My Struggles With Colored Hair

This one time, I was out with my husband and saw this girl with a beautiful blond bush. He said, "DO IT! I'll pay for it." I don't think he considered how much hair color costs. Like good hair color, done
a by a color specialist. It can cost a grip. Plus I had vowed to never color my hair again after getting highlights back in 2006 and experiencing thee worst dry and damaged hair. LOL! My hairstylist, who transitioned my relaxed hair to natural and does my maintenance, would say "I will make you some clip ins. I am not dealing with your hair and color."

However, some things had changed since my stylist first told me she was never coloring my hair. I was getting bored with my dusty brown, yet healthy, hair and she had since become an Aveda instructor and THEE go-to color specialist
in her salon and, quite possibly, the entire city of Baltimore. We talked about color again and she didn't suggest clip ins, so I made my appointment and went for it, with my husband's credit card in tow. Five hours and $500 later, I had reddish hair with honey blond highlights. My curl pattern was still intact. I was in love. My husband was in love too. My summer hair was EVERYTHING!

Charda, my stylist, recommended some shampoo and conditioner for my color treated hair, but when I looked at the price, I said to myself "Ummmm...let me try this here Shea Moisture for color treated hair." BIG. MISTAKE. My hair felt so dry and brittle. It began reverting (when your twist out doesn't hold the curl pattern any longer) almost immediately after taking my twists out when I could usually get a week or two out of the style. For my hair, this was sign of damage. I was distraught. So I called Charda. I went in for a "treatment" - my words, not hers
- and my hair was back to feeling soft and nourished for a while. I sucked it up and bought the shampoo and conditioner she had recommended, then found a Shea Moisture conditioner that worked better for my color treated hair than the regular one I was using.

Moral: Listen to your stylist! Use the products they recommend.

I colored my hair in July 2016. It's been over a year and the color is almost grown out. I don't think I'll lighten my hair again any time soon. If I'm feeling like I need color, I'll get a dark rinse to coat my hair and make it shiney. Light hair is pretty to look at but bleaching it to lighten (No matter what the stylist or the product packaging says, lightening your hair requires some kind of bleach which is damaging) make dry hair even more dry. And with this thick, kinky hair, I just don't want to deal with it being dry and feeling unmanageable. Dry hair leads to breakage and all the extraneous trips to the salon for "treatments" to treat the dry hair add up. Salon trips in 2016 could be squeezed in the budget but in 2017....ain't NO wiggle room in this full-time entrepreneur's hair budget. LOL!

If you're thinking about coloring your hair:

1. GO TO A PROFESSIONAL! I cannot say that enough. Someone who is, not only licensed, but who also stays current on the most effective products and techniques. Charda applied a technique for coloring my thick and kinky hair to prevent damage. 
2. Think about the costs beyond the initial applications. Just like transitioning from having a relaxer to natural, the way you maintain your hair and the products you use should change because your hair has been changed and is changing. If you don't want to invest in the products and increased visits to the salon, be prepared for your hair to dry out and break off, requiring you to cut it because, I don't care what anyone tells you, you have to cut damaged hair off.
3. Pay attention to your hair afterward. Your hair is a part of your body. It tells you when something isn't right. Fairy knots mean it's time for a trim. Not holding a style or other curl means you need a "treatment".