Why Oh Why All the Hair Dye?
I have dyed my hair a lot of different colours! In fact, the last time my hair was natural (other than roots) I was 13. I have been asked many times by lots of different people why I have pink/orange/blue/purple/red hair and I’ve always said something along the lines of ‘because why have brown hair when I can do this?’ I’ve not spent much time in my life thinking about it, but the only other reason I was aware of is that it made me different and stand out. But in the past year I’ve been doing a bit of self-discovery and think I’ve identified some other reasons.
During my more angsty teenage years I have now realised I dyed my hair to make myself less approachable. I had a lot of social anxiety back then (still do but I handle it better now) and I think the bright hair and weird clothes i used to wear (again still do but I own it better now) was a way of putting off people from talking to me. I liked to be noticed, and never cared much if it was for positive or negative reasons, and I enjoyed the shock factor. Hearing people whispering to each other about how outrageous I looked was quite satisfying.
Another reason I have uncovered is that dyeing my hair a different colour is the easiest way to make myself look completely different. I wouldn’t ever get cosmetic surgery as I believe issues I have with the way I look come from my mind rather than my body. But I have seen a pattern with dyeing my hair and times of low self-confidence. It does make me feel somewhat refreshed and wanting to make more of an effort with my appearance to show off my new hair colour. I also think it generally brightens my mood. The world is such a grey place and people always look so miserable on their daily commutes. I love feeling like I’m a pop of colour in a grey world!
Nowadays I know I dye my hair mainly because I enjoy it. I see the way I adorn myself as a form of art, and I am the canvass. I do still think there are elements of wanting to refresh my look to help my self-confidence, but I don’t necessarily see that as a bad thing. Giving yourself a make-over in any sense can be a great way to improve your self-confidence, and personally I think It’s important to work on yourself to feel good in the way you look.
If you are someone who dyes your hair a lot, I wonder have you ever thought about why exactly you change your hair colour?
