Red

To those of you who know me this may come as a surprise....when I was little I hated my red hair.  It probably started at a bus stop one day when some sixth grade boys called me Strawberry Shortcake.  Ouch.  I was so embarrassed.  In hindsight it wasn't even an insult.  But I didn't think Strawberry Shortcake was cute.  I liked the blonde haired girl (what was her name again?)  I thought the golden haired character was prettier.  So began years of wishing my hair was any color other than red.  I had BIG blotchy freckles and my hair was short (like a boy) so I was pretty unfortunate looking.  Let's not forget the huge gap between my teeth.  ugh.  Oh wait, the pale skin.  Oh, the pale skin.  And sunburns.  And more freckles.  And the rules of colors.  "redheads shouldn't wear red, or pink, or anything that a girly girl would love"   I remember being in my aunt's wedding and I got stuck wearing yellow while my dark haired cousin got to wear the pink.  (for the record yellow is the ONLY color I will not wear as an adult--it's horrible on me now.  And was then too but apparently a redhead wearing pink was not permitted)  (side note--why were my aunt's color pink and yellow anyway? yikes!) 

Then as I got older having red hair posed new problems.  Let's just say I endured the question "Does the carpet match the curtains?"  WAAAAAAAY too many times by boys on the school bus.  I tried to make my hair blonde by putting straight peroxide in it and used a lot of my babysitting money on Sun In (do they even make that anymore?)  All of those efforts were to no avail.  My hair was red.  Period.  I was pale.  And I had a million freckles. 

By high school/college I started to realize that having red hair was kind of interesting.  People always remembered me.  I was unique.  I didn't hate it anymore.  Boys seemed to like red hair.  And I got a compliment every time I got my hair cut.  (Is this your natural color?  People would pay a lot of money for hair like that!)  And the rest of me caught up too.  My freckles calmed down into a less blotchy situation and I discovered self tanners.   

Now I feel lucky to have red hair.  It's unique and interesting.  I never feel boring even on my most boring outfit days.  I always have a pop of color.  Now I crave freckles.  I think they make me look healthy.  Now it's just how I'm identified in any group.  It's just a part of who I am. 

The reason for the back story is because a month ago I was researching redheads with eyelash extensions and came across a whole website dedicated to being a redhead.  How to Be A Redhead.  Of course I followed this on Facebook and Instagram.  I couldn't believe it.  I would have LOVED to have this when I was younger.  There are beauty tips, role models, and fun stuff about the joys of being red.  One of the cutest things recently that caught my attention was this:

A children's book written about a little girl that hated her red hair.  And her mother tells her about all the beautiful things in the world that are red.  I ordered it and it's ADORABLE.  Anyway, there is a contest called "Red is the Color of..."  You're supposed to take a picture and instagram/facebook it with a picture and a sign of what the color red represents to you.  I entered last week and used this picture:

I always talk about my orange love but I wanted to represent my undergraduate alma mater too.  I just love this and think it's such a cute and empowering thing for my fellow gingers out there.  Because we all spent too much time thinking our hair was ugly.  And now that I think about it there has to be something to the fact that I can't think of that blonde character from Strawberry Shortcake.  The only one that people remember is Strawberry herself. 

 

A redheaded victory.

 

Happy Tuesday!