Hair Transformation Announcement & Editorial

This has been a long time coming guys. I know it, and if you’ve been with me long enough, you know it too. And I dedicate this post whole heartedly to my friends at Aveda Canada for being with me this whole hair journey, for never giving up on me, and finally, for giving me hair I could be proud of again.

Let’s not get ahead of ourselves though. Let’s add some context here.

It’s been a story I’ve wanted to tell for a full year now. Up until last year (December 2015), I had never really dyed my hair. I’ve always had traditional long black hair; but I decided, y’know what, life is short. And last year, grey was all the rage. I was destined to have that grey hair. And to my surprise one day, I got approached by a PR company who was representing a new salon in the city. They agreed and were excited to take my hair grey. I could not have been more excited.

The salon was brand new. You could tell by its unfinished appeal. But I was there to help build its presence – show my audiences what amazing work this boutique salon on the East end of Richmond Street could do. I even publicly announced that exciting partnership in December of last year.

Then my communication around it stopped. And for good reason.

I hate talking negatively about anything, but this salon didn’t know what they were doing. In a nutshell, they made a mistake, covered it with black dye, then tried to fix by bleaching my hair to no ends with an extra high developer (in hair talk… basically they were burning my scalp away). This left a ring of brassiness around the crown of my head and major chemical burns on the backs of my ears and all over my scalp. I couldn’t sleep on my back for 2 days. I was devastated.

After this, no salon dared to touch my hair with a 10 foot pole (at least with any chemicals). My hair was shattered, falling out in clumps every day I would run my hands through it. I ended up waiting 12 months, enduring DIY remedies at home with temporary dye, and eventually, growing my hair out enough so that I could cut off the damage that had been done to it.

That’s when the real hair Gods stepped in.

When Aveda Canada heard about my story, they became the friend who swoops you up from crying and lifts you back up. I’ve had 2 cuts since – my first bob which you saw here, and another cut by Dylan Sit (Creative Director at Civello Queen).

Then I met Vanessa, Grand Master Colorist at Aveda’s Civello Salon and Spa. She didn’t beat around the bush. She told me what could and couldn’t be done. She was firm, just like a good friend should be. And she delivered what I wanted before I even knew I wanted it.

I took a leap of faith and I couldn’t believe how much I loved it. I went blonde.

I’ll be posting another post in the coming weeks around the whole process and my experience of going blonde with Aveda, Civello, and Vanessa.

Until then, happy to announce that I am fully blonde and I cannot be more thrilled!

Disclaimer: you might know my friend Vic, from The Lust Listt. Her beautiful hair is also done by Vanessa.

Let me know what you think of the blonde! Love it? Hate it? Either way, I think it was the change I needed. Stay tuned for the full account of how the day went down and what it took to get here!