i've basically had a version of the same hair cut since i was twenty one. dark brown hair, some sort of fringe, layers or no-layers, short-or-long bob, but pretty much the same. prior to that, i was a massive fan of semi-permanent box dyes that'd last six washes and then be gone again - nothing too serious, but just enough experimentation that my catholic high school wouldn't be too fazed by my regularly-changing locks. then later, my ex-boyfriend's sister was my personal hairdresser for a bit, and i let her do whatever she wanted to my hair, and i'd go from brown to blonde and back again within a few hours - just to "try something new".
since moving to london though, it's been box dyes every eight weeks, and one very bad attempt at home-ombré that left my hair looking like it had been dipped in curry sauce more than anything else. because of that particular attempt, my beautiful long hair was chemically altered to a much shorter length, and i gave up on ever having hair goals, and stuck to what i knew.
but then i broke my little finger, and wasn't able to wear the gloves or dye my own hair for the best part of two months. and because of that, regrowth began to show. i wondered if this could be my time to try something new, and tried to lighten my hair myself, to bring it back to as close to "natural" as i could - whatever that colour may be. dark blonde is what i was guessing from the roots, so it was certainly a long shot after almost fifteen years of box dyes - right? right. home hair strippers did nothing at all but waste a lot of time and money. it was then - inspired by one of my favourite instagram accounts to follow - @rockalilycuts, that i decided what my next step would be.
i wanted pastel hair. i've wanted pastel hair for years, but it's never been attainable as far as i was concerned. but, seeing how easily the stylists in the salon made it seem, i wanted to get in on the action myself. so, with my birthday looming, i booked the appointment as a treat. in my mind, it wasn't going to work. at all. it was going to go ginger, or break off, or not take, and i'd be left with a mess. regardless, i did some research and created some mood boards for inspiration. rose gold is what i had in mind. strawberry blonde. copper pink. same same same. i wanted it on me. so i took the plunge and went along to my appointment with rockalily cuts, the night before my trip to turkey.
well, it didn't go to plan. not straight away. the bleach didn't lighten the ends nearly as much as the roots (naturally), and the apricot colouring took pretty fiercely to my roots, leaving my ends a perfect copper tone, but overall, a bit of a neon nightmare. objectively, it still looked good. alright, i can see that in pictures etc, it looked fine... it just wasn't what i had hoped for, and... i kind of hated it! i washed it twice that night to try and remove some of the bright from the roots, but it really only faded the colour to a less neon, more candy-coloured orange. it was ~very orange.
i found solace in dry shampoo as it seemed to dull the colour more, and so while on holiday used it religiously, as if i needed to draw more attention to myself over there. with another wash while away, and a few more when i got back, the colour had faded to a soft peach, which was actually really nice, but because the roots and ends were still a different colour, it was just so mega-patchy, and i just wanted it fixed. so, back i went last thursday night - two weeks and eight washes after the original attempt, for one more chance to make it right.
have you ever seen more perfect hair? no, me either. the wonderfully patient charley and i discussed at length what the options were for hair-redemption. did we want to try dark roots and copper ends? no, i wasn't sold on that idea. did we want to add some apricot to the roots to balance the dark and light? no thank you sir, no we did not. should we lighten the ends some more to bring the whole thing back to the same shade, then pop a pink/lilac over the top to counteract the orange? will my hair fall out? no? ok, then yes; let's do that.
two hours later and i couldn't have wiped the smile off my face if you paid me. my hair was all one shade - finally - and tinted a beautiful, wonderful hue of strawberry blonde. rose gold. copper pink. whatever you want to call it, it was currently sitting atop my smiling face, and i was so proud to walk out of that salon, head held high, hair sashaying behind me.
it's been a week, and i've not washed it once. it's really dry and gross from all the dry shampoo in it now, but i don't care. i adore the colour so much (and of course the compliments that come with it), and now whenever anyone asks me where i got it done, i tell them the second part of that story, because it's the part that really matters to me now. a massive shout out to owner ree-ree for her patience with me via email while i bemoaned my orange hair, and then to dear, sweet charley who was more than happy to help me fix it, and didn't give me a chemical bob to spite my moaning.
i really couldn't recommend those guys more highly for all-round customer care. if a bright recolour or retro style is what you're after, then londoners - do a thing! go and check out rockalily cuts!
