Wow, thank you so much for the opinions, everyone! And the compliments, I'm really blushing.
The first photo is definitely better. I didn't have any other close up picture from when my hair was "darker," only that one, or else I would have used a different one. I don't usually wear that much makeup, I just came back from a makeup counter at a department store and they had put all sorts of it on me, I would never wear that much normally. Actually, the blonde photos are with me wearing makeup the way I normally do it. I just grabbed my camera and took some quick photos in natural light so you could get a better idea of the color. I think you guys are spot on about the tone. Since I've only washed it three times since I got it done, it's still quite vibrant and VERY warm. In my experience, that fades out after a week or two. Maya, I think you're onto something with the ash/platinum blonde. I think if I do highlights again, I will have him do closer to that color, rather than the golden blonde.
Angie, Brendan said I was back to being your twin, heh. I do remember that haircolor before I dyed it brown. Brendan likes it best that shade too, he was uncertain about this one. I just now realized after reading everyone's comments, and yours in particular Angie when you brought that up, that it's a bit of a multi-appointment process to get it to be like that. At that point, I had already been dying my hair blonde for a long time, and he added more highlights on top of it, so it was very multi-dimensional and had lots of different tones and texture to it. Since he just made it lighter this time, it only has one basic tone so far. But next time I go in, if I get it done again, then it will start to look more like it used to. I might not be able to do seasonal hair color, but commit to blonde for a while since it takes 3 or 4 appointments to really achieve what I'm after. I probably could have Bobby do it in 2 appointments, but that would probably entail double processing, and I like to give my hair a chance to recover if I'm bleaching it so it doesn't end up looking fried.
Hmm...I'm so wishy-washy, which is why you guys are a big help! Maybe I might give it a couple more appointments, since it's easy to dye it darker. Brendan likes the blonde best, and I feel kind of like it fits my personality best, which is why I lean towards coloring it like that. But I think the slightly darker shade is a bit more flattering with my skin tone, you all are right about that. That's why it's hard for me to make up my mind. Thank you again everyone! You all are so sweet!
