In July, I tied the knot with my boyfriend of seven years in a beautiful, intimate wedding in the English countryside. As a long-time beauty enthusiast, it was exhilarating to indulge in a range of carefully curated treatments and products in preparation for the big day (I can’t recommend Sofia Visan for facials and Shelby Samaria for haircuts enough.) Throughout my career as a beauty journalist, I’ve always embraced extremes—whether it’s cutting my hair into a viral mullet, bleaching my eyebrows, or testing the long-lasting power of bright blue eyeshadow. Yet in the year and a half leading up to my wedding, I felt an overwhelming pressure to play it safe and avoid any experimentation.
We’ve all been conditioned to think of the quintessential bride as someone who embodies timeless radiance, exuding a natural beauty yes still remaining impeccably polished. Now don’t get me wrong, I wholeheartedly rejected many bridal expectations—I refused to fix my snaggle tooth and all but hissed and snarled at anyone who brought up dieting—but I can’t deny that I found myself gravitating toward a more regimented, au naturel approach to my previously ever-changing beauty routine. For the first time in years, I let my hair grow long, established a dedicated eyebrow grooming routine, used whitening strips, and added soft, golden highlights to my hair. On the big day, I felt beautiful and authentically myself. Having said that, as we packed the car to head back to home to London, I vividly recall sitting in the passenger seat, suddenly overwhelmed by an irresistible urge to…mess it all up.
The post-wedding chop is an internet term that describes the trend of brides getting dramatic haircuts after their wedding. It symbolizes a fresh start and new beginnings, but it also celebrates the liberating departure from traditional “bridal aesthetics.” However, having worn short hair for most of my adult life, returning to a bob haircut simply didn’t feel dramatic enough for me. After months of attempting to enhance my most natural beauty, I craved something vibrant, bold, and unapologetically unnatural. I texted my longtime colorist Emaly Baum at Manhattan’s Beauty Supply and together we decided on a big transformation: I was going red.
I learned quickly that not all reds are created equal, so I brought in a Pinterest board of a few different shades I liked, and Emaly helped me decide which one made the most sense for my hair’s natural undertones as well as my lifestyle. We chose an ultra-bright, auburn red—one that wasn’t so copper that it looked ginger, not so fiery red that it looked DIY, but something in between. Emaly explained that, generally speaking, dying your hair from brown to red is often quick and straightforward because red pigments can effectively deposit over darker hair without the need for bleach, especially if you choose a semi-permanent or demi-permanent dye. This means you can achieve a vibrant result in a single application, minimizing time and damage while still delivering a bright, striking color. Touch ups, however, are essential, as red can fade quite quickly, so it’s important to go in knowing you’ll be visiting the salon frequently.
Much to Emaly’s chagrin, I had dyed my hair blue-black a while ago, leaving the ends of my hair with uneven color; so I started with a bleach wash, which is less damaging than full-on bleaching because it uses a diluted bleach solution, which allows for color lifting while minimizing the potential harm to your hair, and it only took only about fifteen minutes. After that, she washed and coated my hair in a dye concoction and eventually finished with a gloss. Even though my brows are a cool-toned dark brown, we decided against lightening or dyeing them to match; the striking contrast between the warm-toned red hair and my deep dark brows added a kind of boldness that perfectly matched my desire to break free from traditional bridal beauty norms with a bit of edge. And the best part: I was out of the salon in a little over two hours. As someone who once spent roughly 10 hours at the salon once going platinum, I couldn’t believe how quickly I could be in and out with such an extreme color change.
Even though I had just undergone what some would consider a witness protection level transformation, I walked out of the salon feeling more myself than ever. It was always about more than just a change in color; it was a powerful declaration of my individuality and rejection of the constraints of wedding expectations. I was finally ready to embark on a new chapter of my life, one spent with a husband who loves me for who I am—flaws, quirks, and all—including my unwavering enthusiasm for beauty exploration.