Thursday, July 12, 2007

I said I was gonna. . .

. . . and I did.

Here am I going in. Don't I look brave?

So far, as you see, my hair bears only minor evidence of tampering: the remnants of two-month-old highlights. No biggy. I've never been thrilled with my hair color. To tell you the truth, I've never been all that thrilled with hair color. Brown. Dishwater. Orangish. Grey. Meh. Not my faves. There's a universe of colors out there, but they do not happen to manifest as hair. Aqua. Cherry popsicle. Grenadine. Goldenrod. Violet. The pearly luminescent crimson of the red-velvet-cake bath gel Alexandra gave me, the one that makes me want to eat my own shoulders in the shower. That would be a fabulous hair color!

Still, through my teens and twenties, it never occurred to me to do anything about my drab hair-colored hair beyond getting a variety of unthrilling weaves and streaks. I don't know why it didn't occur to me. For the same reason it didn't occur to me to take art classes in high school and college? Well, for the past few months, this idea has been growing on me.

I'll date its origins earlier, a few years back when I saw Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Loved Kate Winslet in it; loved her hair. But I didn't seriously consider doing it. I mean, I'm no Clementine. And then, I don't know. Ideas have a way of self-seeding, like wildflowers. You think it's just blowing by on the wind, and the next thing you know it's growing in your garden. It's there. The idea for art school came over me like that. I was working my first post-college "real job" as an editor for Lonely Planet. I'd been messing around with drawing and painting for a few years when I met the first art school grad I had ever met in my life. Surely that was when that seed -- or let's call it a spore -- planted itself. Art school started out as a wild idea and grew in the dark until one day I found myself calling art schools for their catalogs. Just like that.

Well, the hair thing happened like that too. One day I guess I realized: a) I love color. b) My hair bores me. Ipso facto, I should color my hair.

First, it had to be bleached. That was kind of like acid on the back of my scalp. Like that one time when I was battling aliens that shot acid out of their udders and one of them got me and melted off the back of my head. That's what this felt like -- like that one time. Here's what it looked like:


You only get to see the super close-up because mein Gott did it look awful with my skin. Phleh.

Next came the color. And what color!



Finally, here it is dry:

I love it! And the weird part is, it doesn't even seem weird to me. It was like I was instantly used to it. Except for the part about my acid-melted scalp. Hoo. Bleach is gnarly stuff. Fancy putting it on your head.

Thank you Dayna at Belle Epoque for the luscious pinkness!

This has been a Sunday Scribbling about HAIR. For more, go here.

60 comments:

Jim Di Bartolo said...

Love IT. Love YOU! I'm SO lucky! :) I'm glad I got to see it all being done & photo doc it for you! How momentous!

xoxo,
Husbles

Paul said...

What and experience. I love the line: "Ideas have a way of self-seeding, like wildflowers." And it is so often like that.

Alex S said...

I LOVE it!!!! Its an awesome color- you have to take a pic against the house. So now you have the bright yellow house, the pomegrenate writing room, the pink hair, what next? Flaming cherry nostril hairs? I'm very curious to see what the natural evolution of this will be Laini! It looks superb!

kelly rae said...

my dear friend, all i gotta say is YOU HAVE BALLS! you are so brave. you have just done what so many of us wish we could do, but didn't have the guts. you go, girl. and i must say that after a couple of hard days this week, seeing your pink hair made me smile. it is SO YOU!

Crafty Green Poet said...

My hair I like too much the way it is, to do that - but I always admire people who go for the bright and bold! It looks great!

Rella said...

I am in such a pink mode these days that I am totally loving this new look here...spiff it up with fab gem bobby pins or fun stuff..I love it against the black of the cape. You are my hero!!! ~ Rella

Claudia said...

Oh my goodness!!! You are so brave and it looks amazing!

awareness said...

what a brave bella you are! love it!

Anonymous said...

Hi there, sorry to leave this comment here, (I loved the Hair blog!) but I'm wondering why my comment does not show up on the SS page. Can it be true that I MUST use "Blogger" to show up? That would be really sad. Let me know, can you? Thanks so much!

Tinker said...

Wow! You really did it - and it looks great!
I love your analogy about ideas germinating like wildflowers - after everyone reads this post blowing the hair seedlings around, I wonder where pink hair might turn up next...

MoJoKat said...

Amazing hair! So awesome, yet it looks so natural on you! Congrats for going through with it! I love your blog, btw!

Deirdre said...

You're a brave girl, Laini - but we already knew that. I love it. It's fun and sassy.

I went blonde several years ago (just one of many, many colors I've tried) and it took two bleachings and a permanent color all in one day. I thought my scalp was blistered and would surely peel, off leaving me bald and disfigured. It really hurt. Bleach is not for sissies.

Karen Travels said...

"Ideas have a way of self-seeding, like wildflowers. You think it's just blowing by on the wind, and the next thing you know it's growing in your garden."

That is so true!!

Love the hair. I was thinking of writing about hair-dye too for my scribblings, but not my hair...I am not as brave as you!

Anonymous said...

I LOVE it Laini! It is exactly the color I was thinking for you! So great!!!! Congrats! It looks so perfect on you!

Does your mom love it too????:)

Disco Mermaids said...

This should make you easier to spot at the SCBWI conference. Thanks!

- Jay

P.S. Lookin' good!

Tricia said...

you are my hero too! i love it. :)

my daughter and i just got your book yesterday-can't wait to read it.

hugs,

Nancy said...

bravo!

Anonymous said...

I have to say it does look good on you. You are very brave.

Rose

xo

Erin said...

You look like Tonks! :D

Anonymous said...

Regardless of the risk taken it is always inpiring to see that leaping into the void. Enjoy your new "do"!

Yummyteece said...

as someone who has spent the last 20 years experimenting with my drab brown hair, I applaud your couragous and fun choice!!

To share in our collective pinkness
http://yummyteece.blogspot.com/2007/05/long-awaited.html


and just for silly funness, a collage of my hair colors through the last 18 months.
http://yummyteece.blogspot.com/2007/06/photo-anthology-of-style-and-pizazz.html

Be well, fabulous pink girl!

(PS my copy of of your book arrived from amazon... last week I believe. I hope to be able to start reading it this weekend. Yay)

Lucy said...

You are "In the pink"! With your adorable face you could have colored it green and still been cute. I Love fun colors and wish it would become the norm. Although it is more acceptable today then It used to be. When I had purple hair ( way back in the late 70's) Children followed me out of the grocery store pointing and laughing. It was the first and last time I gave a 12 year old 'the finger'!
( hope you will be more tactful than I was)
Enjoy your new look! It is awesome!

Anonymous said...

Not everyone can pull that off, but you do. It looks awesome.

spacedlaw said...

WOWie ! Not everybody's tint. but it looks great and cheerful.

Daily Panic said...

Wow! I first expected red, but pink is a nice surprise! My daughter has been hinting about a pink tinting for herself, I'll show her your pics! That is amazing!

Anonymous said...

Fantastic color! Any faery would be proud. If you don't mind my asking, what are you going to do with your eyebrows? You might consider, stay calm, lightening them or even go pink with them.

By the way, I just finished Blackbringer. I loved it. Magpie's my hero. I wish I was as no nonsense as she is.

Anonymous said...

laini, I can't even imagine that hair colour and you did it. Very brave of you..:D

JHS said...

Chutzpah! That's what it takes to pull something like that off!

(I could never get away with it. Who is going to take an attorney with bright pink hair seriously, anyway?)

Rob Kistner said...

HEY HEY -- what's up!? Sunday Scribblings is messed up...

You have #25 listed as "rooted" -- when it should be listed as "Rob Kistner" -- What's up??

Rob Kistner said...

Holy jumpin' hornytoads Laini ... you're fucsia! Wow!! Good for you... ;)

meghan said...

FABULOUS!! Laini, I squealed out loud when I scrolled down to the end result! You look great!

You are the bravest, most YOU person I know!

xo

paris parfait said...

That should make it easier for your fans to recognise you! Great look, Laini! Aren't you brave??!! And I've been meaning to write you and congratulate you on your book, which finally arrived via Amazon.co.uk. It's truly wonderful and I'm ordering copies for some young friends.

Cherie said...

You look totally fabulous, Go Girl! When you're pretty you can wear anything ... love your look!

BeLoved.... said...

perfectly pink!

Anonymous said...

I have never really wanted to color my brown hair, but if I ever decide to, I hope I'll be cool enough to do something like that. It's awesome, and well-documented, too!

Anonymous said...

This has ALWAYS been my dream (green or magenta, but the idea)...you are brave as always, Laini!

Love this!!!!

Pip said...

Wow - fantastic! I've always wanted to go that colour myself. My natural colour is similar to yours, so perhaps I will have to take the leap.

Fletcher of the Day said...

You rock girlfriend! It's funny how style evolves (or shall I say, develops) and our sense of style becomes more in tune with our sense of self. Your hair now matches your personality, colorful, creative and downright worth noticing! Remember those commercials for contact lens' we used to complain about...Her eyes were as brown as....big brown shoes? Well her hair is as pink as the dusk on a summer evening in Amsterdam (you're the writer, I'm sure you can come up with a better description). Anyway, to sum up- LOVE IT!

Lori Lee

Patois42 said...

Fascinating. What a daredevil you are. Great account of the change, too.

Unknown said...

Truly Amazing!
You are an inspiration.
This is fabulous...enjoy!

Unknown said...

Very bold and brave! It suits you!

Rhonda the Stitchingnut said...

Yup, pretty in pink you are. I could never get away with it, altho pink, red, blue, green and orange can be stopped on the campus of M.I.T. and no one seems to notice. But geesh, I'm an old lady. Maybe in my next life. You go girl!

p.s. But I'm considering ... Orange.

rania said...

I love it!

DJPare said...

Funky!

blessedmatch said...

And besides, why not?

liz elayne lamoreux said...

i can't believe i didn't leave a comment when i visited last week! laini - you are one brave girl my dear. love the color! i can just imagine you finding long strands of pink around the house!

bravo to you girl!

Amber said...

Oh my gosh! I thought you were going blue? But pink is good too. :) My friend Naomi went this same pink for a time, and had lots of fun. It looks cute!

I have to tell you, that with all that has been going on around here, I finally had a weekend to eat up your book. And I LOVED IT! I found myself nodding a lot, and re-reading a phrase, and thinking how like our word this world of yours was. (how distracted by silly things the most blessed of us are, from the things we should be seeing going down...So many things!)Maybe we will get a champion, too. :) Really wonderful, Laini. So good!

:)

Taexalia said...

This is fantastic! It actually looks like you are meant to grow that colour out of your head! Congratulations!

Anonymous said...

Laini....great color...but now you need a funky new do to really make the best of that fabulous color!

Joanne

Jone said...

Laini, I love the new color. Agree with Joanne above, a funky hairstyle is in order. It was a great prompt btw.

Sarah Beth Durst said...

YAY for pink! So cool!

Michelle (a.k.a. la vie en rose) said...

oh my god i am lovin' it! yay you for going for it!!! it really does look fabulous.

Unknown said...

wow! you are one brave cookie! I like your description and that the wierd thing is that it doesn't seem wierd.

By the way, worm hair is so NOT the queen and I can't wait for magpie to figure it all out! And how I wish I could commune with the plants...

Kari said...

Look at you...awesome!
I LOVE IT!
Kari

Anonymous said...

Love it! Just love it! Hope the knitting is coming along. Leslie

Unknown said...

I like the Tonks comment above. You look darling, i can't wait to see it in person! Like for my birthday dinner you and Alexandra promised me!

nonizamboni said...

Wow-wah! What a great color. You wear it well.

Anonymous said...

Help! I still can't get my sunday scribblings to post on your website. What is the problem? Dunno! There were instructions on the Hair Prompt last week, but I'm afraid they didn't work. Thoughts?

Anonymous said...

laini!
this is hilarious! loooks great! but get this...i emailed your sister JUST LAST NIGHT and asked, "can i marry you with purple hair?"

um...no response yet. imagine the two of us!!! i'm so excited.
love you,
d.

unknown said...

Oh WOW. What else can I say? I have been wanting pink hair for a few years! Alas, here in the good ol' deep south, corporations issue these little rules like "Your hair must be a natural color", so I'm just bright red instead. Man, I'd love to have pink hair... I have a photo somewhere of me in the pink wig, too! :) LOVE IT!!!!!