Maybe it's because I became a mom. The truth is, after eight years of parenthood, most of those spent either working from home or staying at home with the kids, I have lost almost all sense of beauty. I wear makeup once a month (if that) and I do get my hair blown out on occasion and styled monthly, but for the past eight years, I have had the exact same hair color. Brown with blond highlights.
In other words, I was so in need of a change.
I had been watching a lot of celebrities go "ombre" recently. The style is really kind of genius. If you look at it, it mostly looks just like dark roots with light tips. It's definitely not something new but it looks great. It's a youthful vibe that reminds me of all the summers I used to spend at the pool.
Around this time of year, this is what my hair always looked like — dark at the base with bleached out ends. I had decided last week that I wanted to do something fairly drastic and initially had considered going plum berry (a deep reddish purple) or red again, but both require enormous amounts of maintenance and for me, with three kids and a busy job, low-maintenance is the name of the game. Ombre it is. This is me before:
Unfortunately, my hair appointment was only for a partial foil so my hope to get a full, deep ombre look was foiled (pun intended), but my hair stylist was able to do a "taste of ombre" as she called it, which, for a mom, is a good way to try something new without being shocked silly.
The main difference between this and my usual partial foil seemed to be the fact that she painted it through. She used long foils that reached my ends, but at the top, the color was thorough in order to darken my roots. See the result below:
The difference is not dramatic, it's true. But I am reasonably confident that it will last me until my next appointment on Jan. 3 and it's a little different, just enough to bring me out of my mom doldrums and make me feel a little fresher in my look. My kids noticed, too.
"You are dark on top, mommy!" my daughter screamed when I walked in the door.
My friend also warned me that ombre has the tendency to look "trashy" when unkempt, so hopefully the new style will force me to be a little more diligent about my upkeep. A little more time with the hair dryer, a little less time with the top knot. That can only be a good thing.
We moms need to change things up, too. Shake up the mix. I still probably won't wear makeup every day, but at least when I wear my hair down I feel like things look a little different than before. That has to count for something!
Would you ever try ombre?
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