Once in his life, every man is entitled to fall madly in love with gorgeous redhead. (Lucille Ball, actress)

Few months back, life has made me hectic and felt about as bright and luminous as a broken light bulb. Other people, faced with times of crisis, enlist the help of a life coach, seek solace in religion or go backpacking across Bali or somewhere else. My coping mechanism is to visit the hairdresser.

Undergoing other life changes, I’d been brunette, bobbed, fringed and premed, but during my recent slough of despond I’d been yearning to turn myself red. The combination of being frustated and seeing fabulous elegant redhead Julianne Moore staring out from high profile ad campaigns spurred me into action. I was hoping that some of Julianne’s glamour might be magically transferred to me if we shared a hair color.

Well.. at first I felt completely different as a redhead –- more glamorous and individual. The following day brought further compliments. My hair was much vibrant in daylight and I was greatly cheered to be given the eye just going to the shop.

But, pulling off being a redhead isn’t just about getting used to a new hair color –- it’s about the whole look. As a black-hair, for example, I wore a lot of bright colors – which no-go areas for redheads. I was looking forward to mixing things up a bit. I’d been inspired by a glossy magazine cover featuring a model in red taffeta and tartan, and thought I could similarly break the rules. I tried on my bright red pea clothes and the result was.. terrifying! Note to self: the cover girl is a schoolgirl supermodel. I’m not! I even found myself buying earrings set in a goldish metal – something I would never have tried in darker-haired days.

Another silly thing about redhead I found few weeks later — that completely changed my perception – was my eyebrows were still quite dark! This ‘don’t match’ I should realized at the first place. Redhead brows are rarely as copper as their hair, and I have to deal with them using a grey ash pencil.. which make my face more horrible.So, now I’m dyed back in black.