My Knight in White Reflective Armor

For those of you who don’t remember, I’m fair. In my 20’s and even into my early 30’s, every summer my hair would get bleached naturally from the sun and would get light streaks in it. It happened every year and I seldom thought about it - I never really did anything to my hair, no perms, no color, not even haircuts. So, once when a friend of mine asked me about my hair, I was understandably confused.

My friend: “Who does your hair?”

Me, clueless: “Does what to my hair?”

My friend, with one eyebrow distinctly raise: “Your highlights...”

Me, having to pause to think for a moment and looking even more stupid than usual: “Oh, that. No one. The sun. They’re natural.”

I wasn’t sure she ever really believed me. But, when my hair began to darken in my late 30’s and it no longer seemed to be affected by the sun (possibly because I didn’t catch a glimpse of Mr. Sun for months at a time while I was busy birthin’ babes), I missed the lightening effect during the summer months. For a few years, I got it highlighted in December or January to lighten up my face and the highlights would last for the whole year. But it’s been several years since I had it highlighted and I was sorrowfully missing it.

Like any good woman practicing being as cheap as possible (I just have trouble paying $60 to make my hair the color the sun used to make it for free) I decided to take matters into my own hands. I bought a color kit from Wal-Mart, invested in a highlight cap and tool from the beauty supply store, and whacked off a hunk of hair in the back underneath to use for a color test.

If you’ve never attempted to highlight your own hair, you have a treat in store for you. It would be worth making up to your worst enemy if necessary to get help with highlighting. The problem is using the little crochet hook to pull hair through the holes in the cap. The front and sides worked out okay, although not exactly easy, and my arms got horribly tired, but when I got to the back and could no longer see the tool or the holes in the cap, I knew I was in trouble. I did my best to pull a few strands in the back through the cap and then decided I’d just go with the flow.

When I pulled the cap off and rinsed my hair, the first thing I noticed was that it had strawberry blonde highlights. I have never, in my entire life, been a strawberry blonde. My sister Trina, and her daughter Amanda, who love to play with their hair color, have tried streaks in almost every color short of dark brown: strawberry blonde, platinum, ash, auburn, and even darker brown than their natural color. But not me. I'm a blonde. No strawberry for me. I called her and complained that my hair was strawberry. And her response was, of course, "You've never been a strawberry blonde!" This came as a huge surprise to me.

I guess natural was a little out of the question. But I managed to get different shades of blond in different spots, depending on the length of time each strand processed and, in general, I really liked the results.

After several weeks, the red highlights died down and I was left with soft blonde streaks, the exact look I was going for. I even went to my hairdresser for a trim and she commented that she really liked my color. I was thrilled beyond belief and told her I had done it myself. She was very surprised (a clue she was telling the truth) and commented on how hard it is to do colorations on yourself. Was I ever smug!!!

It’s been several months now and my highlights had grown out about 2 inches, leaving very dark roots that really can’t even be described as roots anymore - more like two-tone hair. So, while I was at Winn-Dixie, trying to scarf up any Going Out of Business deals, I got a highlight kit.

Yesterday afternoon I donned my old T-shirt, pulled out the kit, mixed the creme with the powder, and began the process. I wanted to be certain to really get the roots around my face, so I coated them especially well. After the appropriate processing time, I washed, conditioned, towel-dried, and blow-dried my hair. It appears that I did a great job covering the roots. So good, in fact, that around my face my hair is practically white (did I mention I'm FAIR?). Further back, away from my face, I have thin RED highlights (surprise, surprise). Still further back, I have light blonde highlights blending with my natural darker-color hair.

It was quite shocking. The children were a little skeptical when they saw me (putting it mildly - Daelyn wasn't sure who I was). We took off for church. Deanna has Choir on Wednesday’s and Don and I started Handbells last night. He directs and I do my best to keep up. So, on Wednesday’s, we eat at 5:00, leave at 5:30, and meet Don at church as he arrives from work.

I was standing in the doorway of the fellowship hall chatting with a friend when Don walked by. He stopped for a quick kiss and headed in to get set up. When I went in, several people glanced at me and I heard at least one gasp and one other person sucking their breath in quickly. One brave, very dishonest soul loudly said that she loved my hair. I commented to whomever wanted to listen that I didn’t think Don had noticed yet. Don - my sweet, loving husband who hates change, wants me to leave my hair exactly the way it is (no curling, no wave perms, no cuts, no color...), and is not a particularly observant person by nature (when we were first married, I used to joke that I could walk naked in front of Don and, if he noticed at all, he'd ask if I needed him to crank the air conditioning up some). Without looking up from his director’s podium, Don said, “She must have just done it. It hasn’t settled down yet. After a few days, it’ll blend better, look more natural, and be beautiful.”

What a man!! I knew there was some reason I’m crazy about him. How many of you can say your husbands know that highlights will tame down over time? And how many husbands can rise to the defense of their wives in front of a gaggle of women without even looking up from the podium.

My hair might be white, my skin fair, but he's the FAIREST of them all!!