Mrs_America

Like most people with some European genetics, I was born blonde. Adorable on kids, right? And then, when I hit puberty, my hair darkened through dishwater and settled firmly into the curse of the once-fair: mouse coloured hair. Not rich nor vibrant, no chocolate hues or golden ones, not as shiny as silvery ash. Just mousey. Plain. uninspiring. dull. invisible.

I put in some golden highlights when I was 16 and maintained them for a few years. Radiant, young, very pretty. And then I decided that I ought to have been born a red-head, as it suited my personality. My grandad was a natural redhead, and my mom had been ginger and went auburn with age, so I thought red would suit me. Putting some temporary ginger on mouse comes out a very natural looking goldeny browny red. It didn't look bad, per say, and it made a statement for sure.

But I've had a soul searching time this last year, as we all have from time to time, and decided I wanted to change my hair as a symbol of my internal resolutions (as we often do). A cut was out; I don't feel like myself unless I have tresses swinging around my shoulders, and fringe just doesn't suit. And I thought, why not go dark?

My dad is Mexican and my sister has black hair. She has my mom's porcelain skin as well, and is a vision when she wants to be. I've got my dad's olive skin but mom's green eyes and I was only a bit concerned I would look, frankly, like a patchwork freak.

But then I thought of all my role models, since my earliest youth.

My favorite Disney princess was always Belle, the lone Brunette.
Jane Russell, the tough broad I admired over Marilyn Monroe's wispy vulnerability- dark.
Xena: Warrior Princess: dark.
Catherine Zeta-Jones (as seen in the Mask of Zorro): dark
Angelina Jolie as Lara Croft: dark.
Rachel Weisz, especially as Evelyn Conahan in the Mummy films: Brunette again.

It dawned on me that of all my role models, fictitious they may be, but blonde and red headed they are not! All the strong women, the powerful women, the Morgan Le Fays of the world, are brunette. They're too busy kicking a** and taking names later to mess around touching up their roots.

I got a medium brown temporary dye and left it on at home for 25 minutes, 5 minutes over the recommended time, just to make sure all the faux red was covered.

It covered.

I am now brunette.

It's a warm brown, closer to medium than black, and I am very pleased with it. It looks natural, which is always my first priority. And it suits me far more than blonde or red ever did. My olive skin doesn't look jaundiced or clash like it did against red hair, it actually seems more evenly toned and fair against the darker backdrop.

My eyes, which looked hazel and even brown when they struggled to compete with red hair, look AMAZING against dark brown. They really pop as green and couldn't be mistaken for anything else. I'm able to ring them in a dark brown liner and have an intense smouldering eye which, against red hair, was too clownish and adolescent to wear out.

I am enjoying this dark side.