Bordeaux

If you think I talk about my hair a lot, I can tell you for sure, it's close to every three months. That's how often I get my hair done- Cut, foiled, and added "fun" color. I started with blue, went to pink that ended up being sort of purple and pink because there was leftover blue, then true pink like a fuscia, and this time....I did like a bordeaux color.

The past few times, I used one brand, don't know what it is, but while it stayed in for a few months, it certainly lost it's vibrant color within approximately four weeks. This new one, Don told me, is a Goldwell color called Elumen and it's more of a "permanent" color. He said it lasts 2-3x as long. There is also a much bigger color palatte for these colors. They have a bright pink like I had, but they also have vibrant but more toned down colors for a look that may not be as "shocking". The day after I'd get the bright one, I'd feel the eyes on me in the school parking lot when I'd go to pick up E. I'd get stopped in the supermarket and asked about it. I liked that- don't get me wrong, but there were some cons. One was that when I'd wash my hair, tons of the dye would come out. It wouldn't stain anything, like my tub, but if I'd wanted any of the highlighted blond hairs to stay that way, I'd have to wash the colored pieces separately. Truth be told, when I did the blue, that was a huge pain in the ass. Because blue color and "yellow" blond highlights mixed together are going to make green. Green is not a good color on hair. It just isn't. Or blond swimmers wouldn't bother trying to get the chlorine out of their hair.

Don did something else different this time too. I don't know what, but what my hair ended up looking like this time was EXACTLY how I'd imagined it would look the first time. I'm not a hair dresser so I don't know how stuff gets done or what it can and can't look like. He tries to explain to me but I end up just saying- Do what you want. Because it's not my specialty- he knows better than I do. Because I don't know how hair works, it's also hard to articulate what I want it to look like and I've never found any pictures of what I like. Sometimes I don't know what I like till it's done on me.

I LOVE IT. I waited until today to write anything because I wanted to see how it came out after I washed it. This time, I'm almost positive no color washed out. That was a definite plus. It stayed wherever he put it. It's got more of a purple-ish red-ish pink tone to it. I am calling it bordeaux because it looks like our bordeaux fabric we use to make lampshades. He put a handful of blond highlights in too so it's chunkier or has a more textured look to it than before. I LIKE it to look like I did something. The word "subtle is rarely in my vocabulary and I don't particularly want it in my hair. I don't want it to look like "natural" highlights. Maybe that's part personality, part Jersey? I don't know. But I want it to look like SOMETHING. Something that did not occur in nature.

I also love the element of surprise in it. Up and down- it looks different both ways. If I just part it different it achieves a different look. It's very versatile. People say to me they wish they could be "that brave" but with this permanent one, it's easy for the most gun-shy, "beige" person to try it out. It will seem like stepping totally outside their box for them, but in reality, it's not crazy or teenager looking.

And I'll say again, Don did it from start to finish. No ten different people servicing my head. I'm pretty sure his staff do the same thing with their clients. It doesn't have the snooty feel of other places I've been to where you feel the "Master stylist" is too important to do the nitty gritty from the washing to mixing color, etc. Anywhere you go, for any service, you want the person doing the work to have done their time in the trenches, learning their craft from the bottom up. That's like a lost art. In the age of reality tv from everything from cooking to actually haircutting, coloring & styling, I've been to hairdressers that think they're going to be the next Jerseylicious star. I doubt Don even knows what that is or who they are. He doesn't push for votes in contest for Best Hair ______ in Bergen County because he's too busy actually doing hair and making his salon the best it can be. He doesn't pay attention to what other salons are doing. He's going to seminars on the products he uses and carries in his space. His staff is like a little family and they follow his lead. His staff all have talent, heart and are hungry to learn.

I say all this about the staff and Don himself, because my husband has always gone locally and he's had some crazy haircutting experiences. One girl was drop dead gorgeous, really nutty, topic inappropriate (if that's a term- I just made it up in my head), didn't give the best cut and then quit because her boyfriend didn't want her having male clients. Now he's been going to someone else who just wants to engage him in right wing and uber-conservative social issue politics. I've never had a bit of drama in Salon Azano that they bring to the table. If anything, I might bring the drama in terms of my stories and I like it that way. It's just a pleasure going there.

I had B take pics of my hair but I don't feel they do the color justice. And they're gross pictures of me. But whatever- it's all about the hair, not about me and my lack of make-up. I just wanted to get them quick that first night because I was afraid some of the color would wash out. Since it didn't, maybe he can take some more pics this weekend.

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