Friday, December 16, 2011

Ombre


Sorry for the obscene neglect of my blog. The holiday season is upon us! Being a mom, who home schools and has also added a puppy to the family, things basically can be summed up as no rest for the weary.

So what is new in my life (besides the puppy who deserves his own post briefly following this one)? I did my hair. Now, one of the luxuries of being an at home mom that does not need to seek the approval of a boss or the general public, I am at liberty to have a little fun with my hair. I take full advantage of this. My hair and ridiculously large shoe collection are my favorite accessories. Typically my wardrobe is a little bland... well not really bland... it is just all my clothes fall into the categories of blacks, grays, whites, tans and browns. Seriously, my closet looks like a black and white photography for the most part with the exception of a few pairs of jeans. That means my hair can get away with being bright and colorful and I don't risk looking like someone threw up a bag of skittles.

Well, a couple months back I was browsing fashion blogs and found this one http://www.le-happy.com/ and while I liked her fashion sense.... I fell in love with her hair instantaneously. It is completely awesome, right? Well, I knew that I wanted to do this technique to my hair. I thought it would be perfect for summer. Of course, after continuously browsing through her blog on a daily basis, I got impatient. Considering that I had to touch up my roots anyways, I gave my self an early Christmas present.




Here is a little tidbit about myself; I refuse to allow professional hair stylists anywhere near my hair. I know that sounds crazy, but here is the cycle. I will go to a stylist and leave practically in tears because the lady has done nothing close to the photos I have shown her or been able to cut a straight line. From there, I will swear to never again step into a salon. Years will pass and I will maintain my hair on my own perfectly fine. Then, I will be out and about and decide oh my bangs need trimmed or my ends need trimmed and for sake of convenience venture into a salon, figuring that they will be able to at least complete that much in a satisfactory manner. Then I will walk out looking like they used a chain saw instead of scissors. Needless to say, after the last time, when I went to get my bangs trimmed and told the lady that I want to cut them straight across but I don't want the line to be a blunt line and the lady razored layers, thick chunky layers that ranged from about a half inch long to two inches with huge gaps and it took me 6 months to grow out and regularly trim my bangs to get them even to resemble a straight line and still I had to end up growing them out because instead of just trimming my already cut bangs she decided she was going to add to my bangs and make them super thick, I am officially done going near salons. Yes, I am aware that was one hell of a run on sentence. 

And I am sure that there are perfectly capable and wonderful stylists out there... I just haven't had the luck to sit in their chair. I figure I am perfectly capable of doing what I want to my hair. Now days, youtube has made it increasingly easy to learn how to do anything in regards to fashion. If their is a product you want to try, there is a review for it. If you want to master a certain make -up look, trim your own bangs, marble your nails, give your self scene hair or anything else you can think of, there are step by step video instructions out there for you. I <3 Youtube. 

So, of course, before doing something so drastic to my hair, I watched probably about 100 video tutorials and came up with my own method based on the girl's results that I liked the best. 

Step 1
Go to Sally's Beauty Supply, they always have great prices and if you have any questions or unsure of what products you need, the staff is super helpful and knowledgeable. 

Foil Strips
a hair dye mixing bowl
a tint brush

Previously, I had been using the high color highlights in red on my entire head and had about a half inch of dark (almost black) roots. I did my entire head in the copper high lights mixed with 70 ml of the developer and let sit for 30 minutes. Once done, I rinsed my hair and conditioned it heavily, letting the conditioner set for about 3 minutes before rinsing. I then blow dried my hair till it was about 90 percent dry. My results were a lot redder than someone who has virgin hair or brown hair will get. 

I had purchased the small pack of the lightener powder and I used about a third of it mixing it with enough developer to get a cake batter-like consistency. I chose this powder because it does not have a toner which typically eliminates or reduces brassiness. I wanted a somewhat brassy result because it fit into the same color family as the red orange of my hair. 

I sectioned my hair off by the layer and started with the bottom layers. Alternating sides, I took about 2 inch sections (my hair tends to be on the thin side, if you have thicker hair, you may want to use smaller sections) I 

I started by applying bleach to the last two inches or so of my ends. Instead of holding the brush like you do when you paint and having the widest part of the brush coming into contact with your hair, I flipped the brush sideways so the narrowest part of the bristles were applying the bleach) I fully saturated the last inch and a half to two inches and then had it streak the next inch or so. I did it this way so I would not have a blunt line and instead had a fading effect. I then wrapped it in foil. 

After my entire head was in foil, I waited 15 to 20 minutes. I regularly did strand tests to check the progress. 

I then took each foil wrapped bundle and undid it and applied more bleach. I used the same method, only applying it to the last 4 or 5 inches of my hair. 

After another 15 minutes, I shampooed my hair, conditioned it and blow dried it. I wasn't quite satisfied with the results and wanted the ends to be lighter so I repeated the entire bleaching process exactly the same way. 
I washed, conditioned and then I applied massive amounts of leave in conditioner before blow drying. I use Aussie Hair Insurance. http://aussie.com/en_US/hair-insurance

It is like bottling Sunshine and dumping it on your hair...
Ombre results without any real styling  just blow dried. 
The entire process took about 5-6 hours, but it was totally worth it. 
A close up on my blow dried hair. 

After Styling


















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