Finding 19

Today's story is about the time I dyed my hair blonde. Yes, blonde. I was born with very dark brown hair. But when I was 20-21, that it just wasn't for me anymore and to prove my point, I dyed my tips blonde. In my defense, it wasn't the worst decision I made, but it definitely wasn't the best.

Part of the reason why I made this decision was I wanted change. I was in college, and, let's be honest, everyone experiments in college. For me, I just took the hair route, and decided that dark brown hair just wasn't appealing anymore.

I started with dyed tips, although I wanted an ombre, this was the result I ended up with. Unfortunately, the hairstylist I saw didn't have an idea how to achieve this look, but she just applied a lot of bleach to the ends of my hair, because that's what the picture looked like.  But nonetheless, this is what I wanted, and at the time, it was the greatest thing I had ever done.  I felt so cool, I felt so mature, it felt so right.

Looking back at pictures, I just question why I did this to myself. In fact, I deleted most of this hair era off my Instagram, because the less prove the better. My hair actually looked super dry and damaged. This look wasn't cute and at 20 years old, I loved it.

But, I first saw a problem with my hair after the photos came back from my dad's wedding, which was the summer of 2014. I,immediately, made an appointment at the salon. Don't be fooled, I didn't go to get the blonde taken out. I got more added in and in this trip I had a melt-ombre.

Now with my hair looking much better than before, I felt more confident. But I didn't feel like me. Unfortunately, one key component I never measured was how blonde hair would look on me. While I thought it looked great, something still felt missing.

I am of Irish decent, so I have naturally pale-pink skin and, of course, freckled. While my hair screamed beach-bum with a hint of style, it didn't fit my complexion. But, hey, it only took me another year to figure it out.

By July 2015, I was back to my dark brown hair, and all felt right with the world.

But my intent of this story wasn't to turn you off from the ombre or dying your hair blonde. For me, it was the beginning of learning to love myself.

I was made this way for a reason. I was given dark hair and pale skin. It makes me, who I am. While occasionally, I add a red tint to it, I have stayed in the dark family for a while, and I love every minute of it.

Of course, I wish I could pulled off the sun-kissed blonde waves, but that's not the way that was intended. But I feel that experimenting was the only way to prove it to me. Life is full of what-ifs, and if you never act on them, you never know.

Now that I have ended with a cliche saying, I hope you have some insight on your next hair adventure. I hope it opens doors for you, and allows you experience how the other half lives. But most of all, I hope it teaches you to love yourself, no matter what your hair looks like.