was a pain dying it back and it pained me to have to bleach my hair again
I am probably missing some pros and cons, but that's probably it. Also, I know it seems like a lot of cons, but if you're thinking about dying my hair, don't let me discourage you, if that's what you want to do. The cons list is filled with a lot of things that are just irritating, but it was a great experience that I am loved and I am glad I did.
Now for the story of my last minute, casual Disneybound from today:
This morning was going to be the first day showing off my new hair and I really wanted to wear something that really played up its darkness, so I put on this bright blue shirt and of course my red lipstick. I then put on a black and white striped skirt and looked in the mirror and felt like it wasn't enough, so I put on my red bow headband. It was at that point I realized how I was half-way through creating a Snow White Disneybound, and how dressing up like the only Disney princess I look like and loved channeling when I was a brunette would be the perfect way to celebrate my renewed brunette status. I am also headed to Disney tomorrow, so I felt like it was a great way to celebrate that, too. So I changed into my mustard skirt, put on my apple earrings, my blue shoes, and then rushed out to catch the bus so I wouldn't be late for class.
Someday my natural hair will come, and I am excited and waiting to have it back.
