Skunk Tales

Transitioning to the silver puts you in the old mindset that you can just color your way until you reach the final grow out stage. My first trip to the hairdresser killed all that hope. I thought I could dye my hair silver until it grew out. First, that would have been a shock to my system. Second, no human can match the beautiful silver that nature has created.

I learned that there are highlights and lowlights that can be added but read the accounts of those that had them- they oxidize and turn orange-y. It also prolongs the grow out from 21 (read as twenty-freakin'-one) months, to 32 months. And let's not forget, that's another trip to the salon every 2-4 weeks. So then your options become grow out the skunk stripe or pixie cut.

I am a girl with very thick, abundant, and coarse hair, not unlike a horse's mane (except they don't need mass amounts of product to prevent frizzing). I also live in a swamp climate in the South. My fear is by going short I will look much like my dad in the '70s with his topiary-like afro. I doubt he'll relent to letting me post those photos so I'll use a stock photo (think Bob Ross). My unfortunate tangle with short hair came about in the seventh grade when I tried to do a Sheila E type cut with a tiny rattail on the side. Oh, too bad I accidentally incinerated any living proof of those moments. Maybe I can learn from my mistakes after all!

So a lot comes out of growing the skunk stripe. You try ridiculous methods to strip the color out of your hair (even industrial strength hair color removers did NOTHING), I take Biotin vitamins to try to make my hair grow faster, I mix baking soda with my shampoo to try to lighten the color, etc., etc.

At the end of the day, I made the decision to rock the skunk stripe. Do I 100% rock it every day? No. I was super self-conscious at first but now I've become so used to it that I forget it and when I do see it I become this uber-vain girl that just stares at and fluffs her hair. But just challenge me when I see this cute boy who used to love my red hair in a couple of weeks. Let's see how confident I am when I have a date and he doesn't know about my hair skunkitude. Will report on that when it happens!