Daytime TV

So it's been awhile since I've been at home during the day... I've discovered that in the FOURTH HOUR (yes the FOURTH HOUR) of the Today Show, every Friday Hoda and Kathie Lee do an ambush makeover on people lined up at Rockefeller Plaza. Today, they completed a makeover on a middle-aged woman with no less than THREE hair colors. Seriously - she had completely white gray 3 inch roots, with a lighter red middle section of her hair and darker roots. It was quite possibly the most hideous thing I've ever seen. She confessed that she'd recently been laid off, and that she had not colored her hair in "awhile" because hair color was a luxury.

People, if you have tri-colored hair, hair color is NOT A LUXURY. Particularly when you can go the CVS that's on every corner in every major city in the US (including New York I'm sure) and pick up a box of hair color for less than $10. Sometimes in the Sunday paper they'll even run a coupon for $5 off the hair color that I normally use, Clairol Natural Instincts. I understand there's a recession going on, but unless you are a Victoria's Secret Supermodel in serious need of a sandwich, how about you skip lunch and treat yourself to a box of hair color, eh?? 20 minutes later and you can rid yourself of that mess on top of your head.

There's a part of me that even prefers using the drugstore hair color over having my hair colored at a salon. Inside the magic box is a color solution that is the same every single time -- meaning that you can anticipate that you will not have any surprises at the end of your coloring session. It can be extremely difficult for salons to provide the same results. Colorists personally mix their solutions each time you come in, and in my experience (and I've had LOTS of coloring experience) it's never really the same twice. Close, but not exactly the same. Not so with the box. The only tricks to at-home hair color are the color you pick and the amount of time you leave it on. Simple instructions if you've never attempted to color your hair:

1) Don't pick permanent hair color. Permanent color always turns out darker (or lighter if you are going blonde) than most people expect, and takes a long time to correct and/or grow out. I would guess than 99.9% of professional salon colorists don't use permanent hair color either. Semi-permanent color grows out more naturally and is less harsh on your hair. And if you goof - it's not nearly as traumatic as trying to "fix" permanent color.

2) Know the hair color lingo -- "warm" = red tones. Cool = neutralizes red tones. Ash = No red at all. In the past year, I've used two different colors (both natural instincts):

Nutmeg - after several coloring sessions, this ended up a tad darker than I wanted. I also started to think that the red tones were a little much -- I LOATHE red in my hair. It can be very hard to find a rich brown without red tones. So - I picked a lighter brown with ASH in the title:

Clove it is. This color has worked out pretty great in my opinion, and is a warm brown (not black!) with no red. One of the best parts about Natural Instincts is that it comes with a large tube of conditioner -- likely the best conditioner I've ever tried. It never fails to make my hair feel soft and silky, no matter how many times I've used the dry shampoo in between washings or the endless teasing I subject my hair to (that's another post). So there it is people. Take a look in the mirror today, and if tri-colored hair is what you see-- get thee to a drugstore ASAP.