I've had my hair every color except black. I was a natural blonde as a child,which got darker as I grew up, to a light mousy brown. I started dying my hair around age 16 using "Nice and Easy" from a box. Also did the lemon-juice-and- sit-in- the- sun bit. I have even had Platinum blond to please my husband. That was a nightmare-had to get a professional to lighten my hair, she used very strong peroxide. The roots needed constant touching up every 4 to 6 weeks, and it burned every time I got a touch-up. So I let my "natural" color hair grow in, took about 6 months. I'm now light brown with some gray. Anyhow, if you are making a drastic change, you really can't do it yourself. You need to go to a pro who will remove the old color and apply the new. Or go with highlights, which if applied properly don't need a lot of maintenance, only needs to be done every 6 months or so.Good luck and let us know what you do!

A local male hairstylist has super curly, coarse hair. He wrote an article for a local magazine that said if you go through the motions of washing your hair (fingers to scalp, rubbing motions) that you are stimulating oil production and by doing so, you can actually stop using shampoo/conditioner on a regular basis - unless your hair is actually dirty. He said it takes a couple of weeks, and yes your hair starts looking dirty (try it when you have the flu or something! lol) but that your scalp will stop producing all the extra oil and your hair will be healthier for it. The oils move down the hair, away from the scalp. A client of his tried it and she has long, thick hair. It's never looked healthier. When I was younger, I could go a week w/o washing my hair with shampoo. That didn't mean I didn't get it wet on other days. Just meant I didn't get sweaty or dirty. I wash mine every other day. Daily if it needs it due to heat, etc. I could actually get by with every three days. DD2s hair look healthier now that she is not washing it daily (uses the baby powder at night), but due to her oily skin she has to wash it every other day.

I KNOOOOWWW, Parma--I've thrown myself!! Sigh!! Daylight and night have really done me in!! Right now----I have many chips in hand and have decided (in daylight) that 'Believable Buff' may be an option if it doesn't go too olive green at night for me. BM's Monroe Bisque or Pittsfield Buff also look good with the leaning toward the more 'tan' of the MB being a better match for our sofa (which I've come to hate the fabric of)!It's a plaid (groan) that incorporates a deeper teal green stripe (1/2") with crosses of stripes that look more tan/peach (groan)and other crossings that create almost a grey/green! I know---but, I thought it was wonderful 15 years ago!!! I'd get rid of it and go for something new, except it is a very good quality built 'Bern'(amish families--kin to the Smith's, both in Indiana who also make a great line of furniture) line, substantial, an all-wood construction with all the details that make for an excellent piece--except for the fabric--NOW. I know there is no yellow in the fabric. I know it probably doesn't make any sense to go that direction, but I love the warmth of yellow and hope it can be considered 'neutral' going with almost anything! I have EK's 'Buttercream' in our master bedroom with her 'Ashen Green' trim and it's an awesome look but not for this room. The green would wash out to grey (tried it) and the Buttercream would bleach out, too! I've considered the 'Honeysuckle' but I really can't deal with too much in the way of 'peach' tones which I fear it could gravitate toward in that room! However, I bet it would work if I could tolerate the moments of pinkish yellow! It sounds more right for the funiture! I also need to get this done, because the flooring goes down on the 28th and I fear I could not get a sample pot from EK fast enough to get it all done, if it's not what I like in the end! I've recently reupholstered a platform rocker for our youngest daughter and am seriously considering undertaking recovering this sofa--into a single color (more neutral)and with texture! Another project!! Sigh! I'm off to the stores!!!!! Groan!!!!

thank u so much for your help! :) jessicaml, that's good advice about picking a color u like best at the time you'll see it most. i might hav to change these cfls and go warmer like u said. chocolatebunny, thanks for comparing the 2 colors for me... i think i'm leaning more toward blonde. mamiebella, that's so impressive that u have these colors. thank you so much for that picture!! i feel the same way about macadamia, it felt blah to me. ww looks a bit drab to me in the room. honestly, blonde makes me feel happy :) (maybe bc it takes me back to good memories in our townhouse!) i don't actually have humble gold on the morning rm wall yet, but it's one of the colors we're pretty darn sure about (or else dh will be so mad at me, lol). but now that i'm leaning toward blonde, i may have to change up our choice for the hallway/foyer color. it was believable buff, which was on the ww color strip, but now i may need to go w/ ivoire from the blonde color strip... what do u think? omg, dh is going to hate me, lol!!!