When I was a little kid, I looked like this:
Look at that hair! Those were the glory days. All natural and golden blond. I don’t think I could pull off bangs like that now. Mostly because, who has bangs that take up half their scalp these days? I don’t know what the heck I’m doing in that picture. Probably praying I don’t get dragged off by rabid dogs.
As I grew older, I made every effort to keep it that original blond color. For a while.
(sidebar – that is a New York City voting booth circa 2004. Someone please tell me they are a little more up-to-date now, and filled with far less-dorky voters.)
In my mind, even today, when I think of myself I think of that hair color. I still check off “blond” on my driver’s license. I turn my nose up at blond jokes. But. I am not a blond anymore. My hair has slowly been getting darker. Time marched on and so did my desire to highlight my hair every eight weeks. Still, I just can’t get it through my head. So when I look at pictures like these:
I think, HOLY CRAP my hair got DARK.
I need to accept my hair for what it is now, and not what it was. Which leads me to my next issue. I have an appointment to get my hair did this weekend. It’s my semi-annual snip session (because who has time for quarterly cuts) and I need to do something about the mess that my hair color has become.
I don’t even know what color that is up there. Is it brown? Red? Blond on the end? D, all of the above?
I’ve been living the last month hoping that Sarah from Hair Thursday will accost me on the street with fabulous hair tips, but alas, we have yet to run into each other. So, internet friends and real life friends (because I know you’re out there), help my head get pretty. Should I go back to being blond? Accept my inner brunette? Or bring out the natural red low light thing I have going on? And furthermore, should I bring back the bangs?
Or, should I just bring this little thing in to the stylist and say, “copy?”
Anonymous says:
Heather:
A: I too still think of myself as a blonde even though I’ve been a brunnette for like 5 years.
B: Red low lights
C: No bangs, I acutally like the cut in the photo where you’re trying to decide what color your hair is.
From your “real” friend,
Kate
Memphislis says:
I like the bangs. They are fresh ad young. How about chunky highlights?
Jen says:
Lurker here…love your blog. Anyway totally think bangs, you look great w/ them in the second to last pix. Good luck!
Black Hockey Jesus says:
I think you should go blonde and Mike should play Maddie songs on the blog. Do you see me dropping this, Mike? It doesn’t appear that I’m dropping this.
Gemini Girl says:
I totally love the end of this post.
I think you look way hotter with the red/brunette thing going on. It makes your light eyes pop- which looks great.
Def do not go back to light! I once had blonde hair (yeah it looked bad I shoudl send you a pic). Not sure about the bangs that’s your call- but stay dark and keep the length!
Danes says:
I vote for red lowlights. Heath, we both know what a PAIN it is maintaining blonde hair. Unless you have a newfound desire to start dishing out mad amounts of cash and time again – I’d amp up what’s already there. I actually really like the color it’s become – you’re eyes pop and look so pretty!
(It’s actually the color I wish I could pull off, but am too scared to do).
Baby B says:
Baby A and I were born “auburn” (on birth certificate), it went to BLONDE for years, and it went to dark blonde/light brown since, oh, puberty. Summer is lovely because it brings us back to a lot of blonde and then winter drags us back to darker.
We still consider ourselves “blonde.” If someone calls us out on it, we say we’re “dirty blonde” or “dark blonde.”
I say, go with whatever is easiest to take care of. Going super light again would take maintenance with the roots and such, no? However, I think side swept bangs are worth the minor maintenance at home because they always look like you put some effort in, even when you just put it up in a ponytail and let the bangs hang out.
As you can see from this comment, I’m just lazy about my own hair, so take my advice with a grain of salt.
Bec says:
A big “no” to the bangs.
You could go down a shade? That way it wouldn’t be entirely noticeable if you don’t get it touched up frequently enough.
moosh in indy. says:
No bangs.
Red lowlights.
Dark. I love dark. You pull of dark.
Keep in long but with some long layers, thin it out a little to make it sexy messy. I keep having visions of Sandra Bullock in my head.
Or you could just ask for “chocolate chex and pumpkin ravioli” color.
cindy w says:
A few things:
(A) That first picture screams “I was raised in a Mormon polygamist compound.” I’m a little worried about you now.
(B) I’m so glad to know I’m not the only person who gets haircuts twice a year. I used to get them more frequently, then I had a kid. Oops.
(C) My stylist says that red/copper highlights are difficult to impossible to maintain, because they turn sort of orange and brassy. So you definitely don’t want that. I think you look cute blonde, and I like it the dark-ish color that it is now. Probably the most important thing is that you get a color that’s low-maintenance (i.e., no platinum blonde if you’re going to need to touch up your roots every 6 weeks).
(D) I also have no idea what the difference is between highlights and lowlights because the only time I colored my hair, it came from a box, so I should probably shut up and defer to the experts above.
Stacy says:
Definitely be a brunette. I used to do the blonde highlights, but now I’m embracing the dark brown locks. It’s especially fun when I wear my “Blondes have more fun” t-shirt and get weird looks.
I like the bangs in the pic of you and Mike and Rigby on the chair. Keep it long-ish. I cut mine into a short “mom-do” and despise not being able to pull it into a ponytail.
Rebecca says:
Like you I was a natural blonde as a kid and it darkened as I became a teen (just when I really wanted white blonde hair dammit!). BUT I think that really you (and I) look far more striking with dark hair. Go for some red stuff if you feel the need. Actually your hair looks kinda cool right now. I on the other hand have short ahir growing out. Arrgh!!! And post baby if you can’t have a totally fantastic body you NEED awesome hair. Best of luck with that.
Kristin.... says:
Dark hair. I get “shading” done once a year (and haircuts monthly), and the shading fades away instead of growing out~no roots! Good luck!
Danielle says:
I like that pic of you with Mike and Rigby. Bangs, blondish, but sort of hard to tell….
I am not the right person to give advice about this.
That last time I did anything drastic, well, it wasn’t pretty. So my hair is always.the.same.forever.and.ever.
So there. Hope that was value added. My work here is done.
Carm says:
If you saw my hair you’d be all ”bwhaha I’m not taking her advice”. Mind you I am living in Mexico and I’m nervous about letting anyone here touch my hair, namely because I can’t speak Spanish so there’s a fair chance I’d unwittingly tell them to give me a mohawk.
Anyways, I say brown suits you far more than blonde, and get a fringe (what we Brits call ”bangs” — because we’re sensible). If you hate it you can always pin it up, but I think it suits you.
Melissa says:
I saw the brown-red! your eyes look will POP!!! I think bangs for sure!!
Dana says:
I absolutely love this but since she already has it, I have to say I really like your hair in the pic with your two friends. Also, I was conspiring with my sister a few days ago about the very same topic of hair. She teaches hair, etc. at a cosmetology school and she said bangs are very “in” right now. She sported her own asymmetrical bangs.
My family couldn’t see me in anything but blond since I suffer from the same delusion you do. Once I went dark brown, however, they were quite impressed because it really made my eyes “pop” out. Go dramatic!
Dana says:
P.S. Practicing Mormons don’t have polygamist compounds…