I’m one of those people known for my hair. I’ve always had a sort of an unusual shade of dark auburn. When I was a toddler people used to actually ask my mother if she colored my hair. (This was in the 1970s, of course.)

As I grew up, my identity as a redhead was constantly reinforced. I’d get nice compliments from random people pretty often, sure. But I also got teased. By boys. In junior high. I distinctly remember Josh L. writing me a note in 9th grade on a wrapper of Big Red chewing gum.

Being a redhead defines me. For example, if I’m about to meet someone at a restaurant I’ve never met before, and they ask me what I look like,  I’ll say “I have long, dark red hair.” When I fill out paper work at the DMV, and I get to the question of hair color, I check the box “Red.”

Until I wasn’t.

After I had Julia, my hair got really dark. As in, Very. Dark. Brown. Except when I stood directly under the sun and a hint of red shimmered from within. So rather than go through an existential crisis after childbirth (because Year One is difficult enough, isn’t it?) I swallowed my pride and lost my hair processing virginity. My genius colorist Steven Amendola at Serge Normant at John Frieda brought my hair back to the age of “Rapper’s Delight” and Kramer vs. Kramer where it belongs. 

The trickiest part of being a bottled redhead is the maintenance. I had no idea my hair grew so fast. Like, at least half an inch each month. I get roots, a serious issue I never really understood prior to turning brunette post-partum. Leave it to celebrity colorist Rita Hazan (who has also amazingly colored my hair) to develop the best root concealer on the market, by far. Hazan’s Root Concealer is a convenient, easy-to-use spray, in contrast to the popular mascara-type root covers I find difficult to use. It comes in five shades that work well on a wide range of colors, including grays—and it stretches me at least a week or two when I need my color done.