Children usually have one of two possible reactions to someone with “strangely” colored hair. They either stare, completely terrified or confused, at the person with such hair or they absolutely love it. When I was younger — probably somewhere between the ages of six and eight — I remember seeing a teenager with bright blue hair at my local Walmart. I immediately asked my mom why on earth someone would do that. She said she couldn’t fathom why and I promised on my life that I would never ever do something that ridiculous to my perfect dirty blond hair.
Less than a decade later the bottom half my hair was turquoise. A year or so later the whole thing, all the way down to my waist, was bright purple. After that it was a more natural red, then blonde, then a darker brown-red, then blue, the bleach blonde, then brown, then dirty blonde, and now it is a darker brown once again. As you can tell, elementary school age me had no idea what she would turn into.
For me, and others I’ve talked to who dye their hair frequently, this activity is something they do for themselves. Personally, I like the process of it, the change, the excitement, and sometimes the surprise at the actual color that develops. I liked being different, not mixing into the crowd like I did in junior high and the first half of high school. I wanted to stand out by just doing what I liked to do.
This isn’t what people generally think about people who dye their hair crazy colors, or at least it used to be that way. Nowadays it’s sort of a trend to dye your hair purple or red or blue or orange or green or anything you want, which is honestly one reason I’ve stopped for a while — I’ve never been the intensely trendy type. But even though it’s a trend some people will still judge you without having gotten to know you.
I’m here to break these generalizations. For one, people who dye their hair an unnatural color are not always doing it for attention. Sometimes people just want to be themselves and sometimes that means having blue hair. They are not always paying one hundred dollars for the perfect color or using boxed hair dyes that can ruin their hair either. Please stop reminding them that they might be ruining their hair by dying it. These people probably know what they’re doing and they’re most likely deep conditioning like crazy. Other people will simply think a person with crazy hair is strange or unlikeable. Most people I’ve met with strange colored hair have been great people. I’m not going to generalize the whole population or people with bright fun hair colors, but the ones I’ve gotten into deep conversations with have been really nice and overall good people.
Other reactions to colored hair may be ridiculously strange and uncalled for. If you’re in high school or anywhere you could get teased or get a nickname that follows you for a year after your hair has changed color. You could get stopped everywhere and asked what dye you use. You could also get stopped by a lady in a rest stop bathroom and told your hair reminds her of the purple people eater song. Yes, that actually happened.
Either way, whether you’re teased or put on a pedestal for your hair color, in the end, it’s worth it. I wouldn’t be who I am today without having gone through my hair journey. I wouldn’t have met some of the people I’ve met or lost some of the so called friends who thought I looked ridiculous. Overall I regret nothing. And I hope if you’re brave enough to dye your hair something like green or pink or blue or purple that would have confidence and happiness throughout your own hair journey.
