Debra Messing Me (Natural Color)
I was born a redhead (pretty much the color of Debra Messings up there). As a child, every adult I met raved over my color, little old ladies pinched my cheeks and told me to "Thank the Good Lord, I'd been blessed with such gorgeous color."
In my youth I hated the color...yes, I was teased (rather be dead than red on the head) and the whole bit.
As I got a little older (mid twenties) and could afford to do something about it I went platinum blonde. I kept it that way for years. Since then I've played around with the color from various shades of blonde to brown.
Now that I'm 40+...I want my red hair back. Not the faded mousy, white hair poking out red that I have now but the rich and glorious red hair of my youth.
Typical, huh?
I'm learning that getting back that rich red...ain't so easy!
But, I'm not giving up so easily, I mean if Julianne Moore and Debra Messing can keep their red locks gorgeous and yes, we know they are coloring...then I have to be able to do it, too. Right?
Remember when Rene Russo when red for the Thomas Crown Affair? Gorgeous, no?
Well, she had the help of Beth Minardi (rockin' her own red), the brilliant hair colorist to those with the $$$ to pay for it.
So, you, like me, might think...hey it can't be that much?
Right?
Well, boo hoo, it is "that much." So, I'm left to pine away my lost color and the hopes of finding a colorist that can duplicate Ms. Minardi's miracles on the cheap.
Wish me luck, won't you! If you have referrals or advice...I'm all ears!
**Update: I thought I'd add a photo of my current color, since this is what inspired this post.
Natural hair color prior to coloring: 
This color is a long story. I recently had it done...I started as a natural level 7/8 copper red (see pic above) (colorist used level 6 various shades) and it came out way too dark about a level 3/4 (my opinion not the stylists) with lots of almost black streaks (my opinion confirmed by The Big Guy & kids).
I spent the last 8 days washing it with hot water & Prell (yes, I said Prell, concentrate no less) and swimming in the salty ocean trying to get the really dark streaks out.
Finally, today, I took a more strategic step (my opinion) and washed it with a mixture of Prell, baking soda and Volume 20 developer and left it on for about 12 minutes to finally arrive at this color (below), which isn't too bad.
But what on earth will I do with my level 7/8 light red roots with 20% white hairs popping out all over when it grows in?
If you look closely you can still see the almost black streaks in there. But overall 100% better!
Answer: Find a new colorist.
