Alright, so I got this idea in my head the other day. Watching some football, saw Ryan Day on the sidelines. You know, the Ohio State coach. His hair always looks pretty solid, dark. Not much gray showing, if any. Looked at myself in the mirror later… yeah, definitely more gray than Coach Day. Figured, what the heck, maybe I should try dyeing it.
So, I headed down to the local drugstore. Man, that hair dye aisle is something else. Just rows and rows of boxes, all these fancy names for colors. Stuff like ‘Rich Dark Chocolate’ or ‘True Black’. I dunno, I just wanted something simple, dark brown or black-ish. Like, you know, Ryan Day dark. Not complicated.
Spent maybe 10 minutes staring at boxes. Finally just grabbed one that said ‘Dark Brown’. Looked plausible enough. Picked up some extra gloves too, the ones in the box always feel flimsy.
Time to Get Messy
Got home, changed into an old t-shirt I didn’t care about. Threw an old towel around my neck. Read the instructions, seemed simple enough. Mix bottle A into bottle B, shake it up. Did that. The stuff started getting dark pretty quick. And yeah, it definitely has a smell. Chemicals, you know?
Then came the fun part. Started squirting that goop onto my head. Tried to spread it around evenly with my gloved fingers. It’s harder than it looks. Felt like I was just smearing mud everywhere. Kept checking in the mirror, trying to get the sides and the back. Pretty sure I missed some spots. Looked kinda ridiculous.
Instructions said wait 25 minutes. So I sat there. Felt a bit of tingling on my scalp after about 15 minutes. Nothing major, but made me wonder if I was doing it right. Mostly just felt bored, waiting for the timer.
The Moment of Truth
Timer went off. Shower time. Stuck my head under the water. Wow, that dye just poured out. Water was running super dark for ages. Like, really dark brown water. Started worrying I was washing it all away. The old towel I used to dry off? Yeah, it’s got permanent brown streaks now. Oh well.
Finally got the water running clear, mostly. Towel-dried my hair gently. Took a deep breath and looked in the mirror.
Okay. It’s definitely dark. No gray visible, that’s for sure. But… it’s maybe too dark? Like, almost black. And kinda flat looking, you know? Not much variation in tone. Doesn’t quite look like Ryan Day’s hair, honestly. Looks more like I colored it with a Sharpie.
My wife saw it later. She did that thing where she tries to hide a smile. Said it looked “very dark”. Yeah, no kidding. Guess it takes some getting used to. Maybe it’ll fade a bit after a few washes and look more natural? Hope so.
It was an experience, that’s for sure. Messy job. Smells weird. Result wasn’t exactly what I pictured. Think I might just stick to watching Coach Day on TV and leave the hair dyeing to the pros, or just embrace the gray next time. Way less hassle.
