In Hot Pursuit of the Ginge...

For about two months and counting I've been trying to figure out a way to get my hair to the perfect shade of red...not dark cherry, not fire truck red, not orange...
In a perfect world I would be able to pull off a Christina Hendricks-type look. However, I am not quite blessed enough in the aesthetics department to run around with flaming orange hair and still look like the sex. I know this. I am at least that much in touch with reality.

After several botched attempts, I decided that this kind of project was out of my hands and went to a salon for professional coloring for the first time in my life.
Long story short, I left the salon with hair as dark as ever, but with beautiful red tones that only showed in the sun. Which was nice enough, but not what I wanted and definitely not what I forked over my hard earned cash for.

So today I decided to take another stab at it. I'm still pretty much house-bound due to this nasty cold/allergy/virus/bullshit. I needed a good time-consuming, indoor, non-exhausting activity. As it turns out, I made a good choice, although after a few hours of inhaling peroxide and whatnot, I was sure I could feel my brain cells slipping away.

Anyway, here is what I did:

1: Colorfix. This stuff is miraculous, but you have to use it the right way. It basically removes all of the built up dye in your hair without bleaching it. This was the third time I've used it and while I recommend it with five shining stars, it works in mysterious ways that you need to know about beforehand. For extensive reviews, read this page. I did two applications, plus the third step processing lotion which I had always tossed out before. Turns out if you're coloring your hair directly after using Colorfix, you should definitely go through step 3.
2: A shit-ton of protein conditioner.
3: Wella Color Charm dye, as opposed to boxed colors.
4: Another shit-ton of protein conditioner.

The results?
I will post them tomorrow. The pictures above show my hair before any of these shenanigans, and then after the Colorfix, but before the processing lotion and dye. This stage was kind of exciting for me because for a few fleeting moments, at certain angles while squinting and strategically hiding my dark eyebrows, I found myself to resemble Tori Amos. I tried to capture this likeness on the camera but quit after a while, coming to terms with the fact that it was mostly all in my head.