One of the first times I remember dying my hair was when I was about 14 years old. My best friend and I at the time, had roughly shoulder length hair. We cut our hair on a diagonal (not losing the length on one side), but we did opposite diagonals. So depending on who was on the left and who was on the right, you either saw a down-arrow or an up-arrow. And then we died the bottom inch or two in black.
Then a couple of years later, my group of besties and I dyed our hair with Kool-Aid (and vinegar). It worked quite well, even if we did manage to get color everywhere and especially on our hands. The Kool-Aid smell was great, even if there was a hint of vinegar to go with it. We found that purples and reds (grape (my favorite to drink), black cherry, cherry) gave the best colors.
I'm on the right hand side in the below picture. I know you can't see my Kool-Aid dye-job, but trust me, it is there as a light purple-ish (not pink!).
I know that at some point during my teenage years I also used regular hair dye to get some low-lights (opposite of high lights). I always went darker, never lighter. I had a complex about being called a blond and thus never wanted blond hair. I think I was ditsy enough (although, most of it was an act) without needing it to be reinforced with hair color.
My first really crazy color was Manic-Panics' Forest Green. I was 18-19 years old, working in at my first real-real job the coffeehouse. It was a cool job and most of the 'kids' would come in there. I definitely spent way too much time there. But, back to hair color... I dyed my longish hair forest green, without bleaching it first. The color would have shown up much better if I had bleached my hair first, but it still showed well enough. My bosses weren't too impressed, so I had to wear a hat while at work.
I wish I had a picture of this time, but if any exist, I have no idea where they are.
I've also dyed my hair with henna. I loved the orange/red it would give me. I think one of the first times I used henna was when I was about 20-21 years of age. Right around the time I met Mr Siili (but I was still with my ex).
This first picture is one time immediately after dying my hair. (Notice my frog corner in the background? I loved that little wall-corner area.) The second picture was during a 'photo shoot' one afternoon while playing around with a cloak and fun dresses. I've always loved this mischievous smile on my face. I've also dyed my hair with henna years later while in Finland, but if there are any pictures, they aren't anything special.
The picture below is just after I had gotten my hair dyed with red and blond stripes in Estonia. I think this must have been around 2002 or 2003. I did buy those elf-slippers from the open air market. (I still have them, but need to fix the bottom of one.)
The 2nd and third pictures just show my hair in better color-detail.
Sometime during the first few years of living in Finland I played with Manic Panic hair dye again (and some other brand I can't remember the name of). By this point I had some Forest Green left, but I also had Tiger-lilly, Midnight Blue, Purple Haze and some other purple-ish color of which I can't remember the name. Usually I would do a stripe or two in my hair and not my whole head. I even managed to get Mr Siili to dye his hair a time or two, mainly for Vappu (May 1st, Finland's Labour Day) or a costume party.
One year, October 2006, I went all out for a costume party and dyed my long locks all purple. I LOVED IT! And talk about my work being shocked when I went in the next week.
A few weeks later, I decided it was time to chop all my hair off and donate the braid to Locks of Love. This was the first time in years (since junior high?) that I had my hair this short. My work was yet again shocked.
A few weeks later, I added a blue stripe in my hair. When I got tired of that, I removed the purple and blue (which turned green) and dyed my hair Tiger-lily, with a stripe of Forest green. This time my work was shocked, but they were waiting for it.
This picture must be sometime early 2007. The orange is gone, but there is still some color that is not my own. Also, my hair has grown out some.
End of August 2007 saw me with my mostly natural hair color, and a bit longer in length, at the next costume party.
Two years ago I dyed my hair a dark brown. I liked it! The below picture was taken when Mr Siili and I were in the US visiting my family (September 2010). The black cat is Sabby (aka Sabbath).
And today, this is what I have now! Ignore my not-so-smiley face, it's hard taking photos of oneself. LOL
I've been thinking that while I am on maternity leave, I might bleach it and dye it some funky color. Blue? Green? Purple? And then as it gets closer to going back to work, I'd chop it all off (very short) to get rid of the color. But, who knows, I may keep the color when I go back to work, I don't think work will mind.
As you can see, there has been a long journey with me and my hair. And I know it's not over yet!
