I screamed when I first saw unicorn hair roots on Facebook. Literally.
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I'm obsessed with unicorns, and I get tagged in everything unicorn-related - from unicorn lattes to this rainbow toasted cheese sandwich. I have a mini unicorn on my desk for inspiration and the air freshener in my car is - you guessed it - a cardboard unicorn who smells just like vanilla marshmallows.
I made it my mission to find a Canberra salon willing to indulge my desperate need to transform into a human-sized My Little Pony.
Enter Eden Hair and Beauty, who were not only willing to indulge my fantasy but actually have 'Magical Rainbow Roots' on their new list of high fashion salon services. Shut. The. Front. Door.
I call and pretend to be much younger than I am (I'm 40 this year, but still feel about 22) and order magical rainbow roots. Salon owner and principal stylist Emmalene Port is delighted and tells me to block out four hours in my calendar on Monday for my magical transformation.
Four hours? I start to sweat. It's an amount of time akin to minor surgery or waiting for your car to get serviced when you forgot to arrange a lift with dad. In other words, it's not a small undertaking.
I feel so much better when I arrive at the salon in Dickson - I'm handed a vanilla latte and they're playing my favourite artists on the speakers - Lady Gaga and Fleetwood Mac. (I accuse Emmalene of Facebook stalking me to find my favourite music and she looks like she's not sure whether to laugh or cry.)
Then our consult gets underway and while I normally ask for 'Pamela Anderson bleach blonde', we discuss other colours like aquamarine, dusty violet rose, flamingo pink and light denim.
Emmalene starts by bleaching my very dark roots and giving me a full head of platinum blonde before getting her Willy Wonka on and mixing up four bowls of what looks like rainbow cake mix. It's actually Paul Mitchell POPXG colour - a new range of high pigment fashion colours that make rainbow roots achievable.
As she applies the pastel palette to my roots - foiling some blonde parts with conditioner and setting them aside so the rainbow appears 'hidden' underneath - we talk about current hair trends. We're both huge fans of Katy Perry, she of the original dessert-inspired locks, and we both love Kylie Jenner's new fluorescent orange sherbet hair.
Emmalene tells me Blorange is big in Canberra at the moment ("a very pale peachy orange which is darker at the roots and very light on the ends, inspired by 90s grunge"). She's been a hairdresser for 10 years and marvels at how a modern colour list now includes names like black denim, infamous silver, stormy weather and violet pearl.
After multi-colouring my roots, Emmalene uses Olaplex to protect the ends of my hair so the vibrant colours don't fade into my platinum ends (and it also repairs my hair at the same time).
A quick rinse off and then it's the final act - my hair is blowdried, straightened and braided to show off the enchanting colour.
I'm in love.
Verdict: With unicorn roots, I literally prance from school drop-off to work to drinks with friends. I'm an attention-seeker from way back, so they suit my need to be admired and pointed at by strangers. Unicorn roots have added a little touch of magic to my life.
Details: Magical Rainbow Roots are available at Eden Hair and Beauty salon in Dickson and cost between $450 and $750. You'll need a minimum four hour appointment, which will include lightening your hair, fashion colour, Olaplex treatment and styling.