I have a history of dyeing my hair when I feel the need to spice up my life, so its no surprise that I'm a proponent to people dyeing their hair. I'm very lucky that I had parents who encouraged my self expression and who allowed me to do what I wanted with my hair.

It really started when I was in the ninth grade. I had done some adventurous things before then, such as getting side bangs, front bangs, and a feather in my hair (not all at the same time) but I didn't really start playing with the color until high school. I dyed my hair from brown to blonde and cut it pretty short. It stayed various shades and lengths of blonde for the next year. Then I got an undercut, keeping my sides brown and the long part of my hair blonde. That got some pretty intense reactions. It was a great look. I've been growing it out since then. Since I began growing it out, I went from brown to blonde again.

But then after graduation, I dyed my hair bright pink.

I was aiming for more of a pastel color, but it came out bright pink. I absolutely adored it. It lasted longer than I anticipated, and it did eventually fade to more of a cotton candy color, what I had originally been aiming for. However, I made the mistake of swimming in a pool during the Fourth of July. That took all of the pink out of my hair. Luckily for me, I had a hair appointment the next day in preparation for my senior trip. I dyed the ends purple and kept my roots brown which faded into the purple so my hair would be easy to maintain while I grew it out. After it was purple, it was a gorgeous blond color. When I was home over winter break, I dyed it dark brown. Now it's back to my natural medium brown, and I'm in love with it.

Obviously not every hair experience is going to be a good one.

However, if you're interested in dyeing your hair, here are a few things to consider.

1. Do you have the money to pay for whatever you want to do it? Getting your hair professionally done (which I suggest if you're bleaching it) can be very pricey, and that's without the shampoo and conditioner.

2. Is your hair healthy? If not, it might be better to take care of your hair for a bit before dyeing it.

3. Are you prepared for your hair to be damaged? My hair survived some pretty serious torment when I dyed it pink, but getting it back to brown was its last straw. I've been having to deal with split ends and breakage. It happens. It's fixable, but it takes time.

4. Are you prepared to deal with the pain in the ass that is dealing with roots as your hair grows out? Honestly, my advice is to just work the roots as best as you can.

At the end of the day, dying your hair is a fun way to express yourself. In the process, you might even learn a little bit more about yourself.