Blonde vs. Redheaded

When I dyed my hair back in November, I told myself that I had to keep it red for at least three dye cycles (so, about 4-5 months). Red dye is notoriously prone to fading, and wreaks havoc on blonde hair when you try to get it out. So, I was determined to stay redheaded for awhile, but the plan was always to go blonde again for the summer. In fact, I was not particularly excited to have it re-dyed red the last time I went. I missed my old hair.

Now that the summer is practically upon us, and I have a good half-inch of blonde roots peeking from under the red "ends" (which are about two feet long), I'm not sure I'm ready to give up on the red.

I'm a little attached to it.

Don't get me wrong. I love being a blonde. My curly, blonde hair has always been my most recognizable feature. It was fun being the only blonde woman when I did A Christmas Carol, and I'm pretty proud of the fact that up until last summer I hadn't had it highlighted in about 15 years -- I'm a REAL blonde.

But, I feel like the red goes better with my usually whiter-than-white skin tone, and I love that there are so few curly-haired redheads (or redheads in general) and I could pretend to be one of them. You wouldn't believe how many compliments I get from people who believe I'm a natural ginger. I'm cute as a redhead, too.

On the other hand, if I went back to blonde, I wouldn't have to worry about my roots growing out, the color fading, or damaging my hair with additional dye jobs, and I could use the extra cash for something else. Plus I kind of miss the blonde.

Sometimes I feel like being a blonde isn't as special as being a redhead.

And there's the hope that I'll get to spend a crazy amount of time in the pool this summer. Chlorine and red dye don't play well together, and spending that much time in the pool would be hard enough on my hair.

Yes, I am aware that this post is more-than-usually vain. It doesn't matter what color my hair is. It's pretty either way. I guess the real question is whether I'm ready for a change, and if I decide to go blonde again, am I ready to face the fact I might have to have a significant cut to shed the potentially severe damage?

I've decided to wait at least two weeks. After that time, I will have the results back on all of the plays I auditioned for last week. If I do one, I'll present the idea of staying red or going blonde and let the director decide (that's what I did during The 1940s Radio Hour, which lead to the perfect excuse to going red in the first place). I want to get this question resolved sooner rather than later, because I am starting to loathe my blonde roots. My natural color is such that, peeking out from the red the way it is, I'm paranoid that it looks like I'm trying to cover up some gray. It's possible I do have gray hair on top of my head (I know I do in my eyebrows), but this is a bit worse than I can handle.

If I don't do one of these shows... I think I'll go back to blonde. As much as I love the red, it might be time to go blonde again. I wonder if I'll get the same surprise every time I look in the mirror for the three months after that I did after going red. It took awhile to get used to, but I have loved it!

After all, in another 18 months I'll probably feel impatient for another color-change and go red again... that's about as long as it takes to need another change!