If you also get social anxiety when you are not pleased with a service, this goes out to you. This is my timeline of how long it took for me to like my new hair color, and what events took place in the meanwhile. 

I was too scared to tell my oh, so kind hair lady that I was unhappy with the color results. How could I tell her? She spent her time washing, detangling, dying, toning, deep conditioning, blow drying, straightening, and then trimming my hair. At what point in that full-with-effort process could I say, oh by the way, Lea, can you turn my bright red hair and tone it for a bit longer so it is more brown? Well I guess at any point before blow drying I could have said that. 

In January of 2023, I got subtle brown honey highlights. This was my first time straightening my hair since 2019, so my kinky, curly hair was in the best state, strength-wise, to put heat and dye upon it.  

Look at how happy I was with such little highlights!

As a real October Scorpio, I decided to pump up the engine and go full-throttle with the hair dye three weeks ago. My inspo picture was of a young girl with a skin complexion and hair type that resembled mine, so I thought, what could go wrong? Read it & weep:

10:00 am – I was sat in the chair, and already I messed up. I forgot that I was supposed to come with my hair stretched/detangled, which I forgot. I drove from NYC to my hometown in New Jersey (which is 52 miles out of West Manhattan) and did not wake up early enough to prep my hair. My hair stylist preferred to have my hair stretched when she began adding the color to my hair, but she still did a great job with the first step, despite my mistake.

10:30 am – At this point, we’ve just gotten to the sink to wash out the hair dye. We’re making timely progress, and by the looks of it, I will be right on time for a game “night” event at the Times Square Dave & Buster’s that is in 3.5 hours. 

11:40 am – I start getting quite concerned at this hour. So far, my hair has been colored, rinsed, washed, toned, rinsed, and toned again. I texted one of my best friends from home, Dylan, for moral support. I truly underestimated how long it would take for my dark hair to turn light, reddish, and brown. 

As someone who is a chronically anxious customer, the worst thing I could do while in the process of changing up my hair, completely, is taking a sneak peek before the final result. So, of course, what do I do? I take a peak before the final result. I was disappointed to see my hair looking orange, and I texted Dylan in distress. I was a ginger for 20 long minutes. 

Luckily, my hairstylist said to me, Oooh, girl, let’s tone this hair one more time. Music to my ears. 

12:30 pm – Finally, I am back in the salon chair to get my hair blowdried. The stylist started blowing my hair dry from the back of my head, so I was facing the wall rather than the mirror. Had she started with the front of my head, I would have faced the mirror and asked to tone my hair once more before we began drying it (I probably would have been too nervous to ask, but I would have at least pondered the thought). 

12:45 pm – DUN DUN DUNNNNN…. I am now facing the mirror. BOOM! My hair is red now, and no longer orange. It’s true what they say about closed mouths; they’ll never get fed. So what do I do, you ask? I text my mom who is at our home in Manhattan, as if she could fix my Princess Fiona colored hair. 

I hope you’ve all heard the trending TikTok sound, Mommy answer! Mommy!!! That was, in fact, me when I saw myself in the mirror. Once my mom wrote, oh no, I knew I was doomed. 

1:15 pm – Finally, my hair is all finished. Though I was unhappy with the color, by the time my hair was straightened, then curled, and styled, I was at least confident enough to walk from the salon chair to my car risking the chance of being seen. My day is not over, though. I have to make it into the city by 2 pm to be on time for the event I had to be at in TIMES SQUARE, might I add. Oh, I forgot to mention: it was pouring cats and dogs, and it seemed as though every driver in the Tri-State area forgot how to drive in a rainstorm. 

5:00 pm – After making it into the city safely and heading home from the Dave & Buster’s event, I had to get ready for my awesome family-friend/cousin’s birthday party, as well as my friend’s birthday party at Kappa Delta Rho (KDR) later that night. I started to get used to the hair color on me, but not nearly enough to roll on up to KDR. 

8:00 pm – Walking into my cousin’s birthday party, within seconds I receive such kind comments regarding my hair. Nobody knew that this was not an intentional decision, and they complimented me as if I appeared as confident as when Zendaya dyed her hair red. 

These girls helped me feel comfortable within myself, and I was happy as could be because of their support. My cousin is a recent Barnard graduate, and a current grad student at Columbia, so when I told her that I had plans at KDR later, she and her friends had a mental trip down memory lane. Oh, the good ole days, they said to me. 

After a few hours of hanging out, we took some Polaroid pictures, and I was on my merry way to KDR – not too merry, actually, because it was still raining.

12:00 am – By the end of the night, I realized that my friends and family at Barnard and Columbia would always truly fulfill me, even in my most insecure moments as a girl. 

The moral of this story is that if you ever accidentally dye your hair red, do not hibernate in your room. Get outside, see your friends, and allow them to lift you up! And maybe, just maybe, if you’re feeling oh so brave, attend a function at KDR. 

I had to include this photo of me on spring break. When I say my hair is red, I mean it.

All photos via Lauren Woodroffe