new hair color. spiced tea

I've only dyed my hair once before. Black. I kept it that way for almost two years. Eventually I got sick of the maintenance and decided I wanted my natural hair color back. Naturally it's a dark blonde or light brown depending on the lighting. Knowing very little about changing hair colors I spoke with my hair dresser for guidance. Black is very hard to change to a lighter color without bleach and damaging your hair. My only solution was to grow it out. I got dark streaks put in to help blend my roots but it looks pretty awful. I chopped my hair off to help it grow out faster.

I desperately wanted to avoid another unwanted hair cut. Instead of jumping in with both feet and randomly picking a color/brand like I did last time, I decided I needed to research my options and what I wanted.

I wanted:

• Something semi-permanent in case I hated it. That way it would fade and be easier to get back to my original color
• Something not too dark so it'll be easier to get back to my original color
• Something relatively maintenance free

After a bunch of research I decided to go with Clairol Natural Instincts because it was reviewed at the best non-permanent hair dye as it didn't fade too much, the color came out similar to the box, and it's ammonia free. Next big decision was the color. I had an idea in my head of what I was looking for. I've always wished that I had red in my hair but I know that would be high maintenance. I decided I'd settle for trying a light auburn color. My shade of choice? Spiced tea. I felt as though it was fitting seeing as how obsessed with tea I am.

With my color decision made and a bubble of excitement in my stomach, I decided that it was the night for me to do it. On my way home from work I stopped at several different stores to find the shade I was looking for. Turns out that spiced tea isn't the easiest shade to find. Luckily their website has a list of stores that carry each shade.

Since Jade always dyes her own hair and is an expert at it, I knew that I'd want her to help me out to make sure it's done right. But turns out she was staying over at her friend's house. She offered to help on the weekend but I knew that if I didn't do it then I'd probably chicken out. To help with the nerves (I have no idea why I was so nervous) I also bought a box of wine.

I took a couple pictures of my hair color before I got started so I could have a reference color if I ever wanted to go back. I honestly did like my natural color but I was looking for a slight change.

I put the dye in. I sipped on some wine while I anxiously waited. And then it was time to rinse. Since my hair was wet it looked pretty much the same as it would have previously. Usually I let me hair air dry and then I may blow dry any leftover dampness. I didn't want to wait that long so I started blow drying. Now to post the results.

Once my hair was dry I went through several different emotions:

• Frustration because I felt like you could barely tell the difference
• Regret because I decided I didn't like it and it made me look pale
• Relieved because when I stepped into the light you could 100% tell the hint of red
• Happy because even though it's a only slight change people like the difference