Thursday, October 13, 2011

Grey Hair

Before                                                                                  After  

I got my hair done by someone new one month ago, and she turned it grey.  Okay, let me start at the beginning.  I was looking for a new hair colourist and was at the point where my roots were so bad I couldn't take it any longer (ever let your hair get to that point?  I always do, it's bad, but I do it every time, le sigh).  So while grocery shopping one evening, I was walking behind a pretty blonde (with the perfect shade of blonde) and boldly asked her where she gets her hair done (this was, of course, after I complimented it).  She gladly told me where she normally goes and I booked an appointment the following day.  

When I got to my appointment, I met with my new colourist and she seemed very nice.  I described to her how I came to be in her chair that day and she knew exactly the girl I was talking about  from the grocery store and described her to a T.  She said she knew what kind of blonde I meant (beige, not golden, ashy but platinum...) and while I sat nervously in the chair trying to focus on the stacks of magazines I pulled, I couldn't help but worry.  Sure enough, I had reason to.

When she finished toning my hair, the wet result of the blonde was far from what I was used to.  It was not a bright, vibrant, platinum blonde, but a dull, dark blonde (if you can even call it that).  I decided not to worry as the real test would be when my hair was fully dry and styled.

While she blow dried my hair, we talked about the blue shampoo blondes should use to brighten up their blonde and remove the gold (I have been using blue shampoo for years, once a week). and other topics  I tried not to peak at my hair as she was drying it, but a few quick glimpses here and there were not proving to be very promising.  Once she was done drying and styling my hair, I was just about to get out of the chair when it was evident; I had grey hair!  I commented to her about how grey it looked and she said something along the lines of, 'Oh that girl you saw likes it really ashy to ensure it doesn't go golden'.  I tried to smile but it was forced.  She could tell.  She told me to not use my blue shampoo and reassured me that after a few washes, it would be less grey.  

I then proceeded to pay the most expensive hair bill I've ever had in my entire life (more like two visits for the price of one!).  I wanted to cry.  Not what they quoted me on the phone and I wasn't happy?  Awesome.

I left the salon hoping it was all in my head.  I walked confidently through the mall (fortunately it was almost closing time) until I stopped in at a store and caught my reflection in the mirror.  Sheer horror.  Grey.  Seriously grey-green hair.  I wanted to wrap a scarf around my head and run to my car.  I called my best girl friend almost in tears and she met me at Starbucks.  I was scared to get out of the car to show her, let alone the world (dramatic, yes, but cut me some slack).  She (gently) agreed it was kind of grey, very dull and not at all like the colour I normally get.  I proceeded to spend the next hour mulling with her over how to fix it (this included texts to her own colourist, a conversation about dish soap as shampoo, and making bad decisions).

The next day I decided to call the salon to get it rectified, if possible.  They were accommodating and said I could come in that afternoon (thankfully) to try and do something.  When I got there, my colourist wasn't mean, but she wasn't the happiest to see me.  She proceeded to use a very strong shampoo to wash my hair four times to remove some toner.  It helped.  I was less grey, but my blonde was still dull.  I left feeling better, but still not feeling like myself.

Four weeks later, and lots of shampooing, and my hair looks normal in that pic above, but in real life it's still not what I'm used to.  Lesson learned: next time (I will have to find another new colourist) I will bring photos of myself with the blonde I like, as well as some photos of blondes.  Oh, and I won't pay an arm and a leg for a trim either.  

Ever had any bad hair experiences?




* The photos above have not been modified in any way.  
That was my actual grey hair two days after my appointment.  
The 'after' picture is about two weeks later.
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5 comments

Diana said...

A few years ago, I dyed my (naturally dirty blonde) hair brown-black. When the summer rolled around, I decided that I wanted it back to blonde. I had an appointment where they stripped the color, dyed, and highlighted. It wasn't as light as I wanted it, although it looked great!, but the stylist assured me that it would get there over the course of 2 or 3 more appointments..."baby steps" she said. The next appointment was to lighten it a little bit more. Well, after it was all dyed and dried I thought it looked a little bit too yellow but was told that it was just the harsh flourescent lighting in the salon. So I paid - and this too was the most expensive bill I had ever paid for my hair! - and went on my way. Here's another similarity to your story: As I was walking through the mall after my appointment I caught a glimpse of my hair in a mirror under a skylight, in natural light. And it was even more yellow and horrible than it looked in the salon. Not only that, but it was incredibly blotchy and horrible. I left the mall immediately. The next day I went to a really high end salon as a walk in just to get an opinion from the master stylist on what I could possibly do to fix the disaster on my head. She was completely shocked that someone had done that to my hair and had let me leave their salon with it looking like that. She was so nice though - she said that she felt so bad that someone had destroyed my hair color that she offered to do some work for free. Granted, she didn't go the whole nine yards and give me an entire color treatment for free, but she did put some toner in my hair and it made such a huge difference. She wouldn't accept any money from me, so I ordered a nice gift basket and sent it to her salon with a nice thank you note. Then I went a few weeks later to the same salon and have been going there for color ever since.

Good to know that I'm not the only one who had such a disaster!

M.R. said...

wow- that's awful!

I hate paying for something you are not happy with.

I had a lady cut a huge chunk of my hair down to about an inch. she tried to cover it up and I still paid and tipped her! i don't know what i was thinking. That would never fly with me now.

Glad it's looking better!

mindofmr.blogspot.com

Amanda @ Life with A.Co said...

Diana: OMG, what an experience!! So sweet of the other stylist to help fix you up and super sweet of you to send a gift basket. Nice to know I'm not the only one too!

M.R.: I paid and tipped too... and then thought, 'WTF did I just pay for?!' Ugh.

Kinga said...

I know what you're talking about. I'm dark blond and always lighten my hair. Last month I thought that my hair will be less damage if I dyed dark blond. It turned green/grey. Firstly I even didn't notice by myself but my sister...She was stared at me in amuse. My co-workes (all men) were so used to seeing my blond that first day they didn't recognise me. It was terrible. Now I'm back light blond but when I'll be doing my hair now I think I will be horrified.

Kate said...

Ahh, I so feel your pain! Finding the right shade of blonde is such a process, and then having to explain that to someone new in hopes they understand what you mean is a whoooole other process. I usually leave the salon looking SLIGHTLY purple, but that's the norm for me as I always tell my stylist I want "white blonde, but golden blonde" and then to whatever degree of intensity... I of course use very technical terms like "SUPER blonde" or "I want like, BLONDE BLONDE" and rarely "Maybe a few lowlights would be a good idea..." ;) Haha. But the slight purple tinge washes out after a shampoo or two. Yours is definitely still looking bright & fresh in your photos, so don't fret!

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