I’ve Had Each Single Hair Shade Attainable In The Final Yr
A 12 months into the weirdest and most tragic time in fashionable historical past, each particular person has developed their very own assortment of coping mechanisms to assist get via every day. Some coping methods, like snacking, have been pretty common and skilled by most individuals. Others—corresponding to a good friend of mine who’s been meticulously planning subsequent 12 months’s holidays down to every meal—are a bit extra particular person. Enter my very own high mechanism for coping with the doldrums of nonstop house life: dying my hair a model new colour each month.
How It Started
I’ve had blue hair for a lot of my grownup life. It’s my favourite colour total, and I’m significantly into denim hues for hair. I coloured my very own hair in my youth however gladly paid a colorist for years since as a result of it’s a messy, odorous factor to try this comes with the danger of potential hair harm. The harm danger holds very true when you’ve got naturally black hair, as I do, and likewise lack endurance. I had a several-year run with darkish denim hair till summer season 2019, after I dyed it magenta for the season, then returned to blue by that fall.
When quarantine was proper about to hit in March 2020, I noticed my colorist and requested for a change to darkish inexperienced, principally to distract from my already-beginning sense of impending doom. Los Angeles shut down fully inside the week, and by April, I used to be laid off and in want of initiatives. I transitioned my hair colour by myself to a brilliant blue, and my colour journey took off.
How It Progressed
Because it was for a lot of, final spring is a little bit of a blur for me. I can’t say precisely what in-between colours have been concerned within the colour transition, however by June, I had dyed my hair (and processed my very own roots) a metallic pink, with darkish inexperienced changing into a distant, pre-quarantine reminiscence. All through the summer season, my hair was at various occasions cotton sweet pink, rose gold, lilac, and lavender.
By fall, I used to be feeling autumn vibes. I used to be not, nonetheless, seeing any autumn vibes. In L.A., our climate is understood for being pretty one-note and never involving precise seasons. My favourite extrapolation of it is a line from a Jenny Lewis track: “I assume it’s spring, I didn’t know / It’s at all times 75 with no melting snow.” I really like the everlasting spring nature of L.A., however I’m additionally an avid traveler. I often expertise “actual” autumn by visiting my dad and mom of their tree-laden state or trekking round cities like San Francisco and New York Metropolis. 2020, after all, didn’t contain any autumnal journey. So, I turned my hair into autumn.
I dyed my curls cascading pink, orange, and yellow and lower the grown-out bob right into a shag form, which I watched YouTube movies for instruction. My urge to see fall foliage felt as glad as attainable, all issues thought-about.
We’re heading into spring once more, and I’ve run via each shade of blue—from darkish denim to powder—all through the winter. Presently, it’s a brilliant, pop artwork iteration of my favourite colour. How has this seemingly trite exercise palpably brightened my pandemic life, not to mention to the purpose the place I credit score it as a high coping mechanism for protecting my sanity? There are just a few methods.
The Thrill of Sure
Pandemic life is rife with no’s; from each exercise we will’t do, to each good friend and liked one we will’t hug. Desirous to do one thing and telling your self that “sure, you’ll be able to,” is a heat welcome of respite amongst all these no’s. Each time I feel up a brand new hair colour, I inform myself sure. If I don’t have the colour readily available, I purchase it on-line, and even the most costly salon manufacturers of direct dye price lower than $20 every. With the multitude of colours I’ve bought this previous 12 months, I’ve scarcely spent greater than I used to on one single skilled hair colour appointment, that means there may be at all times room in my pockets for an additional tube of enjoyable. The power to inform myself sure to one thing I would like, then observe via by doing it inside days makes me really feel completely satisfied and empowered. Shopping for dye is a small buy, nevertheless it brings nice satisfaction.
The Restlessness
This previous 12 months has concerned an intensive lack of change for a lot of. We frequently hear about house redecoration or DIY building of rooms into gyms, saunas, and extra. As a renter, the latter is out of my attain. For redecorating, my lounge is an odd, hexagonal form, so I haven’t been in a position to rearrange my furnishings, which I’ve had a powerful want to do. My bed room is similar form, and thus, an equally motionless state of affairs.
I am going mainly nowhere besides on walks, so the place I’m the probably these days to expertise life change is in my creativeness, by the use of the novels I learn (which throughout my pandemic unemployment was upwards of 1 a day, and now lies between two and three every week) or the television I watch. Seeing one thing drastically completely different after I look within the mirror has assuaged my want for change. I’ve been altering my colour typically sufficient that by the point I get used to my reflection, I swap issues up once more inside the week. This typically makes me do a double-take after I see myself requiring a second or two of processing. That second or two sounds trivial, nevertheless it’s large.
Visible Stimulation
I really like brilliant colours, and in contrast to many individuals, I like to be brilliant colours. Nowhere is that this extra evident than by myself physique, the place dozens of rainbowy tattoos reside on my pores and skin. I additionally love cityscapes, sunsets, flower gardens, and dense, populated areas crammed with extra indicators than I might ever learn. My house’s rooms every have thematic colorscapes, with my lounge adorned in solely main brilliant pink and blue. I take pleasure in seeing colour, and much more, I just like the visible stimulation of recent and completely different colours. Nothing a lot modifications in my house, as talked about, and tattoos aren’t precisely a pandemic precedence, so my hair has been a pure go-to for colour stimulation.
Tasks
In case you’ve ever tried to maintain naturally black hair that’s been processed to just about white wholesome, it’s mainly a part-time job. This previous 12 months, I’ve grow to be adept at protein therapies, permitting for the right pause in time between doing my roots to not weaken my hair an excessive amount of and transitioning between hair colours with out utilizing harsh colour removers (the key: powdered vitamin C). I used to be already adept at doing my very own extensions however had by no means performed round with dye colour combos or tough to attain colours like metallic pastels. Some took a number of tries and/or a number of manufacturers to attain. Many hours have been spent, and lots of wins have been had. The great thing about not reaching the look I needed is that I can go proper again into the lavatory and check out once more.
In case you’ve discovered your individual model of biking via the hair colour rainbow, you seemingly perceive the place I’m coming from. If there was ever a time to benefit from small victories and to learn to please ourselves, this previous 12 months has been it.
