Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Hair Coloring by Picture

I would have to say my hair color has always been somewhat of a signature for me. I have been dying my hair every shade under the sun since I was a freshman in high school. I have prided myself on never knowing what my real hair color is and never knowing if there is any gray.

You have heard me say over and over again that Switzerland is so ridiculously expensive. Well, going to the salon is no exception to the rule. The place down the street from my flat charges between 135-165 CHF just for a cut. So, since we have moved here almost 6 months ago, my hair hasn't been touched. For some reason this feels like my way to keep control over our expenses. I feel like I have some sort of power over the system. I know this sounds lame, but now that I am a hausfrau, this is my little way of "paying" for our next weekend excursion.


I can only be so strong though. I have still not cut my hair, but it might have been Mom's first day in town that we went and bought hair dye. This was an adventure in and of itself. Imagine yourself surrounded by box after box of hair dye all in a different language. That was the first challenge. Just figuring out which to buy. Luckily, between my mom's French (that she hasn't used since college) and my beginner German we found the non-permanent, washout variety.

Next, we had to decipher the instructions. It almost felt like breaking a code. We were dying laughing at ourselves. Mom would be interpreting the French, me the German, but when we get to a sentence in bold, red lettering with the word "Achtung!" next to it we broke down and used the old trusty Google translate just to verify our guess. I think it took us about two hours to get through one page of directions. But, we did it!



The actual coloring process went smoothly and I am back to a beautiful, dunkle schokolade color. Thank goodness. And, all this hotness for only 20 CHF.



For any expat with similar hair needs and tight wallet strings, I have included our translation of the instructions. Just know, these are for those individuals who have NOT colored their hair in over three months. We used L'oreal Casting Creme Gloss #323 Dunkle Schokolade -- the same shade as Penelope Cruz.

Put gloves on. Cover exposed area around you.

Preparation:
1. Take casting creme gloss tube and mix into the the white "milch" tube.
2. Put applicator tip on.
3. Shake it.
4. After all mixed up, take off cover on the tip.

Application (if haven't colored hair in the past 3 months):
1. Wet hair. No shampoo. Towel dry.
2. Apply strand by strand the mixture through the tube applicator (duh)
3. Distribute all over. Use all the gunk.
4. "Impregnate" or massage into all the hair.

**Have a glass of wine and wait 20 minutes**

Conditioning:
1. Add a little lukewarm water and work it through your hair.
2. Rinse til it runs clear.
3. Massage a generous amount of the Royal Jelly.
4. Wait 2 minutes.
5. Rinse with lukewarm water completely.
6. Save extra Royal Jelly and use as conditioner to prolong coloring.

If you think you did a crappy job, go buy your natural color and do it again!

5 comments:

  1. Thanks for the instructions! I am also considering going this route to save money at the hairdresser. We've been here 6 months now too and I've been to the hairdresser once and not been very happy with the result..

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  2. Glad that this helps. I have heard horror stories about going to the hairdressers, mostly because of the language barriers. A friend had one side of his head cut noticeably shorter than the other side. He ended up wearing a hat until he finally got it fixed...and that was a guys haircut. How can you screw that up?

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  3. Yes... all that hotness for approx. 160 CHF less than the salon! :) Well done!

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  4. This is hilarious. Yes, I avoid Swiss hair salons like the plague. I've gone for almost 12 months without a haircut. I mean give me a break, my husband has to pay CHF 50 just for his haircut. In the states, he just got a cut for $12. Hmm.

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  5. I am glad someone is as nuts as me. Josh gets his haircut at work for $40 which is still ridiculous.

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