Punk Hair

As I looked around at the backs of many people's heads in the lecture theatre for my university course I noticed that all the hair colour were just varying shades of brown and was nearly bored to tears by it all. I suppose all the interesting people with a wilder streak are doing a Bachelor of Arts or perhaps have decided on working full time in a shop, slowly earning wages and also a handsome staff discount for themselves. While it looks like the students in my undergraduate course and faculty are missing some wonderful colours for hair, I can be thankful I live in a society in which we can order hair dye for all sorts of wonderful colours online and prepare our flowing manes in any which way we see fit whether that means with the generous application of green hair dye or choosing our favourite colour to dominate our appearance.

Although the contrast between white and black spiralling from the crown of the head looks a little cosmic and like the arms of a galaxy extending outwards, I am thankful that without taking the plunge of dyeing my hair I can live without the fear of regrowth and having to reapply hair dye. There is also a solution for those of us that want to dye out hair and not fuss over roots showing, which is dip dyeing and colouring the last few inches of hair but that seems rather outdated and not at all popular on the streets these days. A shame really, that's the last hair fad that I really did enjoy as of late.

My favourite of all the wild hairstyles and colours is soft lilac in a gorgeous and luxurious fishtail braid- I never learnt to braid in any style that was overly complicated but I wish I had the skilled hands to perform such a feat. I'm adamant that I love my natural hair colour and am very proud of my lovely long locks as well as the little care and maintenance for it but once in my life I would love to be extraordinary and have a wonderfully colourful haircut. I bet it's the sort of reckless thing I'd resort to after a bad breakup or even possibly as a mid-life crisis tactic. While other people may reach for the bottle and turn to substance abuse, instead I'll be reaching for bottles of hair dye and peroxide. How can I live my life and look back on all my accomplishments, knowing I never once had light purple hair?

For those of you interested, the shower cap is something from the Urban Outfitters home wares section I believe and I'm surprised at just how well it matches the lime green and dip dyed ends of this girl's hair. To be born with naturally blond hair and to have this colour sustained after being hormonally ravaged during puberty is a rare gift- I've known girls to dye their hair temporarily using food dye and if you were that way inclined you could easily perform such a feat on light coloured hair. Instead of being able to enjoy and shelter myself in the safety of blond hair I have a natural colour that more closely resembles black and would need to be pre-treated before dyeing.

Already featured on this blog but too good to resist a second time is this young and stunning girl, dressed entirely in black with creepers and a lace top. It's not fair that some people can look so sweet and endearing when wearing all black and I look like the grudge and scare people away to a small one metre radius away from me. It must be the pale skin, blue eyes as well as perfectly maintained eyebrows that sweeten the deal as well purple hair in soft curls.

I know for a fact that my own parents would have heart attacks and also probably consider themselves failures if I were to ever dye my hair green- it's probably for the best I don't have such wonderfully weird hair to maintain. The dark green as well as lighter shades go well with the floral wreath and its bright pink flower but the shades of blue and purple also compliment her subtle use of eyeshadow. I always love the confusing oppositions created when punk hair is worn with something pure like white lace and a floral headband, gold necklace and the pure image ruined yet again with the use of a black lip piercing.

I can sometimes get jealous of boys for such odd reasons, this time it's because they mainly have shorter hair than girls and could change their colour so much more easily than someone like me with hair that reaches down in a mermaid like fashion. While it isn't uncommon these days for women to be sporting short hair, I prefer to maintain my long locks as a sign of femininity as well as romanticism about myself. That wouldn't make dyeing it an unusual colour all at once an easy job but I can still wear a lovely crown of flowers just as well as the next king or queen of the fairies.

Charlotte Free, possibly the world's best model with pink hair working it while wearing a demure black and white polka dot blouse and thick gorgeous eyeliner. I'm normally content with my long dark hair and what my mother describes as, Japanese looks but now and then I crave the extraordinary and the new and exciting. I want the bold rush and amazing hair colour of a Vogue editorial from Japan and something that blurs the line between reality and fantasy. With pink hair, wearing pink lipstick would be a joy and eyeliner would be striking rather than intimidating. Oh the joys of having colourful hair that isn't a shade of washed out black, maybe one day I will acquaint myself with that magical realm.

Pink Hair

After another bought of hormones and fanciful teenage daydreaming I am once again contemplating dyeing part of my hair pink from the outside influence of the micro-blogging website Tumblr bombarding me with all manner of wonderful photographs. I think the key difference between the girls pictured with pink hair and myself is that they are actually pretty whereas I am not, have always been a bit of a plain Jane and have never had the confidence to have a really bold and colourful haircut. I'm shy, my neutral face expression makes me look sad/ upset and the haircut would only end up wearing me but still, I can't help but admire the shimmery tones and shades when the pink hair catches the light as well as the way curls create eddies and crests for hair to bounce off.

Pink hair in Vogue, it happened and not only that but it looks simply gorgeous as well as artistic and luxuriant. Although it does look like a wig and the fringe is roughly cut in places, I like the theatrical nature of this piece as well as the strong structured shoulders and matching hair piece made of tweed and organic materials. It would be wonderful if people could have naturally pink hair, mother nature may not have devised that in her grand plan for camouflage but think how much more interesting and colourful the world could become.

Model Charlotte Free has been one of the great pioneers in terms of having pink hair- it's sort of her trademark look along with punk and grunge style. It seems that she's had many different shades of pink, from a dark magenta colour to this soft cotton candy shade. I suppose that's one thing to consider when getting ones hair dyed repeatedly- the colour will change when having to dye a lighter colour using peroxide and also when the dye fades you might have red hair turning to pink. That trick is something I'll be banking on when I try to dye my ends, start at a lovely red colour, let it fade naturally and then continually reapply pink hair dye to sustain that particular shade.

Pink hair is such a bold fashion statement in itself, but there's something alluring about the combination of cheap plastic jewellery as well as shirts with rainbows on them that makes the appeal of pink hair even more attractive. Even when wearing all black one would look quite colourful when sporting soft pink hair which is another positive aspect that is gravitating me mentally towards bottles of hair dye. Having dark hair and a natural affection for black jeans and jumpers doesn't work in my favour but having pink hair would make me look fashionable and bombastic as opposed to disgruntled and angered by the state of affairs of the world.

I love everything about this photographic, the silk jacket and its swallow motif in sky blue, the galaxy shirt in black as well as the messy, soaked pink hair. The use of red eyeshadow as well the shade of deep purple creates even more wonderful shades of that spectrum in the rainbow and the conscience decision for the hair to darken in colour at the ends is gorgeous as well. For some strange reason I've been adoring the pairing of pink and blue together- it must have been the Creatures of the Wind collection with lace insert that has me that way inclined. I love wearing black shirts and have been looking for silk jackets with amazing colours but maybe they would look even better if I had a purple/ pink hue about my hair, even if it was just at the ends and melded my natural hair colour with the fantasy colours more akin to My Little Pony figurines.

I'd love to be able to braid and intertwine colours together such as my own brown hair and lilac- since I would never be allowed to have half pink and half blue hair while living under the roof of my parents. The conflicting problem about having such wild and fantastic hair is that it needs to be kept in a certain way and to achieve such a bold effect it needs to be braided everyday- I doubt that it would look as good without being braided. Just as Cruella Deville has short hair that is half white and black it is always styled in the same manner in order to have the full effect and impact of a Disney villain, with something as bold as half pink and blue hair you need to think carefully about how to style it for maximum colourful impact.

This photography presents the main issue I have about dyeing hair- eventually it will become dry and brittle as well as extremely damaged, your dark roots will need to be continually attended to twice a week and it will have a rough unkept air about it. I'm getting a haircut myself soon with the dead ends chopped off as well as layers redone but only then will I access for myself whether I should make the brave decision to have pink/ purple streaks in my hair or to dip dye. Her outfit is simple and a little childish featuring a simple shirt with a rainbow as well as pastel blue shorts, but her skin is tan and you can already tell she's a size zero easily. The girls who have hair dyed in wonderful colours are either unbelievably attractive or very artistic and spend their time going out to clubs and I don't fit into either of those categories.

What inspired me again to think about dyeing hair was this image of a model for a vintage reseller store called Crux and Crow, I've been a fan of this particular store for a long time and their chosen model changes her hair quite often but this is certainly one of the brighter and more colourful haircuts she's chosen. I love the way the pink and purple streaks flow up from the ends of her hair and the soft brown hues at the crown of her head. Not many people can pull off having a high fringe but the addition of streaks there too also does well to create a grunge and punk aesthetic. My hair is much too long and without texture to pull off something as impressive as this but I couldn't mind having uneven and mismatched colours creeping in my hair as well. I'm in half a mind after my proper haircut to get the hair dye, print this photograph and ask a hairdresser to do something similar for myself.

I would never have the guts to dye my full head of hair pink and also accessorize in the matching colour. No, I would use it ax an excuse to wear lots of grunge pieces such as denim and black, the occasional use of studs and even a leather jacket to contrast my dark style with my lighthearted hair. As I keep selling more and more pieces on eBay and shrinking my wardrobe, I'm slowly allowing myself to buy some more pieces and become more like the person I always wanted to become all throughout high school. Whether that will entail pink and purple in my hair I really can't say at the moment, it depends on a few factors mainly including my relationships with people but for now my mind is still on the hair dye.

So Many Colours, So little Time

I've narrowed down my selection of colours for dip dyeing my hair and while I do prefer purple, it seems that pink may be just a little easier to pull off and use the wet excuse of 'the hair dye is fading'. This way my hair won't be a shocking shade of bright pink but I can also make the transition from a dark red colour to pink without too much suspicion from home. I'm not sure how the shade will turn out and how much control I would have over the effect- it has been a while since I've dyed my hair and while it may now be uncool to dip dye your hair it really hasn't stopped my yearning too much.

While I never did learn to perform the fishtail braid at all it's still a very cool look on this light purple hair and this is my dream shade and favourite colour within the world. I'm just not sure whether I love it so much that I'll dye part of my hair the same colour but it would be nice to have an interesting quirk about my appearance. I have no fun piercings and look as boring as a bread stick; I suppose my appearance matches my equally boring personality but I am determined to get my head out of the books this year and make things a little more interesting as well as mature. As a matter of fact, I'm cleaning my room to make space for my new, old chair I adopted.

This would be the shade my ends would become if I had any say in the matter of dyeing them but no matter what I try it always seems to backfire on me when it comes to changing my natural colour. I'm not sure how much I'm willing to risk in terms of my hair length and health in order to chase a seemingly stupid fad- you don't see the effect too much these days and when I first wanted to try it I saw a photograph about two or even three years ago. I'm probably too late to join the club but it's a nice thought all the same and I guess I just like to share some interesting hair images with you guys.

Hair Colour Ideas

Still feeling love struck over the pastel tones of the capes, I wish I had the bravery to take the plunge and dip dye my ends. Maybe blond would be the best option since it's normal enough without many people taking offence to any wild colours and I could change the colour as I please with temporary dyeing, pale green one day then pink the next. I'm still adamant of the importance of having texture in dyed hair and the effect it gives off seeing the hills and valleys in the hair and colour darkening and lightening. With dark hair though and to fully enjoy the most out of the colouring experience that spells peroxide for me but it does damage quite a lot and also a lot of the colours and shades I'm considering from La Riche One direction are all permanent. One technique I know to use is food dye but I'm not overly keen on that either.

I feel very inspired by looking at the underside of the dark hair pictured here, although I have noticed that many of my slip ends and weaker and dryer hairs are on the underside of my head. Still, I can only imagine the dazzling effect of the pink and blue mingling with the dark and natural brown in a plait especially a fish tail braid. My father would never allow even having just a few strands of hair on my scalp being blue and while I would want to try one side pink and one side purple I don't think the two colours are different enough to pull off the same effect as the photograph above. The best thing about dying the hair underneath everything else is that it's a secret of yours to keep.

This lovely trio of ladies with coloured hair reminds me a lot of an advertisement I clipped out of one of my Vogue issues, it was a British Vogue and not a part of my subscription for Givenchy featuring three models one with black hair, another with brightly dyed red hair and finally a lilac/ silver colour. They were all dressed in black but this photograph too has its merits- for example all this girls exist in the real world and while their clothes and hair lengths don't match I love the gathering of them all in one place.

A clever way to combat the frayed looks of dyed hair which can get damaged after the use of chemical dyes and bleaching is to add a small little bone which fits perfectly with the frazzled and rough ends of the hair. Ever since watching the popular cartoon the Flintstones I think it must be hard-wired into everyone's DNA to except the rough and ragged look for hair when accompanied by a bone ornament. It's just how we're all programmed- for those of us old enough to remember the Flintstones that is.

Rock Out

It sounds cliche and overrated to want to dramatically alter your life and improve yourself at the start of the new year; you wouldn't change what you do month to month and the only thing that has really changed is the year not your life. But I still want to continue to improve myself and become a better person that what I was last year, while the sentiment is cheesy setting goals and executing them properly can help you to change. I realised that many people don't set smaller goals for themselves when writing out their New Year's Resolutions, they're usually wide sweeping statements such as "I'll lose weight" or "I'll be healthier". This is probably why the resolution is broken within a week. In fact my new 2012 diary has a page at the front in a neat little table with information such as New Year's Resolution and beside it: date broken. I don't want that to be me, my goals for 2012 are wide and varied and all very big and difficult but I know how I can achieve the first few.

While this post is a personal reflection of what I want the year to be it's full of beautiful people who have a rock edge to them because that's something I'm trying to aspire towards this year. With university just on the horizon doors will open and I'll get to meet a whole bunch of new and exciting people- I want to become a part of the social scene and really put myself out there. I will not be picked on; my transition from primary school to secondary school was the cornerstone and beginning of two years of depression for me. While I will not spend nearly as much time at university as the nine to three grind of secondary school rituals, it would be nice to get out there and meet more people. People with interests similar to my own, the book worms, the photographers and the lonely bloggers.

I'm unlikely to change anything radically with my hair so I will be avoiding shaving one side as well as wild colours, unless I finally get the guts to proclaim my hipster status to the world and dip dye my hair. I have an assortment of colours on my eBay watch list in shades of pink, red and purple waiting to be bought but I still have a phobia of peroxide. Besides, a cut and having my layers done again may be in order before anything radical is tried out in my bathroom. There's a lovely saloon next to my temporary place of work, I should schedule myself in for a trim before I start one last shift. Pretty cut, it doesn't look like they'll be keeping me on permanently so I applied for a bunch of places yesterday and also the local paper and flyer drop. I am very desperate at this stage.

There is no possible way for someone like me to become as beautiful as the model sitting here with wild pink coloured eyebrows, staggeringly beautiful dyed grey hair and perfectly executed eye liner to die for. Maybe I will never be able to make a career out of being a beautiful person but I'd certainly like to try my hand and make Secret Hipster into what it was supposed to be- a collection of day to day outfits posted by myself. Instead it's been covering brands and other people's work but instead of following the trends I'm keen to make them. That will involved cleaning my room, moving a desk and a bookcase as well as several square metres of dead teen magazines and dust to free up a plain white wall. I'm also tempted to get a rug in from Urban Outfitters to update my digs and include in the photographs. I have a reasonable camera and a tripod waiting the rest of my plan to fall into place.

I'm ashamed to say I have seventy sheets of Polaroid film waiting to be used, a Polaroid Mini Portrait camera waiting to be figured out and nothing to photograph. I need to meet people willing to pose in front of my lens- maybe I'll get up to some crazy shenanigans at university. While I will be in the boring Science faculty I'm sure there will be lots of Arts students floating about the place which I can innocently bump into and strike up a conversation with.

Coordinating outfits or becoming more eclectic and miss matching things more. It's one or the other- I'm sick of being stuck in this purgatorial half world where I am average in the way I dress and plain old boring. It's time to put my best foot forward and show everyone what I'm really like on the inside by dressing well on the outside.

I definitely will be investing more time as well as money in buying my favourite albums from great artists. I really must stop surviving on cheap free podcasts that while are great and touching do not properly showcase all the songs within a bands arsenal. My hit list includes The Grates, Kaiser Chiefs, Phoenix, Death Cab for Cutie and probably many others if I were to stroll down the aisles of Jb Hi-Fi with vouchers in hand. I just want to listen to interesting and new music again and properly rock out and feel in touch with the present- listening to stuff that's years old isn't helping my conversational skills.

I want to play more at night time and breach my comfort zone- I don't care if it is rather small at the moment and even saying hello to the delivery man is uncomfortable, something has got to give.

Last goal is to perfect my blogging style and finally mix in some of my own photography and outfits with brands I love- maybe wear a little more make-up day to day and mix up vintage pieces with new clothes. Go to markets more and find amazing clothing for cheap or raid second hand shops. Get a proper part-time job or pick up two more shifts of basketball refereeing. I have my work cut out for me but I want to rise to the challenge this year. Then smash each challenge into the ground and dance on its grave. Have a nice day everyone.

Teal Hair

My hair is reaching the length where it simply refuses to grow anymore and this heat wave in Melbourne makes me confined to my lounge room, only able to exercise in the mornings and at night as well as having to tie up my hair and have it warm the back of my neck unpleasantly. So I'll probably try to get a haircut booked in before I have my shift at work this Friday and before my date. I'm slowly losing my resistance to hair dye- it's the easiest way to instantly change your appearance and at the moment I just don't want to be me anymore. I hope this is just a hormonal mood.

I love the combination of teal and maroon and the white Nike tick just caps it all off nicely. The girl in this photograph reminds me of my little pipe dream I thought of last night in the shower, when I eventually pick a country to go on exchange for university study I should get a bull ring piercing on my first day and remove it while getting off the plane, that way I can have a cool secret piercing but when going on corporate job interviews or whatever I can just choose when I have the piercing in or not. The only flaw is that I've only ever had once piercing and the first time I got one I flinched so bad it was crooked...

 

I really do prefer blue eyes over all colours, her coloured hair against a plain white shirt makes her eyes stand out so much alongside her dyed do. Course wildly coloured hair looks the best with those of us blessed with a paler complexion. I really do curse my Asian genes sometimes; I'm stuck with short tiny eyelashes, not exactly tan but not pale skin and hair that won't take well to hair dye.

Since my hair is naturally dark brown, pretty much black, an upside of dyeing my hair a bright and opulent colour is that it doesn't matter if I'm wearing all black- I can just smile a lot and be open and friendly and I won't look threatening. However when a bad mood does catch me I can just be a grump and stare angrily out at the world from behind my brown eyes and get everyone to leave me alone. In both situations I'm the winner, as long as my parents don't murder me for being weird and turning into a punk/ hipster.