Guest Blog Post by Janet
Ladies,
Let me start of by saying, Tamika Bell is the BEST!!!! She is a wonderful, knowledgeable stylist who understands the *ahem* eccentricities of her hair sisters.
I was nervous for a number of reasons, but mainly because I had not set in a stylists’ chair in over a year and you know, LHCF can make a girl paranoid, lol…but she quickly calmed my fears. She is so down to earth and she talked me through everything that she was about to do to my hair.
As you know, my primary reason for visiting her was to get those pesky greys covered!!! As she started pre-detangling my hair, she realized that my greys were more than a notion- she informed me that I, at 32, was about 50% grey–she said that every other strand was a grey strand!!!!! That took a minute to digest because I was not ready for that- but she did say that they were the pretty silver streaks (not that that was much of a consolation). By the way, she did a great job at covering them!!!
I explained to her that my other nervousness came from the fact that today would be a length check and I was worried that I still hadn’t retained what I should have…she comforted me and she told me that she would take pics- very understandable and encouraging…
Cut to chase: Ladies…when I tell you that my hair has not budged…I have not retained anything since the last time that I straightened which was in March…I’m still about 1.5-2 inches from WL…My retention has stalled…Tamika told me exactly the reason: this high-lifted color…
After Tamika finished straightening me out, she said that her heart dropped when she saw the look on my face because I knew before she turned me around what the deal was. Ya’ll I wanted to cry–she gave me a big hug (like a mama would and it made me even more emotional–but I held it together).
I appreciated the fact the she felt my pain and knew that yes, even though I’m at MBL and that is what many consider long hair- that, I was understandably disappointed and she didn’t look at me as being a drama queen.
So here’s the cautionary tale ladies…I am still all for coloring, but there is a fine line between using color and growing hair…@dontspeakdefeat told me that if she had been my stylist and she knew that I was interested in length, she would have given me a choice- obviously I would have chosen length, because there are so many other colors that are not as harsh as this bright blonde that I have on my head.
I can acknowledge that although I haven’t lost any length, I would certainly call this color a setback because for the past 7 months, my hair has been at the same length!!!
As down as I was, Tamika suggested a game plan- something that she did for her daughter who had a similar color and similar issues–we are going to put a darker color over this blonde to kind of coat/protect my ends, so hopefully, that will put an end to the breakage (cause that’s what’s happening)…So, in a few months- maybe around September, I will go back for the change (I haven’t been dark in YEARS)–I’m not excited about giving up my blonde but something has got to give–I’m about to lose it…but at least September-December will give me a few months to retain something…
And…on the bright side, I can color- just never this harsh again–so I’ve been looking at a red anyway… Alright–enough talking–here are the pics.
Once I saw that I hadn’t retained anything- I was kinda like *forget* it…
Of course, when I got home, I took a pic in my “tracking” bra, so you could get a more accurate look.
Oh, and she did dust too..
