Hair talk again!!! I know, I'm bombarding you with all my hair issues...lol
Going dark has been such a rollercoaster for me. At the beginning, when I had all the fresh, rich dark tones, I was INLOVE with my hair, got amazing feedback etc, but as the days went on, it just washed away and always ended up going so brassy, so reddish, so orange-y, and just completely nightmere-ish. My wallet also suffered... oh-my-gosh did it ever suffer because of how much I had to get it refreshed. Seriously, I was refreshing the color every couple of weeks.. not good!
I just recently went to see Cayla (my hair colorist.. love her!)... because something had to be done to stop all this maddness...lol. Instead of staying pretty much all one color, I asked her to add some highlights so that it breaks up the solid-ness a bit. Since I've experienced pretty much every shade of dark (lol), I am starting to see what "look" I like best... Can you guess?? You got it... Balayage!
I personally feel you get the most "natural" look with Balayage (ombre). I am not the biggest fan of super dark with really blonde bottom, I like more of a natural flow with the color.. too much contrast and funk.. is so not my thing!
I was actually a bit disappointed with being so dark.. It was so much of an upkeep, way worse than being blonde. Maybe it was because I have always been blonde, so when I went dark, the color just kept washing away. I am also disappointed because the beautiful color that I had when I first did it dark, stayed for maybe a week, then it just washed away to a god awful reddish brown color.. Nothing is wrong with reddish brown, but that was not the look I was going for. Also, my re-growth was coming in blonde, so it looked like the brown hair was floating on my head... just a disaster!!!
Anyhow, now that I have some blonde highlights, I can start over with Balayage, which means... Next time I make an appointment, I will just get my roots darkened only a bit to a nice cooler tone to match my natural hair, which is dark blonde. I love the dark still, but I need it to blend better for when my re-growth happens, that's why I went back to some highlights. Unfortunately, getting back to a lighter tone quickly without damaging it, is very hard. So, since my dark has totally faded to a gross warm color, lightening it up only adds to that warm tone. For myself, I don't like any warmth, I like more cool tones... but hey.. that's just me! I can deal with it for now if it means less breakage.
Anyhow, here is how my hair turned out... sorry the lighting sucks big time and I had to take it from my iphone :( The highlight she used is actually a really pretty blonde, it's more of a baby/pale blonde, which I love!
As you can see, there is some warmth to my hair.. not sure why those yellow dots are showing up, it's actually making it look really orange-y in that one spot (which really, it's not that bad at all) but whatevs.
I have to be REALLY careful with my hair.. If you can see on the right side of the pic, I have a piece that's super short!!! Ya... it broke a bit.. tear!
What's funny, well.. not really funny, but that breakage wasn't from the blonde, it was actually from the dark that I put in my hair. Whether you go lighter or darker, it's still somewhat damaging to your hair. I was really shocked when this happened, just because my hair had FINALLY started feeling healthy. I'm trying not to really style that broke piece, just kind of dealing with it right now and baby-ing it...
Anyhow, from this point on, I will pretty much just get Cayla to pull through the darker pieces in my hair as well as the root until my natural hair takes over.. I will also be putting thin, blended highlights throughout my hair every 3rd or 4th appointment, but not applied to the root, just painted on I think.
I know some pieces are that gross orange-y tone, but I mean... it's going to happen when you go from really dark, to blonde again. I would rather do it in a more gentle way, then harsh and my hair breaks off right?
Oh... and I wanted to show you something else... My puppy, Remy... I cannot believe how big he is now. He is 1.5 years old now. It feels like yesterday when he was just a little tot. I just love him so much!
Isn't he the sweetest?? lol
I hope everyone has a fantastic day. I'm also on the hunt for a new shampoo, so if anyone has any suggestions, let me know. I am looking for something a little more sulphate free and very moisturzing!
Love always,
xo
Mel
