Roots

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Dress: Anthropologie Lucerna Dress - Size S
Sweater: JCPenney - Size S
Tights: Hue - Size 2
Boots: Frye Paige Tall Riding Boots - Size 8.5
Necklace: Tree and Kimble

"So Hannah let your roots grow, let your blue veins show." - Freelance Whales

Over the last several months, roots have become the bane of my existence, and I'm not talking about the garden variety. I'm talking about my hair roots, or maybe a more appropriate term would be "new growth", that's what my hair stylist calls them anyway. Whatever the name, I hate those suckers! You see, the perfect storm has converged over the last several months causing my hate for them to really "take root" (ha ha, I crack myself up!). What are the elements of this perfect storm? First, I'm old, so I got lots of grey hairs up there. Second, I switched to a darker hair color a few months back. Third, I get highlights in addition to my color, because I've always hated how dark and artificial hair color looks without highlights.

Now, I love my new color with the highlights. I think it's perfect, but the problem is the maintenance and cost. My grey roots start showing by 4 weeks post color treatment, and they are absolutely horrible by 6 weeks. So, I've found myself at the salon way more often then I used to be, and it's not just for a touch up. I tried the touch up route the first time, and I didn't like how it looked. Let me see if I can explain this. When you go in for a color touch up and you have highlights, the stylist only colors the new growth, but he/she adds more highlights. The result is that my roots are covered up, but my overall hair color is lighter than it was before. I didn't like this, so I asked my stylist if he could do a full color and highlight each time. He said, "Sure", so that's what I've been doing for the past few months. Let me tell you, it gets expensive! Also, I can't imagine that highlighting my hair this much is good for it.

I decided enough was enough. I had my monthly hair appointment yesterday, and I asked my stylist what could be done. He said the best thing for the health of my hair was to just color it and not highlight it at all. He also said if it was too dark for me I could come back next week, and he could add just a few highlights. So, for the first time in many years, I came out of the salon sans highlights. It's pretty dark, but I like it. It definitely was a lot lighter on my pocketbook and less time in the salon. Now, I'm not sure if I'm going to go back and get highlights at all. I'll let you guys be the judge, but you're gonna have to wait a few days because I've got some outfit photos to catch up on.

Ah yes, outfit photos... I wore this one on Tuesday. My favorite thing about this outfit is the tights. I've had them for a couple of years now, but it's really hard to find things to wear with them. I love them like this, paired with my Lucerna dress, a comfy cardigan, and my Frye's. I braided my hair this day, because, well, there was nothing else to be done to it. It was a hot mess. We usually only do basic editing on the photos here on Small Town Fashionista, but I have to admit Jerry helped me out in the root department in these. It just had to be done. I was tempted to have him edit my gross veiny hands in that last photo, but that would have been going to far. We all have our standards.

Freelance Whales - Hannah

CONVERSATION

34 comments:

  1. That's funny, I have veiny hands too, and one of my best friends is an ICU nurse and is always looking longingly at said veins and saying how much she looooves veins like that (easy to get a needle into, I guess! Haha). Something to be grateful for next time it speeds up my IV process, I guess :)

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  2. Love, love, love the tights, Bonnie! Red is great on you too! This is a beautiful outfit.
    I'm excited to see the new hair! I agree with you. I would not be happy spending a fortune at the salon every month either (less money to spend on clothes!). I've got just a couple grey hairs starting to come in. I've been lucky in that department (I'm 35) so far but I have a feeling with my 3 kids-- they'll be coming in like gangbusters soon! I think healthy hair is a lot prettier than highlighted, artificial looking hair. I'll do all-over color when they start to get to me too.

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  3. Have you ever thought about henna for your hair? Like the kind all the Indian women with gorgeous thick hair use. You can get it in a range of brown to red shades. I did it over my highlights and the highlights showed through. It was really cool. Plus because it's a natural plant based dye you can do it as many times as you want and your hair looks healthy. Actually, my hair looked better afterwards because I guess it has a lot of protein. I buy mine on Amazon. Check it out!

    http://www.amazon.com/Avigal-Henna-100%25-Natural-Color/dp/B000ULETJC/ref=sr_1_4?s=beauty&ie=UTF8&qid=1327112532&sr=1-4

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  4. The outfit looks nice and comfy. I like the necklace too. I'm changing my username from guest to guest1. That way I will distinguish myself from other generic anonymous types. :)

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  5. LOVE the tights. I can so relate on the hair stuff! I've been doing the color and highlights too and finally switched to just doing a darker single process color. I like it...I think they are making single process colors more multidimensional now. Can't wait to see yours!

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  6. Okay so my husband was saying something but I was so avidly reading your post that I said, "Totally true". He's baffled because that was seriously the wrong response. I'm Busted, but oh you wrote a great post.

    The hair color deal, I can relate. I did the same thing as you, went with darker color and then got sucked into the salon hole. I'm sans highlights since the stylist didn't have time after the color correction she had to do after I tried to fix the gray roots. I had tried to go a shade lighter but the roots actually turned red :(

    Now it's fixed but it's All.One.Color. Hate it. So I'm planning on the highlights but after reading your post I remembered that when you color over them they only last for the first few color appts and then it's back to square one. All dark, all one color. There has to be a better way!

    I like the henna idea but does henna cover gray? What if the hair is darker on the older hair and lighter on the new growth? I don't have much gray but what I do have casts such a weird shadow compared to the darker colored hair. So frustrating. It was easier when I had blonder hair but I don't want to go that route.

    I just read this over again and boy am I a whiner but you really hit the nail on the head. :) I look forward to seeing how your hair goes.

    BTW, don't feel bad about your hands, I have more veins than you :)

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  7. really cute outfit! and i can relate to the hair problem. i am a bleached platinum blonde....i have NO IDEA how much gray is in there... i prefer to be in denial. :) Cheers! Sherry xoxo

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  8. So funny, as I was scrolling through the pictures to get down to the text, I was thinking that something looked different about you...while simultaneously thinking that your hair looked really good in this shoot! I love it! I think it's a much better look, and bonus that it's cheaper to maintain :) The braid is super cute too!

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  9. Personally, I choose to embrace the gray/grey as per this book...

    http://www.bookdepository.com/Going-Gray-Anne-Kreamer/9780316166621

    I've recently stopped colouring my hair. I actually used to lighten it with highlights, rather than going darker, but the highlights would always end up going brassy, and the more I had them "refreshed" the brassier (and lighter) I'd end up.

    I'm now almost back to my mousy/ashy brown (with as many silver highlights as choose to show through) natural colour, and I love it! Believe it or not, I actually feel younger than I did when I was colouring my hair!!

    Love the outfit! Love, love, love the tights!! The red of the dress is probably my favourite colour on you! Almost as great as the green!! :D

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  10. I love this outfit-- especially how you worked the patterned tights in. It's just the right amount to show them off without being overwhelming. And that deep red is a great color for you. Excited to see the new hair color!

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  11. This is one way you can tell the marks of clinical depression - huge over focus on self. Look at the roots in my hair, look at the size of my nose, you say. You had been told before you were depressed, but you don't seem to want to accept it. You probably will not post this.

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  12. my post posted before I could finish, but another part of the over focus on self was , look at the veins in my hands. Really!

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  13. I was having the same concerns about my hair a couple years ago (cost + health) and my stylist suggested I just color it at home using a semi-permanent dye with no ammonia. I use the Natural Instincts line that comes out in 28 washes and honestly, it looks as a good as any salon dye job I've ever had. My hair also feels MUCH healthier.

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  14. That's not part of the diagnostic criteria for major depressive disorder. I think it's just part of being a female living in a culture that equates our value with our appearance. I've yet to meet a female who isn't impacted by this - whether it's to over focus on appearance or swing to the other end of the spectrum and ignore it completely...or all points in between.

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  15. Your hair looks really good. I like it sans highlights, and the darker color makes your eyes pop.

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  16. No kidding - if every woman who ever obsessed about roots/muffin top/pimples/butt size was 'clinically depressed', Prozac would be handed out with the daily newspaper.

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  17. Well, this is my old hair color, but thanks anyway! :-)

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  18. Thanks for the suggestion, Rebecca! I'm terrified to dye my own hair. One of my girlfriends does it, and you're right, it looks just as good as the salon. Maybe I'll get up the courage one day!

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  19. My mom greyed early, and it looks like I'm following in her footsteps. She has chosen to embrace her grey as well. I think I will eventually, but at 34 I'm just not ready to be grey yet. Thanks for the inspiration, though!

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  20. Well actually, Natalie, this is my old hair color. I think it looks darker here because it was so dirty. LOL! Sad but true. Thanks anyway! :-)

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  21. LOL! Isn't denial great? I love your hair, Sherry!

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  22. Too funny about your husband! I'm glad I could keep you so engrossed! It's good to know I'm not the only one who has these hair color issues. I'm also curious about the henna, because if it's lighter on the new growth, I'm going to look like a skunk! I agree going lighter is easier. That's what I did for years. I was almost blond at one point, and yeah the grey hairs didn't show up as much, but I think the color totally washed me out. I've attached a picture of me in my lighter hair days. Would you like some cheese to go with that whine? LOL! Whine away, girl! I love to bitch about some first world problems!

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  23. Thanks! My stylist actually mixes 2 colors on me: Mahogany and Rocket Fire. So, it's definitely multidimensional.

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  24. Thanks! Ok, Guest1. Way to be creative! ;-)

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  25. I did not know that! I will check it out! Thanks Katie!

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  26. Thanks, Catherine! A couple of grey hairs coming in? Rub it in why don't cha? LOL!

    Yes, I agree. I would rather sacrifice color for the the health of my hair any day.

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  27. I know exactly what you're talking about, Kelly! When I have to get blood drawn, the nurses love to see me coming! I'm glad there is one advantage to having gross, bulging veins!

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  28. We could just keep candy dishes of it out on our desks and coffee tables! LOL I hate when people pathologize things that are just part of the normal human existence. There's a real danger in doing that.

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  29. Her comments about herself and worries about herself are just constant. I'm not talking about a woman who is occasionally worried about some part of herself. I'm talking about lengthy posts dedicated to different parts of herself. Really!

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  30. Something to consider if you find the new hair color doesn't work for you anyway! :) (And admittedly, I've got the "right" hair color that hides grey pretty well too, so it's not a huge drama for me, even though I'm a few years older than you).

    Another strategy can be to add a few highlight colors without the "base" color. That way you'll still get some grey coming through, but it won't "take over" quite as much as it would if you left it at your natural color.

    The book is worth a read regardless of what you decide to do - my hair dresser has it in her salon, so I've only read in while I've waited. Its a quick, easy read - you'll probably enjoy it anyway!

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  31. I don't know her well enough to know how constant her worries are. I know she blogs about typical concerns that a lot of women can relate to. It's a fashion blog...just one small snapshot of a person. It can't capture the entire reality of someone's life. Regardless, this doesn't equate to MDD.

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