For three years, Lindsey Yankey, Leon sophomore, had wanted Run Lola Run red hair. Yankey, an illustration major, created self-portraits of herself with fire engine-red hair and even made Photoshop creations to see what she would look like. Her curiosity eventually got the best of her, and the week before spring semester started she became a redhead.

Americans spent $10.4 billion to change their hair color in 2005, according to data compiled by the company Packaged Facts. Alternative hairstyles are a way for people to experiment and assert their personal identities.

Yankey says she’s happy with her new hair color and gets lots of compliments from strangers. She likes that the color is loud and outrageous because she wanted it to be obvious that she dyed it. She doesn’t feel like she has to put a lot of thought into her outfits, she says, because having red hair makes it look like she has already put effort into her appearance. It also gives her something to talk about.

“I feel a camaraderie with people who also have crazy hair,” Yankey says. “It’s like a club.”

Yankey works at the Hilltop Child Development Center and says she has had no problem with her employers. The children she works with are intrigued by her hair and always ask her why she dyed it.

“My latest reply is, ‘Because it keeps my head warm.’ The kids think that’s funny,” Yankey says.

Yankey has not had any problems with her unusual hair color affecting her work situation, but some workplaces have strict guidelines about what is an acceptable or unacceptable hairstyle.

“Hair must be natural, clean, well-groomed and simply arranged.  Faddish, extreme hairstyles, including (but not limited to) multi-color or unnatural colors, sculptured hair, tails, partially shaved heads and dreadlocks are not permitted.” Grooming guidelines such as these, taken from an amusement park’s employee handbook, are common in today’s job world.

Sean O’Dwyer, Mission senior, recently cut off his dyed black and blue hair for a job interview because he wanted to look more professional, he says. After the interview, however, he plans to color it again.

O’Dwyer has been bleaching and dyeing his hair different colors on and off since his freshman year. He dyes his hair because it’s fun and he and his friends often make it into a social activity, he says.

“It’s kind of weird, but my friends and I will be hanging out drinking and dye our hair,” he says.

O’Dwyer describes himself as impulsive. If he’s tired of a style he says it’s easy to change. He’s not too concerned with how his experiments turn out. After he discovered his head didn’t look bad shaved, it wasn’t a big deal to cut all his hair off and start over.

“I’m young. At this point in my life I can get away with this kind of stuff,” O’Dwyer says.

Though unusual hair colors and styles have become more common, stereotypes still surround those whose hair deviates from the norm.

Courtney Gray, Lawrence resident, has had dreadlocks for six years, and says that people sometimes have misconceptions about what kind of person she is.

“People think I’m a dirty slacker and that I do drugs,” she says. “I’m a normal person. I just have different hair.”

Gray wanted dreadlocks for five years before she got them, she says. She likes the style and respects the Egyptian and Rastafarian cultures they came from. Dreadlocks separate her from society, but not in a negative way, she says.

“I’m a free person. Dreadlocks are a lifestyle change, but they’re fitting for me,” Gray says. “I want to represent these beautiful cultures well.”

Jim Grimes, owner of Headmasters, 809 Vermont St., says that he has seen people change their hair for many reasons in his 22 years as the salon’s owner. One of his clients was a chemotherapy patient and when her hair started growing back she wanted to try purple hair. He says she got so much positive reinforcement because of her new hair that having purple accents in her black hair has become her trademark.

“There are times in our lives when we want recognition or to make a splash,” Grimes says. “Some people buy shoes, but that’s not as permanent as changing your hair.”

Many people make extreme changes when they want an emotional response, Grimes says. Hair is something that you can control today. For that reason, he says it’s important to step away from the mirror and ask yourself, “Is it really the hair?”

He recommends that when people want to dye their hair they approach a stylist with a picture and reasonable expectations. Salons want you to be happy with the end result, so a picture helps clarify what your idea of “fire red” is compared to the stylist’s.

Even though hair is a personal expression and alternative hair may express things a little louder than highlights, Grimes says it’s important to keep things in perspective.

“It’s just hair,” he says. “It doesn’t really matter in the grand scheme of things.”