WHY DYING MY HAIR RED WAS ONE OF THE BEST THINGS I’VE DONE FOR MY CONFIDENCE

Four years ago, I made my most drastic image change to date, dying my hair a vivid hue of auburn red with the help of Headmasters (you can read the original post here to see the transformation in full). It was something I had wanted to do in forever, but hairdressers had always advised against, on the basis that reaching for the bleach could seriously damage my hair. 

Then, (to cut a long story short) my long-term boyfriend ended things, out of the blue - and like so many post-break up, I felt the need for a drastic image overhaul. It’s at this point that experts would probably advise against cultivating a new look, arguing it’s not possible to make balanced judgements when your life is in free fall.

My only regret? Not taking the plunge sooner.

For starters, the anti-bleach rhetoric is a untrue – modern techniques have moved forward leaps and bounds and bleaching can be very gentle on the follicles. In fact I found the condition of my hair improved with bleaching, taking on a slightly dryer texture, making it more manageable and lending itself to tousled, beachy waves.

Then came the revelation that dying my hair a Jessica Rabbit red hue would make me feel a zillion times more confident, like a different person altogether. When I debuted my new colour on social media quite a few friends commented how 'brave' it was to change my look so drastically. The funny thing was, I didn’t see it as remotely brave - my natural brunette hue hadn’t felt like ‘me’ for so long, whilst the new vibrant auburn felt like it fitted my  outgoing (read: slightly annoying) personality perfectly.

Four years on and I wouldn't consider returning to my brunette roots. I briefly went a subtler hue of auburn last year and it was a shock to the system – I could feel myself regressing to the post-break up girl I once knew and I didn’t like it. It’s crazy when you stop to analyse the psychology tangled up within our tresses.

If you're thinking about taking the plunge yourself, the good news is - there’s a shade of red for everyone. I recommend paying a visit to Headmasters, where the team have designed a clever menu of seven pretty washes to make you a red head to remember. The difference behind Headmaster's unique 'menu' is in the strength of the colour, so a bit like a perfumer the concentration of the colour pigment is either strengthened or diluted.

‘Our expert colourists will give you an in-depth Colour Theory Consultation where your perfect strength of tone and colour will be mixed and either applied all over for a bold finish or painted over already existing ombres, highlights and freehand for a multi-tonal effect, determined by your natural hair colour, eye tone and skin, making it beautifully bespoke just for you.” says Siobhan Jones, Headmasters Colour Ambassador (Siobhan is the genius lady responsible for Little Mix's beautiful tresses and my original auburn transformation).

I can only speak from personal experience, but colouring my hair red really was one of the best things I have ever done for both my follicles and confidence levels. Feeling reddy for a change? (So bad, sorry.) Find out more here and book your Headmasters appointment here.