Firstly, I suck. I cannot believe that it has been since December 2010 that I have last written a blog, and my many excuses that being a third year swamps me with work which is true... I can still find time to feed my Facebook addiction which takes up a good portion of my day if I am honest. Anyway, you get my sincerest apologies and I recieved a slap on the wrist for neglecting my blog. But to focus on the title of this year's blog:
Hair Dying Addiction Anonymous!
It's not really anonymous I understand, as the blog kind of gives away who I am, but the point of this is that I have a problem which has become more severe over the years... I am addicted to dying my hair. Yes, it's like Pringles, once you start you just can't stop! Well for me anyway. Luckily, I have seen that it is now a problem; the shaking, the muttering in my sleep about colours, going into B&Q not to get Dulex colour charts for my walls but instead to see what colours I haven't done will look good against my skin tone, the twitching after a week of having the same colour and the constant need to look in any reflective surface to see if it has faded. Yes my friends, I am a hair dye fiend, a fickle woman who wants to consistently change the locks atop my head!
So, yesterday, I took the fateful step to try and control my dying addiction, I finally managed to get my hair back to the colour it was and had been for many years before I dyed it so many different shades of red, brown, blonde, ginger and even purple hinted! To celebrate this step, I am writing this blog of my journey through hair-dye addiction! So here we go pictures of the hair changing throughout the years starting with my natural hair and getting back to it:
So there it is, although they aren't the best pictures in the world showing off my hair (am using ones of my boyfriend's laptop) it's the general idea that my colour has changed dramatically over the space of two years. From bright blonde to bright red, I have probably spent an equal amount on changing my hair colour to clothes if not more! So here are my hair-dying addict tips:
1) If you dye your hair bright red, make sure you are going to want to keep it that way for a whiiiiiiile! I dyed mine and it has taken me a little over a year to get it back to my naturally blonde way, and it cost a lot! This is only if you do not want to strip the colour out which I was advised by several hairdressers to avoid.
2) Dying your hair bright red is a chore! To keep mine at the bright red I wanted it to be I was dying it myself every two weeks to keep it that shade because the red just did not want to cling to the hair and after a week of washing your hair it would be looking more brown with a hint of red then the bright red you go for.
3) If you want to go light to dark that is the easy part and often if you have blonde hair like I did before, the brown will lighten really fast and the blonde will begin to show through. Going dark to light however, if you want to avoid stripping which is better for your hair be prepared for a long road ahead, highlights each time will take ages and will involve some bleach. Hairdressers are not keen to do an all over tint back to blonde as it will do the most damage so gradual highlighting process is what has been advised to me on all occasions - it's expensive but worth it, my hair is in pretty good condition and looks alot more natural.
Recommendations for products to use when dying the hair:
- If you want dramatic colour hair use Live XXL - This is what I used for my red hair obsession and it generally was very good, but for longer hair use two to three packs of dye to ensure everywhere is completely covered to get an even colouring.
- To keep your hair from becoming too brittle and dry use Aussie hair products, generally a deep three minute reconstructing conditioner has always been amazing but I used very deep conditioners from Treseme and Aussie when going through my red rampage.
- Try to let your hair dry naturally, the added heat attack will just make your hair want to break off your relationship even quicker!
So there you go, a few random tips thrown in and remember, once you start you just can't stop so you better have a good relationship with your hair before you start otherwise you may have to go to some hair therapy sessions like I did before you've got the team back together!
Love
Stephie x
