the new me is sort of like the old me

Most of you know that this dark hair of mine has not always been ... well, dark. Growing up in the OC of course I had blond hair, mostly because my hair was so easily bleached out by the sun and my beach/pool going summers ... until I started working. I started highlighting my hair when I was 16 and started working during the summers and on weekends. That went on until college when I decided to go darker and while I did have a stint of highlights for a six or eight month period of time in college, for the most part I have steadily gone darker. It makes me feel older and more sophisticated, sort of.

This last October (2006) I donated my hair to locks of love and also got back to my roots ... the natural color of my roots that is. Since July (2006) I have not highlighted or dyed my hair and because my hair grows incredibly fast, when I cut 13 inches I was basically cutting off most of my dyed hair. Because I do not see my family nearly enough living across the entire continental United States they tend to forget how dark my hair really is (I too tend to forget and I see me in the mirror everyday!) It takes a while for people that we have known our whole lives to replace that mental image etched in their minds. I would estimate it takes 2-3 years for our own self-image to catch up with reality (in my mind's eye I am younger, blonder, and thinner than I actually am - one could argue that we all think along those lines). Up until about 8 months ago I would still catch myself doing a double take in the mirror, forgetting my hair was sooo dark ... and I have had dark hair for about 4 years!

So now that my mental image of myself is getting some-what in line with reality, I decided to change it up for the summer (just trying to keep my life interesting I guess or maybe I am trying to recapture my responsibility free youth). In honor of my family who still (and probably always will) picture me as a blond, I have gone lighter! I post the pictures here to provide documentation. The lighting is not the best, but I hope you get the idea. I am still trying to warm up to it - I think the front is a bit too light for my taste, but hey its just hair and it will grow. I can change it any time I want.

Me and my new hair!
(check out the pictures to the right to do a before and after comparison)

Picture is kind of washed out, but I also got my make-up done.
I told the woman that I wanted to bring out my eyes more but with
natural/neutral colors. I kind of think she pulled it off.

This is a technical shot - can you see the highlights?

This is what I do not like about highlights - it looks too streaky ...
I am waiting for them to fade.

Funny cyclops shot (my hair is never this big)!