Pink Progress Report

Yo! If you remember, on the 4th of July, I dyed my hair pink! So exciting. I loved it! I used two different pinks (Special Effects Cupcake Pink and Atomic Pink; the Atomic Pink is very neon and hot, so it was conditioner-diluted to match how the Cupcake Pink looked in my bowl, but came out much different) and got a lot of variation that I thought was super cute. There was some peach, some baby pink, some coral, and some hot pink.

About three or four washes in (with a sulfate free shampoo for color-treated hair) the lightest parts began to look more blonde again, so rather than have half blonde and half pink, I gave my hair another coating the other night.

Now there's a lot less variation, and a it's a lot pinker. But I like this as well. Frankly, it's fun to see myself in these new ways, with different shades. I used both Cupcake and Atomic Pink (mostly Atomic with a little bit of Cupcake) diluted in conditioner.  It's what I would call... neon watermelon.

You can see that there are still peach tones, and some places around my hairline in particular are hot pink -- they never had Cupcake Pink on them. So they basically just have two coats of Atomic Pink, even though both coats were diluted. That would be closer to how Atomic Pink looks normally, undiluted. I very much prefer pinks that aren't too blue, but are more on the reddish-pink side, so I'm happy with how it turned out!

A woman in the grocery store stopped me to tell me that she wanted to do her hair a "fun" color but that she couldn't pull it off like I could. A major thing that stopped me from bleaching my hair and dyeing it crazy colors a long time ago (besides the cost!) was because I was convinced I couldn't pull it off.

Being a pinkhead suits me, spiritually/emotionally. I feel totally myself. It's really weird. I was self-conscious blonde and I expected to be somewhat self-conscious with bright hair, but actually, rather than feeling daring or weird, I just feel really normal.

These pictures don't accurately represent how my hair is normally styled, though. I had impatiently blow-dried it so I could see how the color had turned out, and doing that always destroys my natural waves and makes my hair go all canon Hermione Granger. Usually my hair is quite wavy. I'll try to take better pictures sometime, but I actually hardly ever take selfies at all, so I already feel like I have exceeded my yearly quota in taking pictures for these posts...

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a minty hat

Made this little pixie hat with minty baby yarn by request! (I usually just make hats by request at this point!) I love applique and hardly ever do it anymore, but I'd like to change that. I really find it so fun to do. And this is probably the fifth or sixth time I've appliqued a toadstool -- best thing to applique!!

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Sparklers.

The one thing we really do every fourth are sparklers! My mom, grandmother, and I all lit up and went freewheeling around the backyard, singing "America the Beautiful," till it was so smoky we couldn't breathe anymore.

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Everybody's free to wear PINK HAIR.

As I mentioned in my last post, I bleached my hair to go pink!! This morning, with some help from my mp3 player pumping out the Beach Boys and my little sister attentively applying color to the back of my head, I took the plunge.

I used two different pinks, both Special Effects -- Cupcake Pink and Atomic Pink -- and achieved a really varied spectrum. I had a hunch that the Cupcake Pink would tint my yellow-blonde hair peach. And it did! I applied it straight from the bottle, and basically used it all up with 30% of my hair left to go, mostly on the top of my head!

Unperturbed, I diluted Atomic Pink with some conditioner until it mostly resembled the hue of Cupcake Pink (so, I totally eyeballed it) and covered the rest, adding more dabs here and there. Since the dye was much less stiff, I massaged my hair quite a lot with my hands, pushing the dye around. (I was wearing latex gloves.) Then I popped a disposable plastic shower cap onto my head and let it sit for about two and a half hours, rinsed it with cold water in the sink, then showered as normal.

In person the differences between the hues are not so contrasted. It's pretty bubble gum-ish. I think once this starts to fade, I'll do the conditioner dilution with Atomic Pink again!

I have to say, I feel so, so happy and light! When my dad saw me, he said, "You know, I prefer that to the blonde! The blonde didn't fit your skin tone." As close to a compliment as he ever comes, haha. But I feel like this suits me, like it reflects my inside on my outside. I'm so happy I took such a risk!

Happy Independence Day, Americans!

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The unlikely blonde.

Last year I had indigo and hot pink streaks in my hair and I loved it! The indigo was a little gothy, but the pink made me feel so happy. It made me feel like me. I put in the pink in May 2013, so by May 2014, they had grown out and faded to a coral color.

Ever since 1996/97, when I saw Gwen Stefani with baby blue hair -- and odango -- at the MTV Video Music Awards, I've always wanted to bleach my hair and dye it a fantasy color. But I've also always known that my complexion (very dark hair, and very pale skin that tends to be red-toned) would just make me look super weird if I ever went vaguely near blonde.

Also, back in the 90s, before Hot Topic was really a thing, colored hair was considered very punky. Only the alternative kids like skateboarders, stoners, and goths dyed their hair blue and stuff. Now, it's so common that it's not unusual to see Oscar-winning actresses with "just for fun" pink streaks or pop starlets with a different fantasy color every month! It's normal now!

This summer, my hair began to reach creepy-long length, and I had a really bad June, and something in me cracked. I said, "Okay, I'm ready now. I'm ready to hack all this off, bleach it, and dye it all pink."

So I did.

Well, I bleached it, at least.

(May 7, zero makeup; June 27, powder and eyeliner. And cat ears, duh)

Besides these streaks, I've never dyed my hair, ever! So it was sort of an intimidating process to go from very dark brown hair to yellow-blonde. The girl didn't take me too light, since ultimately, my intention is to color over it. But I'm waiting a few days because I'm so morbidly fascinated with this strange yellow hair on my head. Particularly now that I've washed my hair and gotten rid of the smooth blow-out my hairdresser gave me, when I look in the mirror, I feel like this:

Since the maintenance of bleaching roots as dark as mine is probably too much for me to handle long-term, it's very likely this is the one and only time in my life I will be blonde. I must enjoy it for a few days before I go pink.

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