Having delayed and rescheduled my last appointment, I was due to have my next balayage session on St. Patrick’s day. I don’t treat myself to salon treatments very often (balayage just twice a year, and rare mani/pedis aside), so I was looking forward to it.
In spite of that eager anticipation of a few hours of very girly, “treat yo self,” time, my uncertainty about my hair has continued.
I enjoy having my hair a bit lighter than its virgin state, but
- Salon visits are time-consuming and inconvenient
- Salon appointments are expensive
- I wasn’t thrilled with my most recent results
I’ll call a spade a spade – I’m a demanding customer. When you spend so much on a service, you expect to walk away feeling more than just, “okay,” with it.
Other Goals
I’ve had a shift in priorities in the last six months or so. Our financial goals shifted and we decided to decrease discretionary spending. We didn’t eliminate all of our, “fun,” and had made room for certain planned things – like this. Ultimately, though, I came to question the idea of this splurge in the face of the other things (less expensive/impactful towards our goals) that I limited or eliminated.
Balayage Appointment Reminder
The Wednesday before, I received an appointment reminder that revealed the colorist I was booked with was the same one as before. I visited their site to see if they had any specials running (sometimes they did a free bonus service with a certain amount spent) but instead found that they increased their price for the balayage service by 50%. WHOA.
Coupled with my uncertainty about continuing, I decided to interpret these things as a sign to cancel. So I did.
So Now What?
My initial reaction was, “Even though I like having lighter hair, I should just wash my hands of it and let it grow out.” Maybe I should, but I’m not sure that I’m ready to let go of lighter hair yet! I really enjoy it even if I am supremely lazy and don’t style it often enough to let it really shine (it looks amazing curled).
Plus, I have a TON of purple toning shampoo and conditioner left. If I could pass them along to a friend in need, that would make sense.
What are you getting at?
I’m not too sure. Before last week, I knew virtually nothing about, “levels,” of hair, about lightener, volumes of developer, etc.
Armed with a Hermione Granger-like need to know, I pored over countless sites to figure it out. Although depositing color, particularly on hair that has already been color-treated can be complex, lifting and toning hair that has not been colored isn’t as complicated. I’ve been vacillating back and forth between, “Maybe I should try DIY!” and, “Maybe I should let it go,” since I learned how it works and what to use. If I haven’t decided by the end of June, I may as well just grow it out.