Ombres Certainly Have More Fun!

I seriously have no idea what the poster is telling

Dear All,

As you know, that I am dying my hair in ombre in blue and violet.  I have been wanting this for months, and finally I get it.  Thanks to Dinatali Art Salon at Bona Karang Indah Plaza, Lebak Bulus, Jakarta Selatan for making it happen!

Why Ombre?

I am doing this, note merely because of fashion and trends.  Although I admit that it looks so cute when I first saw ombre-inspired hairstyle at Tumblr, Instagram, Pinterest and so on... the colors are like out of this world, and it makes me want to eat or chew it.  Oh gosh, they look like candy!

But the main reason I am doing it is very personal.  I have noticed there are greater change in me. The old Ayu has long gone.  The timid and introvert, the one who stayed behind the line--maybe she's still here but I have noticed new personalities emerges. The ones that I think I could not have before.  This positive energy has led me through amazing experience and people to meet.  This hairstyle is a self-expression.  Not the one that expects wave and flower from the crowd, but the kind of self-respect that I give to myself.  Okay you have walked this far, you know life is ups and downs, you cannot get everything that you want and sometimes you have to wait for good things to happen... So, I celebrate this wisdom my donning this hairstyle.  I have written a poem called changed skin that communicates how I really feel about myself.  It tells about my feeling, being not fitting into this plain jane appearance anymore. Although ombre hairstyle is strongly identified with the tween and teens tumblr-crowd and it does not really symbolize maturity (haha) but yes I go for it.  

The Mechanic of Ombre

I wanted to color my hair with the combination of blue and green but decided to go with blue and violet, because the green might look the same with the blue.  It costed me about 900k (in rupiah) to do this.  I know that is a large amount only for temporary hair color!  But I have saved, and I know I am doing this madness eventually. The hair coloring took me about 4 hours of sitting down.  It costs that much probably because of the bleaching process.  It took twice for my hair to be bleached.  It felt sorry when I saw my black virgin hair turned dry and yellowish.  My mom knew that I have a healthy hair therefore she discouraged me to do this, and let alone the social perception that I will receive... (will talk about it later)

Ombre makes braid look not dull

Social Perception

Social perception is an interesting issue to be viewed when you have an unnatural appearance. Yes, all eyes are looking on you, and it is your choice to be flattered or to be annoyed.  For me, I have a shy trait so when I know that everyone points at me, I went quiet and felt a little bit embarrassed.  I am enjoying the 'wow-look-at-that' attention only for short extent.  Many of my girlfriends comment that they envy of my hair.  I actually feel bad... because I am not doing this to show that I look better (although I know this hairstyle is adorable and I cannot resist selfie!). No... Yes... I mean it.  It sounds like I am patronizing but I am telling the truth.

But seriously what comes across your mind when you see this girl (image below) walks the street...

Everytime I selfie, I just cannot believe it...
at my shallowness and how great I look! (again sorry for this)

You might think that she is insane to have such a bright hair color.  You might be impressed... or you might not be impressed.  In Indonesia, altering your appearance, like having piercing, tattoo or hair color will put you into a big attention.  Same goes everywhere.  I remembered I was walking at Suria KLCC with black velvet Topshop lip tint I wore on my lips (yes that means that my lips were black) and I approached a coffeeshop, only to buy a cuppa, none tried to attend me at the first place.  It was so silly.  Probably they were thinking that I was some kind of witch!

Last time, I went to a musholla/surau for prayer.  The impression I had from the surrounding people that a person like me, a girl with bright hair color, is unexpected to perform a prayer at a surau.  I also wonder, lightly, if I had disrespected the surau by coming with this ombre hair.  I should be covering my head with hijab not having my hair colored. 

Today my mom warned me before I went to a jog in the park. She told me I have to be careful with strangers, because people might find girl with funky hair as the approachable type.  The notion they see is "Oh, this girl looks like she can have some fun".  Well, it is true that Ombres certainly have more fun, but the fun I am having is different... like I said before it is for self-respect and untouchable.  Try me!

These are conditions, and life goes on with it.  So what the hell...