Let me start by saying that I have dyed my hair for more than a year now. When I came to college, I had just broken up with my high school sweetheart, moved 200 miles away from home, and I was ready for a change.  So I dyed my hair purple!

(Pic by my friend Paloma.) And let a few of my friends draw on me, but that's another story.

 After that faded (I got bored), I went blue.

 Better pic, compliments of Madame Beloved aka Susan M! (Although I have to say, I look a little bit contorted. Still lovely photography, MBD)Bad pic, but it's the only one I have that can show how blue my hair was. Now, for those of you that have ever dyed your hair or helped someone dye their hair, you know that a color like that on darker hair (like mine) requires bleach. The first time I bleached my hair, it was fine. I had none of the "straw" problems that some people I know deal with.

I let the blue fade to an orange red for a while. Honestly, I'm not sure why it did that, but it was pretty cool looking, so... okay. Weird chemistry. (Now that I think about it, I'm a chem student, I should know these things, but whatever.)

Over the summer, I bleached a streak of it again and got this hairdo:

(Pic by my friend Allie.) Which I liked.

Although it's been a long journey to this point, this is where it gets epic.

I tried last week to bleach my whole head, in order to dye my hair lavendar with a really pretty Manic Panic color I just found. HOWEVER, the bleach only set in a few places, so I look like a leopard to begin with. Also, the purple did not set entirely, AND my hair is being very frizzy thin, which is unusual for me. I am afraid it is going to fall out entirely, since it seems to have a whole bag of tricks up its metaphorical sleeve. I'm not even going to post a picture of it, because it horrifies me so much.