Once Upon a Time, my dear friend Katie W. (perhaps you know her as KT Dubs) volunteered to play with my hair.  I had some temporary hair color - Splat Washables - that I had yet to try.  

I have ALWAYS (ok... maybe not always... but for at LEAST the last 3 or 4 years) wanted to add some super bright colors to my hair.  So I bought these a while ago, thinking temporary was a good way to have a rebellious few days and then quick recovery back to adulthood.

Armed with pink and purple, and the support of our loved ones (Krista, Shannon, and Cici), my artiest settled in and got to work.

All in all?  The color went in nicely and when it dries it's a little powdery - i.e. won't make your hair crusty and weird (NICE!) but therefore might rub off a bit... so don't wear light colored clothing!  Oh, and be prepared to blow your nose in technicolor...

Not too bad, right??

So I go to the farmers' market like this... And started getting all kinds of compliments!  My favorite?  The little old lady who told me my hair was "a rainbow of happiness!" - yup, love her.  :)

Then came this fun little challenge from JP - If I got more than 20 compliments, I had to make it permanent.  (Well, more permanent than 24-hours...)  Yup.  So that happened...

(But let's be honest... I was kind of hoping it would...)  :)

So I took a leap of faith, got THE Splat dye ("lusty lavender" - I wish I was kidding...), and just went for it!  

Before we go for the big reveal, let me just remind future-me of a few stars that aligned to make this work out as well as it did - and perhaps help out my fellow first-time extreme-colorists...  

First, my hair was super healthy to begin with - as I refreshed the purple (I re-dyed it a total of three times), I noticed that my ends became more and more dry.  I was really dillagent with conditioner though and careful not to over-wash it, which definitely helped.  Plus, that helped me keep the color vibrant longer.

Second, my hair color was already set up in a really nice ombre.  My roots were my natural dark brown and they had a very subtle gradual fade to blonde.  This let the purple that was closest to my face stay dark and almost unnoticeable (believe it or not) and then it faded to a more vibrant purple (and later magenta and then light pink as the color faded with washing over the weeks).  

Third, I chose a color ("lusty lavender," remember) that I thought would best mesh with my skin tone.  And along the same lines, one that I thought would fade favorably.  I lucked out that this was more of a pink-based purple, instead of a blue-based one, so it faded through shades of pink instead of getting gray and weird.  (The blondest hair actually started to look strawberry blonde by the end - like I said... I got SUPER lucky...)  Another thing that helped?  I didn't color all the way to my scalp - I left some rough roots.  1. I figured not having bright purple directly against my skin would help the "blending" process and 2. the dye stays with your skin for roughly a week... so there's that...


But!  Without further ado... The results:

Quite pretty if I do say so myself! :)

I can't lie though, the coloring in this photo is a little weird... it was actually a lot more purple when I took it, instead of pink.  It turned pink like this about three weeks later.  Thank you, phone camera for the foreshadowing!

So maybe this one is a little more accurate, color-wise...

I realize the white balance in these is relatively terrible... in different directions... but work with me people!  The one on the right is actually pretty accurate...

BUT I LOVE IT!!  Plus it matches my ballroom dresses... :)

Back in February we packed up with the team and headed out to Holy Cross for (you guessed it I'm sure...) DANCING! :)

Matt and I only went out for Smooth - we left the competition early so that we could get back in time to go to the monthly USA Dance that night!  (Sunday competitions are so hectic!)  

Main reason we had to get back for it?  We were one of the showcase performances! We danced our Tango - I'm not usually one to toot my own horn but... wow.  I can't believe I don't have any video of it!!! Probably some of the best dancing we've done... We went for it and held nothing back!  (Plus, they PACKED the dance floor at Holy Cross, which made Smooth... well... a little rough!  So I think we were both pretty amped up over that and had a lot of angst to flavor our Tango) :)


Anyways!  Katie got a few great photos that I figured I'd share.  (The big windows in the ballroom were beautiful but made avoiding backlighting a little rough... but you get the idea anyway!)

I think this one might be my favorite from the day though!

Sure my face is covered, but whatever!!  Still an awesome action shot.  :)

I know, I know, I know... back in January I teased you with my upcoming Ph.D. Qualifying Exam.  And then promptly fell of the face of the planet.

Let's just say... When you walk out of the room it's a little something like this:

And is very quickly followed by a few weeks of this:

And finally a good month of: 

.... no, but seriously...


Long story short, I presented, I passed, JP and Krista picked up the pieces, we went out for lunch (Ali Baba's), I cried, I napped, read a non-scientific book, stared off into space for a few days, and then moved on.

BUT!  The most important part is, I passed!! :)  

Now I just have to start my thesis work... hmm.... 'bout that...