Have you every seen those fancy Australian parrots – exquisite feathers in exotic colors with that self-assured look on their queer faces? Well, if you can picture their expression and guise, you can picture mine, too!!
I have grown up with “bad-hair days” and some of the biggest catastrophe strike when it’s really imperative to look good. For instance, it was the marriage of my hubby’s cousin and the family insisted that I do something about my boring hair-do and make-up. So, I was shoved off to the beauty parlor and the hairstylist decided impromptu on hot-rod styled ringlets, with a geisha-like powdered face. How wrong can one go with ringlets? I agreed, and complied to all the pulling, heating, rolling of my hair. I wasn’t aware of her face-coloring capabilities, else I would have run-away from there in my blouse and petticoat, sans the sari.
The ringlets looked good. I didn’t. My face looked puffy because the heavy foundation had eased out the finer contours of the face and now I had puffed up hair. It just didn’t suit and there was nothing stylish about it. Loaded with tons of styling gel and mousse, there was no time to un-do the ringlets and I was already worried about the bashing that my hair had taken. I mean, apart from having “bad-hair days” I also have “bad-hair” – the kind that does a great favor to you by managing to cover your scalp. I let the hair be as it is, as I desperately tried to get rid of the “water-proof” makeup. It was a horrendous styling debacle!
So, you see, I am always on the look out of low maintenance, styling-free hairstyles. I managed to get such a hairstyle over this weekend. The last time I had a hair-style – it was a blunt cut – chopped all the way to the neck. Some said it made me look different, some wouldn’t comment, and none would compliment, so this time I decided to stick to safer-shoulder length hairstyle.
The hairstyling cost a lot – well, you either dish out money to snip away loads and loads of hair, or you pay the hairdresser for finding hair to snip and style. Mine was, of course, the latter case. The expenditure was worth it. The hairdresser gave me a unique style, of razor-cut on the front, so that I have those cute pixie strands covering my face, and at the back, he gave me a shoulder length “feather-cut”. A feather-cut is specially designed for fine hair to give it a bountiful look, by having these small unevenly protruding locks covering the back of the head. All-in-all a good take. I was exhilarated. I don’t usually have good-hair-days but this one looked really cool – and was maintenance free – and no beautician could ever get ringlets into those tiny strands!
My new hairstyle enhanced my confidence and I was in further experimental mood. What next? Coloring! I dreamt of stylishly colored hair to complement my new style. By next day I was game for it. I searched for available hair colors and managed to choose a Dark Mahogany Brown shade from the Garnier shade card. I rushed from office to get hold of the color pack and since I had done all-over hair-coloring before, at home, I was pretty confident.
As luck would have it, the shade card was from the Garnier International website, and the Indian stores didn’t have the exact number that I asked for. I was about to walk out of the store, when my eyes fell on the Garnier multi-highlight kit. Well, I had highlights done before (professionally) and I knew that they looked good, too. My mind’s eye immediately caught a picture of me with daintily streaked feathers embellishing my new “feather-cut.” I excitedly picked up the pack.
As I was walking back home, the idea struck me that I should walk into the parlor and get them to do the streaking. But the figurative instructions and the unique applicator displayed on the product pack, made it seem like child’s play. I shrugged the thought away and hurried back home.
I wet and towel-dried my hair and mixed the concoction and started applying the white crème, stroke by stroke, over strands of hair. I managed to cover strands on the top of my head, but I couldn’t get anywhere to the actual “feathers”. I was running short of the crème and I did a hasty job with the remaining material. By the time I struggled with “the feathers” it was 20-minutes – the prescribed time to wash of the color. Since, I had just finished applying color to the back of my head, I decided to let it stay for another 10-minutes.
Now, here’s where the difference between an amateur and a professional is evident. A professional would start cleaning the front locks, as it’s been 20-minute since the crème was applied. But I let all the color stay as it is. When I washed my hair after half-an-hour later, the disaster was visible. The back of the head didn’t show much coloring, but the front locks were distinctly blonde. I looked like a cockatoo.
I wanted to get rid of the highlights and the only way to do was to get an all-over color. Now, this was something that made me jittery. Colors are chemicals and I don’t have too many hairs to spare. I didn’t want any further hair-disaster. So, I just took the new highlights with a pinch of salt and decided to stick with them for a week or two, till some color fades, and till the time I gain the courage to get an all-over color done – professionally!! Till then, I remain “cockatoo-ed”.
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The Empty Head Says:
February 26th, 2008 at 12:31 pm(ROFL)
snigdha Says:
February 26th, 2008 at 2:58 pmI can understand how you must have felt. I have seen similar days when I was coloured blonde by a professional when I wanted a brown. I had to buy another pack pf colour and coloured all my hair at home, back to a natural brown. Such wastage of money.