There was no way, with all the photos we’re taking this trip, to keep this off social media so that it’s a surprise when I get home. I’ve had my hair dyed purple. Well, partially. (It’s called “ombre” if you must know!) Anyway, I had this idea that Japan was the place to get this done, and I looked at tons of photos on Pinterest to see what color I wanted, I researched where to go to have it done, and I made an appointment. I told a couple people, but I don’t think they thought I was serious.

The place I went is called either Hair Salon 76 or Number 76, or maybe Nalu 76… In any case, I had read that they’re English-friendly, and based on their Instagram feed and a couple blog posts I read, they can and will do the kind of style I was looking for. They also seemed fun, but not totally nuts (I also saw some places that are super-kawaii, and I don’t think that was right for me, any more than a really formal, uptight salon).

I reserved an appointment for a cut and color, and also a conditioning/scalp treatment because this kind of thing can be hard on hair, and a head massage because I love that sort of thing. I was in the salon for about 4 hours. My stylist, Eriko, spoke some English (especially words related to hair!), and when we had trouble communicating something to each other, we typed it into our phones and let Google Translate try to make things clearer. My first message to her was, “I trust you,” and I think that put her at east a bit.

I showed Eriko a photo on Pinterest of the kind of color I liked, and she thought a lot about what combination of colors would achieve this effect. She warned me that it will fade after a few weeks, so it’s best if we start with the color a little darker and it will become more vivid later. She proposed a mixture of “Red Violet” color with some extra blue in it. I think it came out really well, and after she was done, one of her colleagues came by and said he’s going to ask her the formula she used to make the color, so they can use it for other people. I love that.

Me and Eriko, my talented stylist, outside the salon

There’s a lot more detail I could add, but basically I love it. The purple is a beautiful shade. As an added bonus, it makes the undyed portion of my hair look more silver, which I also enjoy. I keep forgetting that it’s been dyed, and then I catch a glimpse of it in a mirror or out of the corner of my eye and it just makes me smile.