Dyed hair was always something that was a goal for me. Other than scrolling through Pinterest and Tumblr and seeing a galaxy dyed hairdo while yelling “goals,” I always saw myself having a crazy color…like pink. After dyeing my hair, I discovered some hidden secrets (or “untold truths") about having a hair color different from our original in a style where your natural colored is shown. I decided to list them out:

1. You’re easy to remember

It makes sense. The more unnatural the color, the more likely someone is going to remember you. I think when people meet me for the first time, I become a word association to them (pink hair = me). It becomes even more difficult as a college freshman because you meet a ton of new people throughout the year. Personally, I'm not so great when it comes to remembering names, so it's unfair to me that people know my name and look immediately when it takes a bit longer on my end.

2. People will find you

As a college student and somewhat introvert, I really do like to just chill around campus by myself sometimes. Don't get me wrong, I love to chat and hangout with friends, but sometimes I need a space to just be myself--hidden within the crowd. I can't do that when my pink hair becomes an obvious arrow. However, it does becomes helpful whenever I felt lonely.

3. Color optimization

I never really paid attention to what color clothing I wore until I dyed my hair pink. I noticed when I wore pink clothes or had a pink accessory, compliments for the day would sky rocket. I also noticed I started wearing more bright colors compared to my previous wardrobe choices because of my pink hair. Another plus is that I definitely look like an enchanted garden fairy whenever I wear my flower crown!

4. Trademark crisis

My pink hair has become a somewhat symbol or trademark for myself and my peers. Whenever I show pictures of myself with my natural hair, my peers and myself have this disbelief that the person we're looking at isn't me. Then, questions start flowing from myself and my peers.

5. To dye or not to dye?

My roots are starting to show and for a while, I question if I'm willing to go through the bleaching and dyeing process all over again or what color I should choose next. Listing the pros and cons for dyed hair is difficult.

After moments of thinking, I decided to not dye my hair anymore or in the near future. I think my hair has gone through enough chemicals for now. So I'm not sure what I'm going to look like when I grow out of that pink dye, and it makes me anxious. Will I still be me? Who am I? How will my friends recognize me? The answers to those questions starting with the last one are: no, your friends are not going to recognize you at first from a crowd but they'll eventually catch on, you're still not sure on that, and yes. Dyed hair does not define you, debating whether or not to hide away from your friends when you have natural hair does.