Welcome back to Parents R Us. It’s been some time since we’ve posted, but hopefully you will begin seeing more posts in the future.

Specifically for moms here, let me share with you a little disaster that I dealt with over the weekend.

Occasionally, I like to color my hair. Usually I do it about every 4 months. My personal philosophy (if there is a philosophy of hair coloring) is that keeping fairly close to your real color is a great idea. I usually do that to avoid having to color so often. Usually I go with a nice auburn/mahogany color, which isn’t far from my true hair color. I like the results. However, this time I made a fatal mistake.

I wanted to go with something with just a touch more red. I had seen a hair color I wanted to try in a magazine by Garnier. I use their hair color products and I’ve always liked them. Enter their new 10 minute bamboo infused treatment. Ladies, do not try this at home!

I was at Walgreens, considering my hair color options, when I was tempted and enticed by the girl working there. She told me if I went with the 10 minute option by Garnier she had a coupon. Oh…I love coupons. I absolutely love to save, and this time it was my downfall. I happily went with the suggested product (should I have perhaps thought about the fact this girl was barely over 18 and probably not the best one to go to for hair care advice?…yes!!!!), then I paid for my discounted product and went on my way.

Saturday night after the kids went to bed, I figured I have the 10 free minutes to myself, so I decided to get this coloring job underway. It smelled a bit different, but the box promised my hair color results would be exactly what I wanted (yeah don’t believe those things that tell you what the color will be) and it said the bamboo would be really moisturizing.

I put in the dye for the appropriate time. Got in the shower and rinsed it out and then conditioned with the special conditioner they offered. It irritated my scalp, which was weird, and maybe that was the first sign that something was wrong. I got out, towel dried the hair, and then I looked. Big mistake. I was shocked. Instead of the nice auburn my hair was some weird shade of dark magenta, or a strange purple, or well, I’m not sure really how to describe it. I looked at the box again. Definitely not the color promised on the box.

Now I am panicking. My husband says it looks okay, after getting over his initial shock at my new look. My daughter loves it, but she wants pink hair – no, I don’t think I should trust that advice and opinion. Lol. Now, my hair looks scary, the dye has it so dried out, and that has never happened before. Maybe I should just be happy with my hair and stop trying something new. Lol.

Was there a lesson learned here? Well, I definitely learned that you shouldn’t go with the “deal” on hair color. Also, beware of young sales girls. They have no idea what they are talking about. Most of all, I have learned that I really, really, really, like the color of my own hair. I’d love to have it back. So, beware moms. Avoid that 10 minute Garnier hair color. It is dangerous! They should have a warning on the box: “color may be stranger than it appears.”

So, I’ve posted a picture of my hair here. Let me know what you think gals. Do I just try to love it for the next 30 days (it only lasts 28 washes thankfully) or should I get some of that “oops” stuff that takes out hair color, even though it may be rough on my hair to do that? Any suggestions would be great.