I was 14 years old, and already a beauty addict. Granted, the girls in my class were already wearing mascara and lipstick to school since they were 10, I was the only one who would play with colors. At that impressionable age, I depended heavily on the magazines of the time to guide my on my beauty quests: Seventeen, Teen, YM, and to a lesser extent, Jane*. It was here when I first spied the vile product from Bath & Body Works: leave-in hair highlighter.
Yes, this stuff was basically was Sun In, but it was the Bath & Body Works version, and God knows you weren't anybody if you didn't shop at BB&W in middle school. My friends were all getting highlights, but thanks to a well-meaning aunt, I was never allowed to perm/color my hair as a kid. But for a mere $12 or so, I could have spray on highlights! Amazing! Exclamation points!!! And as previously mentioned, I have dark brown hair. You know where I'm going with this, as the only thing that can of hair crap did to my hair was turn it orange, like bright tropical orange. And I thought it was cool at the time. I am pretty sure I used the entire bottle, because I didn't get rid of all the color until my junior or senior year. Ever since that bad decision, I've never had the desire to highlight my hair, fearing similar results.
I don't normally stick with stylists, because I've been moving around a lot, and I maybe cut my hair twice a year. But I've been seeing my current stylist for about a year, and have been happy with my cuts. When I got to my appointment, I told her I wanted something very natural and subtle, nothing dramatic. I also elected to have just the top layer highlighted, just in case I didn't like the color. She highlighted my hair (and gasped in horror at my BB&W Sun In story), and I left. When I got home and could get a really good look at my hair, I didn't like. My highlights were the same orange as they had been back in '98, but with a weird touch of metallic gold. I hated them. They looked awful. After talking with some friends who had more hair coloring experience, I waited about two weeks to redye my hair. I visited Sally Beauty Supply and asked how to rid my hair of the orange-ish gold hue. I was quickly given all the materials, and $25 and two hours later, my hair was mostly back to its original shade. I can't remember the exact name of the dye I used, but it was their Ion brand in the Dark Golden Brown. I'm missing some of my natural red highlights which makes me sad, but I'm not depressed when I do my hair in the mornings anymore.
Funnily enough, my highlights, which I knew wouldn't dye entirely out, are the exact color I wanted them in the first place. It's also going to be a long time before I do anything else to my hair.
*It was either my freshman or junior year, but I won Candie's perfume and body lotion from Jane Magazine. So exciting! I still wear Candie's to this day, and Candie's Men cologne is the best stuff I've ever smelled on a guy.
