During our time at business school That Husband won’t be working, and we’re going to have to work really hard at staying under budget if we want to leave business school without any debt (I won’t be going into detail regarding how this is possible, I know it sounds crazy but we have savings and help from outside sources that will get us there). Happily TH has a guaranteed position as a consultant with Company X right after he finishes his MBA program so we won’t have to spend any time job hunting and stressing that a post-MBA position isn’t going to materialize.

As part of this effort to cut back on unnecessary expenses I decided I was going to dye my own hair, instead of going to a salon like I usually do. I realized it was absolutely necessary after TH took this picture and showed me how nasty my roots have become.

Here is what I started with. TH laughed when I told him I wanted to make a serious face for the picture because that’s what you do when you take a before picture.

Look at those bleached ends and dark roots!

After a considerably long time spent in the hair color aisle I decided on Clairol Natual Instincts 24-Clove. I kind of wish I had gone with something lighter like 18-Medium Golden Brown but oh well!

The problem isn’t with the shade, as you can see, the problem is that I did an awful job of evenly distributing. I used two boxes, just like everyone on Twitter and Facebook advised, but I think my mistake was twisting it all up on the top of my head and stuffing it into a shower cap for the 10 minutes it was supposed to set.

I don’t think these pictures do it justice either. TH agrees that it looks much worse in real life.

I do like the way the shade makes my eyes pop and I’m going to buy another box and try again. This time though, I’m thinking I will cover my body in vaseline, have wet towels at the ready, apply the stuff and then stand there with my hair dripping dye until it’s time to rinse. If it comes out wonky again, I’m just going to go and get it done somewhere.

Anyone else have a better suggestion for how I can ensure a completely even result?