The hair dye of U-High: Students finding individuality through hair color

Whether a result of boredom during a global pandemic or just a fun way to express one’s style, there is an increasing number of our student body that has colored hair. 

“I would say that U-High is the one place in public that I’ve never been self-conscious about my hair,” sophomore Vincent Casali said. Casali is currently rocking a light silver color in his hair. 

Casali first dyed his hair when he was ten years old and hasn’t really had his natural hair in the past five years. Since then, he has tried out a variety of colors on his head. 

Casali isn’t the only one who has gone through the rainbow of colors; freshman Audrey Barbic has also had a collection of shades. 

“I can’t even name them all. Purple, light blue, teal, pink, magenta, and a lighter pink,” Barbic said.

Barbic currently has pink hair, and it is not the first time they have had this color. They never have a plan, purely just picking what color they like the most at the moment and buying that. 

“I have my hair dye t-shirt,” Barbic said. “I typically, just in my bathroom, by myself, put it (the dye) in a container, try to section (my hair). (The sections) are never even and just kind of go for it!”

Being a freshman, Barbic mentions that having dyed hair helped them at the beginning of the year when making friends. The ability to stand out among the crowd gave them an advantage in the social maze that is freshman year. 

“One of my closest friends I’ve made this year, the first thing that made me notice him was the hair,” Barbic said. 

Self-expression through dyed hair is one of the main reasons Barbic chooses to dye their hair. Having bright unnatural hair makes them feel like they stand out more as an individual, and makes it easier for Barbic to come out of their shell.

“I dye it because it’s a way for me to easily express myself without being shy about it,” Barbic said. “I feel like I’m naturally not the most social person, so it is very expressive, having a super bright color. It was my way of being like, ‘look, I’m me. I’m original.’” 

While Barbic’s hair is a large part of their self-expression, for others it’s as straightforward as wanting to try something new. 

“Honestly, it’s not that deep for me,” senior Emmy Story said. “I’ll go on Pinterest or Instagram and see photos of girls with other colored hair and I’m like, ‘oh! I really wish I had that color.’”

Story has stuck to more traditional hair colors. Even if the shades aren’t out of the ordinary, Story has had some out-of-the-ordinary experiences while getting her color done. 

“One time when I was getting my hair dyed blonde for the second time, I couldn’t stop falling asleep, and I accidentally sent a Snapchat of me with tinfoil in my hair to my AP Lang group chat,” Story said. “I didn’t remember sending it.”

Story also mentioned that while she doesn’t get complete strangers treating her differently, some of her peers have made comments about her hair that she was not expecting.

“Someone called me Ron Weasley when I had red hair, and that was really memorable,” Story said. “I liked that, I don’t know why I liked it. They told me I looked like I was in the Weasley family.”

Between red-headed Weasley siblings and five-color parrot styles, the students that roam these halls represent a wide variety of hair and style. 

“If you dye your hair, also try piercings. Or don’t. That’s probably a really bad idea,” Barbic said.