First here’s my warning- if in doubt ask a cosmetologist! Lucky for me I happen to have a mom, 3 sisters, a brother, 2 nieces, and many cousins that are all cosmetologists or have had the training in the past so the advice is always available.

Lets start by saying- I am a natural red head.  However, my particular shade of red is in my (and other’s) opinion the ugliest shade.  It’s dull, light, and to me has a somewhat ash look to it.  

*Side story- a few years back I was at my sister’s salon and my niece was coloring my hair.  We were determining which shade to do and she showed me a sample and said “Isn’t this the ugliest shade? Who would ever want their hair this color?”  Well, that shade was exactly the shade of my natural hair!!*

So since I was in high school I have colored my hair.  My goal is to turn my dull red into a vibrant and rich shade instead.

Here is a picture of what my natural hair color looks like.

When I was in high school my hair was also in desperate need of conditioning.  You see my hair is VERY naturally curly.  So that tends to also make it more dry.  My mom suggested we use henna.  If you’ve never heard of henna, basically it’s a herbal and all natural hair dye.  It has the texture and smell of chopped up hay.  It’s extremely messy and rinsing it off in the shower afterwards will gross you out as the little bits of hay rinse out.

Despite the smell and mess, I used it for years.  It conditioned my hair great and once we found the right color combinations for my hair (after a few Ronald McDonald do’s- literally BRIGHT orange).  Then I didn’t henna it for a few years, and when I wanted to start coloring it again this was my first henna attempt- it turned out dark with a combination of ash and green!!! Not good!!  Lucky for me I was able to call up my family and professional hair friends and got advice to fix it.

Since then I’ve had family color my hair in one of their salons.  Here’s a couple pictures of colorings over the years.

This one is with  my hubby- isn’t he dreamy?!?

Here’s one with one of my students from when I was a high school teacher.

One from way back when I had just graduated high school!

And here’s my latest color results.

Since I moved so far away from family it was time to try the coloring myself at home kit again!  This time I tried the Garnier Herbashine kit- it was around $6 at Walmart.  I picked out a color I liked.  This was one of the best experiences coloring hair ever!!  It was virtually no mess, didn’t drip etc.  It took me about 5 minutes to put on, then had to sit on for another 10 minutes.  I got into the shower to rinse it off and it came with a deep conditioner that had to sit on for 2 minutes, which gave me long enough time to shave my legs/arms and wash up. Then it was done!!

I love the color, I love the conditioning, it’s great!! And for less than $10?!?!? I can do that! I plan to color it again every few months or so as needed.