At least, it doesn’t seem to work on me.
The hair care section of most Japanese drug stores is a little bit different than what I was used to in the US (and in Korea, too). A lot more products for men here, especially unusual hair dye colors. One of those had been repeatedly catching my eye, so I figured, what with being on vacation and all, why not give it a shot? If it turns out badly there’s plenty of time to fix things before I have to go back to work.
That was the plan, at any rate.
Last night I picked up the color I’d wanted to try, smoky silver:
Yeah the package is funny, and not just because the brand name is “Gatsby.” Doesn’t it just scream, “You too can be an anime prettyboy with gender confusion issues – and great hair!“? I though the color was kind of funky, and had visions of comic book characters with strikingly silver hair, not due to aging, but just because they looked so cool that way. As though nature had said, “you are not old, but silver shall be your look. And you shall be a badass.
“Now, I’m hardly a badass, but I can have the look, right? Right?
No. No I can’t.
I’d heard from a few friends that Japanese hair dyes are really strong since Japanese people’s hair tends to be rather dark – and therefore hard to color. Everybody says don’t leave it in as long as the instructions say, or else it’ll turn out all weird. I kept that advice in mind as I went about coloring my hair this morning. The instructions said to leave it in for 30 minutes.
I left it in for 35, just to be sure.
I probably could’ve left it in for an hour for all the good it did me:
Most people who’ve met me know that this kind of reddish-blonde color is the shade I usually dye my hair. Does it look like I tried to change the color today? Damned if I can tell. I guess I managed to pick the one weak brand of dye they sell here.
I’m thinking if I want to get a funky color like that (especially since it’s light), I’ll need to bleach my hair first, then dye it. It’s not like I don’t have the free time to do it – or fix it if I totally screw it up.
Hmmmm….maybe Wednesday? ^.^