"Let them grow!"*

So tonight I finally got my hair cut! I went to The Chair, an Aveda concept salon that a friend had recommended and that was relatively close to my house. Jim, my stylist, was great. Not only did he actually cut my hair short enough, he really took his time on the details--even shampooing me again after he'd done most of the cutting to sort of reset the curls and make sure everything would behave nicely. I was impressed from the beginning by the fact that he himself had naturally curly hair, which he wore short, but he went on to gain points by spending time talking to me about what I wanted, taking his time, and being generally funny, chatty, and charming.

Oh, and what did I pay for this relaxing and enjoyable salon experience, from which I emerged with the haircut I actually wanted? Twenty-five dollars. Thirty with the tip. OH YES.

I always look like the victim of a traumatic bleaching accident (or like I have the mange) when my hair is very short, due to the haphazard but naturally occurring red and blond patches on the left side of my head (the red streak up front looks more intentional, but that's just lucky). When I went short for the first time, in 2000, it was in Paris, and when the cute French girl had cut off all my hair, she put a mirror in my hands, spun me around so I could see the back of my head, and said, "C'est ne pas tres jolie!" before handing me the swatches of color options. I ended up choosing a vibrant red demi-permanent that I have spent the intervening years trying vainly to recreate; it shimmered and sparkled and washed away eventually without leaving any visible roots. (I imagine that such a thing may actually exist here in the States; my main problem is that I'm not willing to pay for it.)

In the past I've been disappointed by the boxed haircolors I've tried; somehow the red ones always seem to develop a purplish cast that I don't really dig. Tonight I used Clairol's Natural Instincts in the non-permanent #16 Spiced Tea Light Auburn, and was pretty pleased with the results. The blotchiness on the back of my head is still visible, but is definitely more even than it was; the weird blond spots are now a more blended red. The thing I keep meaning to try is Punky Colors, which are deposit-only colors, and which I think might be able to give me a nice cherry red cast without the purple. Also, I've avoided L'Oreal's Feria colors because they are "permanent" and I have commitment issues, but they claim to be shimmery and look like the off-the-shelf product that would be closest to my Parisian color, so I may break down and try a box. How badly could I mess up an inch of hair, anyway? If any of you out there have experience with either of those products, or something else, I'd be very interested in hearing it.

Before:

After:



*This is what a well-meaning Italian woman, with her own impressively shaggy mane, had to say about my short hair in Florence, and what I think of (with a laugh) every time I get sheared.