Oh yes I did.
Messing with your hair, at home, is so high school, right? Remember the thrill you got when you forked over $10 for a box of Natural Instincts, thinking that one shade closer to “Auburn” (perceptible only in full outdoor light, of course), would really change your life? Or how about when you thought you could go from brunette to blonde with a bleach-free formula? Ah, youth. Sun-In. Lemon juice. Naïvité.
Roots, on the other hand, are a decidedly adult—and resolutely un-fun—hair color matter. File “Yay, I’m going to get my roots done!” under sh *t nobody says. I thought roots were a blond and/or gray-haired issue, but I now count myself among several deep-brown-to-black-haired girls who’ve recently told me of their “reverse-root” woes: the halo of ashy growth that results from dying your hair darker. Back in October, David Mallett, the charming Paris-based colorist, took my medium-brown hair just shy of black—and I was lucky enough to find myself back in his chair in December—but January came, and I started looking washed-out (beyond the normal dead-of-winter pallor) without a trip to the City of Lights in sight. Sometime that same week, Revlon had sent over a couple boxes of their new Root Erase and I thought, “Why not? What’s the worst that can happen?” Granted, anyone—or thing—that claims to universally match “Any Dark Brown”, as shade #30 does (all dark browns are not made alike!), screams red flag to me…but I went for it. The foam sponge applicator (no dripping) and ten-minute wait-time made the process relatively quick and easy, but didn’t abate my anxiety over the outcome. Shock of all shockers, it worked—the tone was nice—but it wasn’t dark enough, so I went back in with another five minutes of #10 (“Matches Any Black”…) which did the trick.
The excitement came from my other little experiment: cutting my own hair. I really started to think, if your hair is not curly or wavy, if it’s just run-of-the-mill-straight, what’s the big deal? It’s not rocket science to cut something that looks even enough to the eye. Or not so even, that’s okay too—I’ve had some great haircuts, don’t get me wrong, but sometimes they look a little too perfect. And I just wanted a “chop”. A little more…French. In fact, I’d bet money that cool French girls snip into their own hair. (Ladies?) My friend Ashley and I stood in her bathtub as she nipped away at the back, then I trimmed the front (key word being trimmed…nothing photo-evidence-worthy, people). Bolder women do the whole thing themselves— Leandra pulls it all forward and goes for it—but I’m not there yet. I am, however, very proud of my DIY job…unintentional layers, asymmetry and all.
