I’ve had my hair fairly short (above my shoulders) many years ago, which I hated and will avoid doing for as long as possible. Last summer, I had magenta hair, and then by fall, I had a sunset balayage done (which is what I have now), which was a big departure for me since I had undyed/unbleached hair for over a decade.
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I’ve never flinched at being experimental with my hair both in terms of length and colour. I’m keeping mine in a classic short bob with fringe as I change my haircolour frequently. Right now I have intense navy and purple hair. I’m 55.. why not?
When I was in the 30s, did some sunbursts. It grew out rooty, despite having light hair. Rooty was bad then. Did auburn henna (I was born with hair slightly darker than Genevieve’s) which drabbed down nicely. The best was when >65, I decided to put a navy blue stripe right behind my natural gray stripe, bilaterally. My hairdresser is my age, and has been in the US for >50 years. “Whassamatta you? 35 years I cutta your hair. Stupida! Why you-a do such a thing? Stupida!” And he refused to do it. One of the young girls did it, and in typical Italian fashion, after fussing and fuming, it was perfect. ‘What neat idea. Just a touch, subtle. It looks very nice.’ No trace of off the boat. Ah, the Calabrese! Now all my fellow old ladies ask me who colors my hair. I want to say “God” or “DNA” but refrain. Keeping my hair color (dark ashy blond) comes from my father.
Haha! My bio mother’s father was Calabrese, KJH! I think that’s where I got my big mouthed outspokeness and fiery temperament from. Gotta love that Calabrian DNA.
The color I’m wearing now is the most drastic I’ve gone. I’ve had this magenta shade about 2.5 years, I think.
It can look anywhere from bright red to neon pink depending on the lighting. I love it and wish I’d done it sooner. The decade before that, I went with various darker shades of red, from dark auburn to plummy-red brunette to deep red with bright red shift.
I’ve drastically changed the style many times in my life. The last couple major changes were: Several months ago, I chopped off about 18″ and shaved the side with a #3 guard. I’ve kept the shaved side. About 3.5 years ago, my hair was down to my butt, and I got it all cut down into to an ear-length razor-cut bob (super-cute, but a pain to grow out).
Wow, I just had my hair cut. I haven’t had it cut for a year. It grows so slowly I can get it down to my shoulders but that is it. It is fine, thin and it just looks scraggly as it gets longer. I would love to be able to dye my hair lovely colors like you.
I’ve seen some really cute shorter styles with colored hair. I hope you find something that you’ll love.
I dyed my hair bright purple. I want the biggest fan of it at first, but it faded into the most beautiful rose gold color, so I say it was worth it. I’m considering dying it pink soon.
Yes, many, many times. I’ve had it waist-length, super short, and everything in between. It’s been black, fire engine red, pink, blue, purple… I haven’t dyed it in more than a decade, though. I love the natural salt & pepper that it is now.
I’ve never dyed my hair, but I keep going back and forth with long and short hair. I’ve finally learned to accept my thick wavy hair as an asset, and have figured out how to style it, so I think I’m keeping my current bob length hair (with asymmetrical fringe).
Haircut, yes. I have never been really attached to my hair, I have grown them out several times waist length and have it cut shoulder length without hesitation. I’ve also had no bangs then full bangs too,
Hair color, no..I have never dyed my hair.
But, I also don’t comb or brush my hair either. It’s has worked for me, in between running, working out, taking care my baby and working as a crtitical care nurse anything else would be too much work.
I think I’m pretty low maintenance.
Only once did I go ‘drastic’ — quite blonde (I’m a natural mid-brown). It needed too much maintenance though so it turned out to be a one-time thing.
I’ve baby fine wavy hair. Never did anything more than a temporary rinse. Gave that up and letting the gray grow in. I used to go to high end salons, but it’s not worth it to me any more. Just let it grow and because it develops knotty ends, there’s a natural attrition. It’s about mid chest length. Wash it once a week. Lowest maintenance hair ever.
Yes haha – first time I cut all my hair off I was 13. I’m talking above my ears, boy short. It looked awful because I had no idea how to style it, so I just let it grow out. When I was 19 I cut it into a concave bob – loved that and kept it for just over a year, but again grew it out because I was bored of always having the same style. I have very thick straight hair which doesn’t like to do anything I tell it haha.
I then had long hair until 25, when I cut it short again – this time with an undercut, which has made ALL the difference. It’s been many different variations of short since then (ear length, chin length, collar length) but always with the undercut.
Oh and it’s been all colours too – started purple (about 6 different shades) then back to brown for a while, then blue/teal, then it was sliver, then rose gold, then copper, to red, and it’s now orange LOL. I’m going to do a brown ombre next time as I’m a bit over maintaining colour!
The answer to this question requires a little back story. Like most men, my ex-husband really wanted me to keep my hair long so from the time I met him until I was 45, I didn’t cut my hair. I would go and get it trimmed regularly but even that upset him. I know, it is my hair but you want to please the person you are with so I kept it long. He also didn’t love the fact that I had naturally early greying hair. My paternal grandmother had turned completely white by the time she was in her mid 20’s. It was snow white and beautiful. If my hair had turned completely white I probably would have loved it but grey here and there was less ideal and with his hating it I started colouring my hair. I was naturally a strawberry blond but went through multiple shades of brown and black. When I was 45 I was diagnosed with breast cancer. I had three surgeries and chemotherapy. At my first chemo appt. I asked my Dr. how long it would be before my hair started falling out It was below my butt by then. He told me almost 2 weeks from the day I had chemo it would fall out. At about the 2 week mark, I started having large clumps of hair falling out and my scalp really hurt. I had never had anyone tell me that losing my hair from chemo would be painful and I had worked Oncology back in the 70’s. I went to the hairdressers and asked them to cut my hair off to about an inch all over my head. The cosmetologist told me that she wouldn’t do it from below my butt to 1 inch. I told her she might as well as it was all going to fall out in the next week or so, anyway. She deduced the issue and cut my hair off. I had purchased a wig to wear because my daughter, who was 5 at the time, had told me that she didn’t want me to walk around bald all the time. It was 4th of July weekend and we were at a friends house for a block party. Someone was churning ice cream and brought me a small dish. I was not feeling the greatest and was really adjusting to my first dose of chemo, trying to re-evaluate my life based on facing my own mortality, etc. I didn’t want to be impolite so I took a spoonful of ice cream and really shouldn’t have, LOL!! Anyway, my daughter kept coming over and getting spoonfuls and then going and playing with the other kids. On one of her spoonfuls, as I was putting it into her mouth, I noticed a huge chunk of hair on the spoon and before I could pull the spoon back she had put it in her mouth. When we went home that evening I told my husband to get his hair clippers out and shave me bald. I did and it was very liberating. I think the reason your hair falls out is because you don’t have the strength or energy to take care of it while getting chemo! So, I was bald for just about a year. When my hair grew back in it came in super curly and pretty much all grey. I made the decision not to colour it and to just let nature take its course. So yes, I have had drastic changes in my hair but surprisingly, not many were instigated by me.
P.S. I only wore the wig once so always regretted purchasing it. It was super expensive since I went with human hair and a very specific colour. Once my daughter actually saw me walking around the house with my bald head, she didn’t mind it when we went out and it was so hot that summer that I really didn’t want the wig on. Ended up giving it to a friend.
I forgot to mention chemo baldness in my response. I so remember that pain in my scalp when my hair started falling out. It was traumatic, but once I made the decision to shave the rest off, the pain was gone. Amazing how it falls out after just one chemo treatment! I did the same thing as you, making the decision not to color it once it grew back. Pre-chemo, my natural hair was coarse, wavy, and brown, but it grew back mostly straight, very fine, and a nice mix of silver and very dark (almost black) gray.
I am so sorry you had to go through that Seraphine. I am sorry anyone has to go through it. Your hair sounds lovely now. I know that as I approached my first chemo appt. I thought that losing my hair would be very difficult but I didn’t find it difficult at all. I had bigger things to worry about and my vanity seemed inconsequential at the time. For that matter, it still feels that way. Facing your own mortality has a way of putting your life in perspective and with a 5 year old daughter I needed to focus on living.
I will be 19 years out on May the 5th. I am cautiously optimistic that I have beat it but my oncologist told me that I would likely die of breast cancer, the only unknown was when that would happen. He told me it could come back at any time. I prefer to think I am cured and if it happens then it happens. My goal was to stay alive long enough to see my daughter to an age where she could take care of herself. She will be 25 in August so if she had to she would survive. Hopefully I will live a lot longer.
I hope you are a survivor also.
I’m almost 12 years cancer-free. Treatments get better as they learn more, so I’m cautiously optimistic, too.
Yes, I am always hoping for a cure. I know a lot of advancements have been made in treating estogen receptor positive cancers but unfortunately my cancer was negative. My Mom calls me all the time when she sees a new treatment and she is so excited that they have found a “cure”. I have to explain to her each time that it isn’t a cure and that it is only for receptor positive cancer. In general, most pre-menopausal women have estrogen receptor negative cancer whereas most menopausal women have mostly receptor positive. There were times when I wished that I was positive but wishing doesn’t make it so!
Deborah, a dramatic and touching story. Lots of lessons here, thanks for sharing.
Nope to both aspects of the question. I really love my hair shade, inherited from my maternal Scottish grandmother and I am never changing it. When I was much younger, I did vary my hairstyle a lot, but always came back to a straight bob. When my hair is shorter it curls up all over the place and as I have zero talent in correcting it, it was a disaster. I also have a few cowlicks as well.
Oh yeah! And plenty of misses when all is said and done, lol. Including:
Getting my Mom to sign a statement giving my beauty school teacher permission to color correct the mess I made when I attempted (very unsuccessfully) to lighten my whole head of dark medium chestnut brown hair light blonde and permit me to go true blonde…except that my Mom had ZERO idea that my teacher and I were going for PLATINUM blonde aka Marilyn Monroe blonde. When she saw me when I got home, she had a holy conniption!
…so, after I got tired of my very black looking roots growing in and Mom wasn’t going to allow me to get those touched up, I tried to dye it back to brown again. It turned out GREY! 3 dye jobs later, last of which was red, my hair was totally fried and bizarre mousy dark blondish brown. I had to get my near waist length hair chopped off very short as a result of the severe damage and I cried myself to sleep. Did I learn my lesson? NOPE!
And so, I’ve had it every conceivable shade of blonde, red, burgundy, even eggplant purple a couple of times, and pitch black in the 80’s for a little bit. It’s been spiral permed into 80’s and early 90’s “big hair”, it’s been chemically relaxed, and it’s been too many styles to count. Now, I’m just wishing that I would have instead loved my beautiful dark medium chestnut hair while it was still around. Now, I’m dying it close to what I’d have if I weren’t going white skunk striped with mousy brown hair on the rest of my head. But man, I sure did try like hell to be a blonde!
(BTW, I didn’t look so hot as a blonde, so that was a stupid waste! ?)
Wow Nancy, you were adventurous and brave to try to go Marilyn Monroe blonde!! I had forgotten spiral perms. Loved mine back in the 80’s. Wonder if I could find anyone still giving them now? I could use some volume in my hair these days. I wish I had been more adventurous in my youth. What a straight prude I was and how little fun I had. Too uptight. I don’t think it is too late to let go and show my wild side. My daughter would say, “What wild side, Mom?” When I told her I was thinking about going lavender she just laughed at me.
My work life was in corporate America so, no. Just different lengths of bobs and finally a longish pixie, always a medium brown. I stopped working three years ago but only added magenta streaks last summer. It doesn’t look drastic to me, though.
I was a natural blonde my whole life, but last July I got my hair chopped and then dyed it vibrant pink. I had wanted pink hair since I was in my teens, and I figure it’s just hair I should have fun with it.
I’ve been pink ever since and I haven’t looked back. I’ll probably be pink into my 90’s.
Yes! I have always had medium to long (assisted) blond hair. Lots of highlights and lowlights over the years. I made the decision 4 years ago to embrace my silver. Craziness!! Right? Nope. I’m so glad I did. Now my hair is down to the middle of my back. Very thick, healthy, wavy platinum hair. I love it and get compliments all the time! So glad I quit dyeing the roots! I hit the genetic jackpot with my hair color. ❤️
The most dramatic thing I ever did to my hair was dye it red using kool aid. It was the 90s and it was popular to do. After that I dyed my brown hair a light auburn red. That’s really it. I’ve had blond highlights as well but I haven’t dyed my hair for about 15 years. I’ve learned to like my hair. Besides, I couldn’t bother with keeping up with the maintenance 🙂 Every once in a while I do get people asking me what my hair color is and where I’ve gotten it done. I hated to disappoint them but I had to tell them it’s my natural color. Maybe when I start to get a lot of gray hair I’ll dye it. But for now I’m good. I have fine hair but a lot of it. As for length, the shortest I’ve ever had my hair was above the shoulder. Having naturally curly hair I’ve always thought I couldn’t get away with short hair. Luckily I prefer it long so a short style never really interested me anyway. I’ve had short bangs, side swept bangs, double bangs or just no bangs at all. I’ve had long layers or no layers. I also used to have my hair pin straight. Now I just leave it in its natural state. I still straighten it from time to time but I prefer to have a little bend in it. Currently the length of hair is halfway down my back with long layers. It works for me. I don’t have any plans on changing it in the near future.
The summer between 5th and 6th grades I got a pixie. Mistake-I ended up looking like a boy. Not only did I not like looking boyish, I started attending a Christian middle school in 6th grade, so I got some dirty looks from other kids’ parents. I was so happy when my breasts came in halfway through 6th grade! Upside: the spring play that school year was You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown and my partially-grown-out hair made the perfect shag for my role as Peppermint Patty!
No, I’m notorious for staying in my comfort zone.
However, when I backpacked in the middle-east in the early 90s I reverse died my hair to brown.
It bleached out over the months I was abroad.
The last “big” change was about seven years ago. I decided to stop curling and hot-rollering my straight hair and leave it as is–straight. It’s nearly waist length so a big change at the time. But major colour changes or cuts, no.
I have pin straight, thin, fine dark brown hair. It grows so slowly I only have to get it cut once a year. I’m almost 60, when I started getting gray strands, I started getting highlights so that it would mask them. I would love to color my hair different colors, purple, red, blue, but I’m a chicken and I don’t think my hair could take it and I need my hair.
I cut my hair about chin-length a couple years ago and really liked it. Didn’t care much for the in between phase before it grew out long again though…just didn’t know how to style it in that intermediate length.
I’m planning on sticking with long hair again, though I’d really like to color it for the first time sometime this year. My only hesitation is that salon dye jobs are so expensive in my city lol.
I have long hair, but it’s really damaged after birth :). I’ve had long hair all my life. When I was little child my family was in charge of my haircuts and they never let me cut it short. So in my teen years I let one friend cut it above my shoulders. Big mistake!! That’s the biggest change I’ve done to my hair. I’ve never dyed it – I use henna from time to time. Since I cut it off so short I am really scared to do dramatic changes with my hair. I even try to reduce using any flat irons and hair dryers!
I shaved it all and got a tattoo on my skull in 2012 when I was diagnosed with breast cancer and chemo was prescribed.
To be honest, as much as I was dreading it, I totally loved the look.
When I became bald though, and lost my lashes and brows, I hated the look of a shiny head. Makeup came to the rescue, and bright colours made all the difference in the world by drawing attention elsewhere – a statement lip and a bright blush were really helpful to lift both my looks and mood.
Since my hair grew back (2013), I trimmed the ends only twice. It’s now almost reaching my waist. I sometimes miss my GI Jane look, but certainly not the anxiety that came with it at the time!
Yes! I had looooong hair and bangs (circa 2013 Zoey Deschanel), but chopped it all off in 2014 to just above my shoulders and got oil slick balayage. It was my favorite thing I’ve ever done with my hair and I would definitely do it again in a heartbeat.
As a teenager I experimented a lot with different colors. I’ve had red, orange, navy blue, bright blue, and purple that I can remember. I’ve normally had thick medium length hair my whole life and never knew how to take care of it properly, had been thinking about shaving my head for a few years already, so I shaved my head last summer and I’ve never felt prettier/more confident. I love the way it looks and makes me feel. But, I do have weird dreams sometimes about having hair again and I think next time I grow it out I will do the “curly girl method” and nurture the hell out of it. I really want to dye my shaved head a bright blue (was my favorite color I’ve ever had) but I’m afraid of how quickly it will just be buzzed off.
With color, sort of. I have found that you need to be gradual when lightening or darkening hair significantly. If you darken too quickly, without going through the stages, it washes out and/or fades quickly. If you lighten too dramatically, you can cause more severe damage. So while I have transitioned from my natural brown/black to blonde, and am now almost back to my dark tone, I don’t do it overnight.
With cut, yes I have chopped my hair. It’s shocking for a week, then I’m used to it for maybe another two, then it’s growing back. Before I know it, it’s down my back again.
Never ever :))) The only thing that varies is a few cm of the lengh and a couple of shades difference in color.
Aside for getting bangs a few times, I would say I’ve played it fairly safe in regards to haircuts. However, I change the color of my hair about every six months, so that’s where the drama lives! Teal, pink, purple, green….pretty much every color except red & orange!
Yes, a few times, but color only twice. Once by accident and the other time on purpose, I dyed it an almost jet black color. Super dramatic on me for an evening ball. LOL!