Fashion & Beauty: The Blonde Experiment

I’ll admit it. Sometimes I succumb to this city’s expectations. Usually, I do it in a self-deprecating or ironic way – or so I tell myself. Example: a few weeks ago, I went to a Stage 3 club in Hollywood. I was reluctant (I swear!), but my friend was very persistent (I swear!) and a friend from college was coming out, whom I hadn’t seen in a while (I swear). Anyway, I decided to dress the part and don the sluttiest dress in my closet: a short, gold number with a deep v-neck that left no room for no modesty – or bra. (Wouldn’t you know, I was one of the more conservatively dressed females in the establishment that night)

Similarly, I recently decided to play the part of LA girl and lighten my hair. It’s naturally very dark, almost black. I was aiming for a medium brown with some sandy caramel-hued highlights. You can only imagine my horror when the new color was unveiled, and the mop was closer to Anne of Green Gables than Jessica Alba. Half of me wanted to dye it black again and forget about the mishap, but I ultimately decided to take the plunge with some true-blonde highlights. Surprisingly, my gamble paid off, and I ended up with a golden dirty blonde on top and a medium brown underneath, kind of like I’d been surfing all day and my hair had been bleached out by the sun. Except for the fact that my skin is olive-toned, so the hair wasn’t believable at all.
…

Anyway.

When I went to work the next morning, it was painfully obvious that my new look was not well received. Mostly, people didn’t say anything, and my hair’s transformation from black to blonde-ish was the pink elephant in the office that day. Although I was starting to regret my decision, a group of my most stylish girlfriends assured me it looked fine.

Then, things changed – almost overnight, I started getting more attention. I’m no bombshell (though not plain either; my look would best be described as unconventional/exotic), but I started drawing double takes on the regular, even when I ventured out in sweats. At first, I wasn’t sure if it was the discrepancy between my olive skin and blonde-ish hair that was puzzling and causing stares. But as I pondered the statistically significant increase in the volume of guys approaching me out of nowhere to say “hello” or strike up random conversation, it became apparent that I was having much better luck with the fellas as a (sort of) blonde.

What can be concluded from my experiment? Well, it turns out that gentlemen really do prefer blondes, at least in this city.

So –

Regardless of whether your skin tone is closer to Naomi Campbell than Naomi Watts, dye your hair blonde now. And if you’re lucky enough to be naturally blonde, well, keep tanning and not eating. You know what they say – When in Rome…














(Anne of Green Gables)