kerryingon

Kerry fact: I’ve wanted to put some purple in my hair for the past few years.

I have no idea where this came from.

I tried temporary spray and loved it but it just didn’t satisfy the craving and I’m hesitant to bleach my hair in order to put the purple in. Plus, there’s the whole acting look-like-you-look-in-your-headshot thing. But I digress.

Recently, I’ve been spying those super thin strands of multi-colored feathers - they almost look like thread braided together - peeking out from all sorts of hair. And the purple/pink combo has caught my eye numerous times. After seeing it on two friends of friends today, I just did a little googling to find a salon here that could pop some into my tresses.

And then… a lot of the results I got were news & blog posts about the animal cruelty issue involved with these hair accessories! Major bummer.

I am not the best vegan - I still own some leather items (hello, brown boots that have traipsed across the country with me several times) and definitely indulge in a baked good or two (lately: cornbread) that were made traditionally with eggs or butter or something else I don’t eat. I’m also sure I’ve worn or eaten something that wasn’t vegan without knowledge that there was an animal by-product involved. But when I’m educated on something that involved animal cruelty? Hell no. 

There are countless times I wish I wasn’t so overly concerned with animal rights. It’s often annoying as heck to eat out and forget about dating - try casually tossing out the sentence “oh, I’m a vegan” when on a first date with a guy who didn’t know and inadvertently took you to a restaurant that literally severs nothing you can eat. I cry over anything I accidently read online that involves the torture, abandonment, testing and cruelty of animals. Forget about those shelter commercials - even the song “Angels” sends me into tears - and the one about Tigers being hunted seriously does not need those awful sound effects. I have to actually stop myself from explaining to strangers on the street about the importance of using a harness on dogs instead of a collar.

It’s seriously annoying. I want to not care. I want to not feel so much for these beautiful creatures and I really, really need someone to block PetFinder on my computer. But alas, I love animals and I can make no sense of treating them any differently than humans.

I’m not putting any links in this post about the feathers or animal rights or anything because I’m not pushing you or anyone to feel or think the way I do. But, if you’ve been thinking about buying some feather hair accessories or jewelry, maybe look into where they are coming from first and make your own decision.

Besides, trendy is overrated ;o)