When I was in middle school I claimed my hair was just really, really dark brown because I was tired of being so different from everyone. Truth is, I have the blackest of black hair. If you go blindfolded into a windowless room in the middle of a Minnesota winter and squeeze your eyes shut, you will see my hair color. There are no highlights or lowlights (whatever those are) or flyaway strands that soak up the summer sun.
One summer in England my uber creative and fashionable cousin and I dyed our hair purple. We were a tish sloppy and got scolded for smearing purple dye on the tiles of the bathroom. Then my cousin gave me a makeover, which made me look like a chubby cheeked punk rocker wannabe. Highly unattractive. She’s come a long way, baby. Then there was the time in boarding school that I bleached a stripe in my hair à la Josie and the Pussycats. A bunch of my hallmates were dyeing their hair one night, and in an effort to fit in (again), I joined in. It was hideous, and clumps of my hair fell out.
I haven’t monkeyed with my hair since.
In fact, my beauty regimen is pretty low maintenance. I get a haircut every so often. I get my brows waxed (for ten bucks). I buy drugstore brands based on what has a telltale red sticker on it marked for clearance. And of course, I bathe (almost daily) and slap on mascara and liquid eye liner. I don’t own blush or foundation, and I don’t use any product in my hair. I don’t go to a fancy salon. I don’t get get facials or manicures or body wraps. I don’t do day spas. I don’t soak in fancy bath salts or lather up in French soap. I don’t nip or tuck or dip anything in paraffin. I don’t color my hair.
Til now.
This is what I bought yesterday.
Packaging is everything, and I was a sucker for the 100% gray coverage claim. I’m gonna wash this gray right outta my hair. I’m enlisting the help of my friend Christy, who will know she’s my accomplice when she reads this post. One thing is for certain, we are NOT going to drink one of these until after the dyeing is done.
Silver Slash
1 ounce Patron Silver
Juice of 1 lemon
1 tablespoon vanilla brown sugar simple syrup(Just add a couple drops of vanilla when you make the simple syrup.)
Splash tonic
Sprinkle sea salt
Lemon twist
Make brown sugar simple syrup and set aside. Fill a cocktail shaker with ice. You know not to use a crappy plastic one, right? Pour in the Patron Silver. Squeeze in the juice of one lemon and add the simple syrup and a splash of tonic. Give it a shake. Strain into a martini glass. Sprinkle with just an ever so slight tish of sea salt. Garnish with a lemon twist.
Now wish me luck as Christy and I pretend my head is a giant Barbie styling head. Cheers to admitting to and succumbing to my vanity!
I love how you use the word “tish” a lot. It’s a nice fingerprint, if you will.
You’re more of a girl than I am, though I like to dye a blue streak in my hair from time to time. Someone, though, just the other day, asked me if the silver/grey in the front was natural or dyed in. That was kind of a hoot. She liked it; and wondered if I’d actually had it done. As if.
There is simply no replacement for “tish.” I do find I use it a lot. If I ever get my cookbook written, you’ll see it there too (because I never measure anything).
My friend Cyndi (@convertiblelife) told me today that her daughter calls gray hair “sparkles.” I love that. I might go with that if this dye job goes awry.
Someone told me the other day what a beautiful color my hair was and then asked if it was natural. I couldn’t answer right away, because I was laughing so loud. But good on Sherry for concocting such a beautiful color she applies to my head every so often. 🙂
Cheers!