I love getting ready but hair is something I hardly experiment with. And the reason is the damage I did to my hair over a decade ago when I colored my hair. There was no Youtube or beauty expert to guide me so I just went out bought a hair color and applied it to my jetblack hair for golden brown streaks.
It was Garnier hair Color and it had just entered the Indian market. I decided to color on the next day itself when I was going to be at home alone. I followed the instructions to mix and apply (about 1/3 of the mixture). But when I washed my hair, it didn’t show so I blow-dried it to see if it showed afterwards. Still no color.
I was disappointed so I colored it again (yes the same day) and the same result. I blow dried it again and applied the leftover color (yes the same day). I Know! I was foolish and desperate. I don’t know why highlights were so important to me.
I have no idea what I was thinking I think I was 15 or 16 so I was really irresponsible with my hair. A few days later, I applied bleach to the parts I wanted to highlight. And this time also I focused on the center or side parting. Bleach did lighten a few strand here and there but I ended up not liking it.
I had no idea how to take care of my hair and within a few months, I had a hundreds of grays in my hair and also my hair started changing from manageable wavy to frizzy hair. The color also got significantly lighter from jet black over the next 2 years. I panicked but didn’t know what to do.
And that is when I stopped anything with my hair. Yup! I gave up at 18 when most people start out on grooming. I never straightened my hair and blow dried it only 3-4 times in the next 6 years. I applied oil to my hair, shampooed and then conditioned my hair. And that was it. The hair that brought me so many compliments just vanished 🙁
And it was all my fault!
Another bad thing I started doing afterwards and my Mom kept warning me about was plucking grays. I stopped plucking and started cutting an inch away from the root but the grays kept sprouting everywhere. At 22, I gave up.
I am chubby so I had fuller cheeks and people called me cute and they also used to say that I looked younger than my age. I also had good skin (I spoiled that as well but that is a story for another day). But my hair was 20% gray. No matter how I part my hair or what hairstyle I do, the stupid grays are always visible and make me angry (on myself).
I now plan to color my hair again (a decade later) and this time I am determined to take care of my hair and do everything to improve it. There are plenty of bubble foam colors available in Korea so I think I would for them in a darker shade that matches my dark brown hair (yup from jetblack to dirty dark brown, urgh!).
I still love my hair and hate my teenage self for damaging it at such a young age but my hair is still relatively thick and soft. I am really grateful for Youtube and beauty bloggers all over the world who share their experiences to help other make informed decision about skincare, makeup and hair care. I would have never had to go through what I did if I knew the consequences. There just was no one to guide me (I was a teenager so I am not sure if i would have listened 😉 ).
But this is the reason I blog – I want to share my mistakes (and beauty finds, tips and tricks) so that no one else makes it. Or at least knows what she is getting herself into. I am not against hair coloring or hair styling. I think taking care of hair, applying good quality shampoo conditioner, moisturizing hair masks, oiling can prevent a lot of hair damage!