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| Photo by Macey Snelson Photography |
I’ve got a new hairdo to add to my collage of hair. I’m pretty happy with the new hair.
I got a coupon in the mail for Great Clips…. and, while I am all about paying good money for a good hair do, sometimes money isn’t lining my pockets and my hair still grows. I was lucky enough to have a really awesome little stylist doing my hair (I can always tell if I will like them by how their hair looks. She had the CUTEST short pixie-cut. So cute I thought about asking her to cut my hair like that!)
Anyways, she did a great job and got my unruly hair back to fighting shape. Ended up going with a very subtle inverted bob. I’m hoping my front layers grow long soon so I can go a tad more dramatic with it.
Then I went to my friend’s house for a ladies night and got experimental with my color! I talked a little about how I wanted to add in a fun color. I was hesitant to do too much. I did just a peek-a-boo highlight of magenta and dyed the rest of my hair a dark brown.
In case you ever want to DIY your hair color I compiled a few tips from my experience:
1) Ask for help at the beauty supply store. I looked at the huge array of hair dye at the supply store and was seriously dumbfounded. No clue what I was doing (and I have dyed my hair before). The worker helped me get all of the tools I needed and the right dye and bleach for my goal.
2) Wear clothes you don’t care about and stay in a space that is easily cleaned when dyeing your hair. I got dye all over the counter (serious bleach power got it cleaned up). I remembered to wear a shirt I didn’t care about. But, I totally wiped my hands on my jeans and pretty much ruined them. 🙁
3) Take your time. Be careful. Read all the directions through completely.
4) Have an extra pair of hands ready and willing to help. I was able to do quite a bit by myself. But, when it came to foiling and painting on the dye I would not have been able to do it without my friends.
5) Don’t expect professional results. I like the way my hair looks. Would it have looked better if a professional did it? Yes. The pink is already fading fast because I didn’t leave the bleach on quite long enough. I missed a couple of hidden spots with the pink, so my hair has a bit of blonde peeking through every now and again. Did I save money and have fun doing it the DIY way? Sure did!
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| Please excuse this awful phone pic. Argh. Bad Blogger. |
How I did it:
1. I made sure I had clean, dry hair. I washed it that morning and wore it that way all day. I don’t think it is good to dye your hair when it is super dirty (lots of oils) or directly after shampooing. I’m not an expert… just what works for me.
2. I separated out a diagonal section of hair under the top layer of hair. I combed it out and placed it on top of a piece of foil. I used the salon type of foil for my hair. I’m not sure if regular foil works or not, but I assume it does.
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| Another phone pic. |
3. I then put a bleach mixture ( Manic Panic Flash Lightning Hair Bleach Kit works well and has directions) on my sectioned off hair. I made sure it didn’t touch my other hair.
4. I did the strand test after the suggested time and I thought my hair was lightened enough, so I rinsed it out. I then dried it completely. I ended up realizing that it was more yellow than I wanted. I should have taken the step to highlight it again. But, I opted out. Which is part of the reason why my color is losing its brilliance already.
5. After drying my hair completely, I sectioned out my hair again. This time it was super easy because part of my hair was bright yellow and the rest was brown. I folded the foil underneath the bleached portion of hair again. I painted on the magenta color (I used Ion Color Brilliance Bright Gel in Magenta)
6. I folded the foil up to protect the hair. After about 15 minutes I put in the dark brown hair color on the rest of my hair. I used a simple box of hair dye from the local grocery store.
7. After my hair soaked it all in for the allotted time (around 40 minutes) I hopped in the shower to rinse it out. It was suggested that I use cold water anytime I rinse my hair.
