If you want to keep your hair long, a shot of colour can bring life back into it without sacrificing its length.

New year, new look.

I wanted to give my drab, stringy, out of control hair a new lease if life without chopping it off.

The few strands of white hair that sprouted up recently gave me a good excuse to dye my hair. My naturally jet black hair is stark and rather harsh. I wanted a softer look.

Would I look better as a blonde or a red head.

Red was tempting. But while vibrant red looks great on one with youthful, firm skin, it can be harsh and aging on anyone with any signs of aging. It draws attention to either firm skin and youthful eyes.. Or skin that is slackening, drawing attention to lines around the eyes. Plus that is not the colour for an introvert.

Pale colours soften harsh lines on the face. White hair mercifully softens the look of wrinkles that accumulate as one gets older. Should I go blonde?

Then again blonde hair with my very black eye brows would look weird. I didn’t fancy dyed eyebrows either.

I went for a dark brown several shades lighter than my natural hair colour. That was my natural hair colour as a little girl.

If you want to give your hair a lift, go through your childhood photos and dye your hair in your childhood hair colour. For example, if you were blonde as a kid but your hair darkened to brown, try going back to that shade of blonde you once had. It could well take years off your appearance.

I chose my colour.

My stylist trimmed off the split ends, layered my hair while keeping the length.

She then applied bleach on my hair to strip off the natural black. Heat was used to speed the process. Then went on my chosen colour. Again, that device went over my head as I waited patiently for the colour to set.

Finally the shampoo boy washed my hair. My stylist dried and styled my hair, layering it for the best effect while keeping it’s length.

You know what?

I loved it!