Amy and Nena Color Their Hair

Yesterday was an exciting day. I played Mr. Mom with the kids while Amy and her friend Nena had some girl time. So, what constitutes "girl time" you might ask? Well, in this case it was the coloring of the hair. This ritual no doubt dates back to Roman and Saxon days, and quite possibly has to do with early pagan rituals. I'm sure hair coloring also has Native American roots. Haha, get the pun? First, lets take a look at the before pictures:






























Now some serious history on hair coloring. A quick search on the internet revealed the following:

"Archaeologists believe that cave men used minerals, insects and plants to paint their bodies and hair." Hmmm, I wonder if they use insects in today's dyes? Anyway, "in 27 BC the Gauls dyed their hair red to indicate class rank. But in the Dark Ages, red was associated with witchcraft. Probably because the first documented natural redhead, an actual genetic error, appeared in Scotland about this time." "Blonde, it seems, has always been considered the most alluring to men. Roman law decreed that yellow or blonde was to be worn by 'women of the night,' ...Renaissance women favored golden hues, by then considered angelic, and enhanced them by mixing black sulfur, alum and honey, applying it to their hair and spreading their tresses over a brimless hat until the sun helped them achieve the shade they desired. In the 1800s, men began using silver nitrate to darken their mustaches and in 1825, the first real haircolor formulation was developed. In 1859, a German student, working with coal tar, diluted it with alcohol and the result was a purple dye. This lead to the first synthetic dye to be used on fabrics and hair." (info from http://www.hairboutique.com)

Unfortunately, I could not convice either Nena or Amy to use a purple dye. I almost conviced Amy to go blonde again, but after reading 'women of the night' phrase, I think I'm happy with the redish tint, despite the genetic error. Sorry Nena, the closest reference I could find to black was the coal tar.































The rinsing phase is perhaps the most important!




























Now for the blow drying phase. This is where the moment of truth comes!





























And finally, the end result. As you can see, the pictures reveal that there was not a change. All that work for nothing. Just kidding. The pictures at this resolution just don't do it justice. Both Nena and Amy were very pleased, and their hair turned out really nice.






























So what did I do while all this was going on? Well, if you have never seen the "Boohbahs" you are probably better off. This is what we watched. VERY exciting!