GOING, GOING, BLONDE

Blondes. Everyone wants to be one, okay, maybe not everyone. But most people at one point or another want to go blonde... duh, duh, duhhh. 

Going blonde is hard because unless your hair is virgin (and lets be honest, very few of us have virgin hair anymore) the chances of you getting that perfectly platinum color AND maintaining your healthy, silky hair is DANG NEAR impossible. Lets get real, its gonna take longer than a 2 hour appointment with your colorist, in fact it may take a few of those appointment to get you there. So here is how I went blonde! 

Here is my hair a week before my wedding in January, a dark red burgundy color.  I had just colored it so it would be fresh for my wedding day! 

Here is my hair 6 months later, this is all fade out from washing. I haven't colored it at all since before my wedding. In this picture I did add a few foils of highlights on top to try and hide my 6 months of roots, but that is all I've done to it!! This was really the best thing I could've done while trying to go blonde. It gave my hair a 6 month break to just be left alone. No colors, no chemicals. I also did very minimal heat styling. All I did was wash it every 3 days and let the red pigment naturally fade out. A reset if you will. 

The first bleaching.. I hate this picture, but hey, it was the only one I could find! This was right after the first time it was bleached. It was right before the 24th of July (almost 7 months since I colored it)! I was super impressed! It went fairly light considering the red burgundy I started with, but as you can tell, it was pretty brassy!! I can guarantee EVERYONE going from dyed hair to blonde hair will go through this phase. It's hard, but you must go through it!! During this time I continued washing it only twice a week and very minimal heat styling. I also did a weekly deep conditioning treatment and used a good heat protectant, along with getting a trim every 6 weeks. It important to remember with hair that less is sometimes more. I would style my hair the same day I washed it and I wouldn't use a hot iron on it until the next time I washed it. I would just try to salvage any curl I had left for the next 2 days. This means you will have some bad hair days sometimes, but it will improve the health of your hair! 

Gave my hair a break from bleaching and decided to try some fun temporary colors. This particular color was actually a colored conditioning treatment. I just put it on my hair in the shower and it made it this pretty temporary peach color. It lasted about 2 weeks before it all rinsed out in the shower, but it was a good way to give my hair a break between bleachings and it didn't drive me crazy to look in the mirror and only see the nasty, brassy blonde color! This was almost more of a way to maintain my mental sanity, so that I didn't give up and dye my hair red again! This brassy phase is seriously THE WORST!

This was after the second bleaching sesh at the end of November. We FINALLY got it to a pretty blonde color. This picture doesn't show it as well, but there are some pieces through out my hair that are almost platinum. I asked for a rooted blonde color so that I can let my hair grow in between touch ups and not have a harsh grow out line! I'm in love!! 

So here are some important tips! 

1) Take your time! Rome was not built in a day and neither are blonde bombshells! This took me almost 11 months. I could've done it quicker but this timeline was best for my hair type and keeping the health of my hair! 

2) Take care of your hair through the whole process! Wash it less often to avoid stripping natural oils, get it trimmed regularly, use good shampoo and conditioner, use a deep conditioning treatment and heat protectant, avoid hot tools when possible and even silk pillow cases help to avoid breakage!

3) GO TO A PROFESSIONAL! Please don't try bleaching your hair at home. Bleach can take your hair from 0-100 REAL QUICK! Go to a professional who can help you reach your goal without all the damage! They went to school for this, they know more about the product and have access to better bleaches that can lift your hair better with less damage! We don't tell you this to take your money and in fact if you follow a guide line similar to mine it won't cost you very much at all! 

7 Things Your Hairstylist Wants You To Know

DISLAIMER.

I am not making this post as a way to bash on anyone or call out clients. I am simply allowing you to see something through a different pair of eyes. Hopefully you learn something you never knew and I hope I don't offend anyone, but if the shoe fits, I mean................................ Well, let's get started! 

1. CANCELING

If you scheduled an appointment that's wonderful! But if you decide you can't make it or for any reason want to cancel that's fine too, but please, LET. YOUR. STYLIST. KNOW. Mmmmkay? Mmmmmkay! I don't care what your reasoning, heck you don't even need to tell me a reason if you don't want, but please be considerate and call your stylist and let them know. 24 hours in advanced (ATLEAST) would be considerate, but even a last minute phone call is better than nothing. This is my job, my source of income, and if you no show me I don't get paid for sitting around on your empty slot. If you let your stylist know, then they can fit in someone else and still be able to pay their bills, which is what we are all trying to do right? So please do unto others as you would want them to do unto you! 

2. BE REALISTIC

If you come into your appointment please be realistic with your expectations. If your hair is black or red, you probly will not get platinum blonde in one session! It's not that I don't want you to leave with beautiful blonde locks it's more that I want you to leave with hair. It has nothing to do with me trying to milk you for more money, it's just that I want to do things correctly and safely. You wouldn't go in and ask a doctor to preform heart surgery and have you out the door and in the line at Starbucks in 15 minutes at half the cost, so please be realistic with us as stylists. Some things take time.

3. I"M LATE, I'M LATE, I'M LATE

If your going to be late, please LET. YOUR. STYLIST. KNOW. Most times your stylist will do the best they can to work with you and still fit you in. But if your pushing the envelope if may cause us to be late for all other appointment we have scheduled that day and that causes for a stressed out stylist and an angry clientele. But no worries we can always fit you back in the schedule. We want to make sure that we have an adequate amount of time to give you the best service possible! 

4. WE'RE NOT HAPPY UNLESS YOUR HAPPY

Before you ever leave the salon check your hair. If you see anything about the service you didn't love then please POLITELY mention it to the stylist. Chances are its something they could easily fix on the spot and if not usually they will be more than welcomed to schedule you another appointment and fix the issue at little to no cost to you. However, once you walk out the door we will assume that you were happy with the service and you may be charged again to come in and get it fixed. If you went out to eat at a restaurant and your food was served cold would you wait a couple weeks and then come in and let your waitress know? Of course not. So please let us get the issue resolved ASAP. 

5. WE ARE HUMAN

Please remember that your hair stylist is still human and as humans we all make mistakes! Now, if your stylist cuts a foot off your hair instead of an inch, or chemically burns you, then maybe those mistakes should not be overlooked. But if your stylist didn't notice that one side was longer than the other or accidentally missed a grey hair while coloring then please LET. YOUR. STYLIST. KNOW. Those mistakes can easily be fixed and may simply mean that your stylist was having an off day. But usually if you give your stylist the chance she can make it right at no cost to you, where as if you go somewhere else you will be paying full price all over again! Like a mentioned before, we're not happy until your happy! 

6. THAT'S MONEY HONEY

It's always a great idea to ask for prices up front. Each salon charges different prices and it would be horrific to get to the end of your appointment and not be able to afford the service. Sit down with your stylist and explain what exactly you want, then ask how much they think that will be. They can give you an estimated price for your hair type and hair goal, then you can decide if it fits in your budget. But please DO NOT barter the price with your stylist. This is their job and the way they pay for their rent and groceries or their daughters dance lessons. If the price seems too high, look around and get a feel for whether or not their being reasonable. You wouldn't go in to a grocery store and argue with your checker over how much your going to pay for a gallon of milk, so please don't barter with your stylist. Oh, and always check to see if they offer sales or discounts! 

7. IF YOUR HAPPY AND YOU KNOW IT

If your happy with your service LET. YOUR. STYLIST. KNOW. We love hearing positive feedback! Too often in this world we hear of all the negativity, so break the mold! If you loved your service praise your stylist! Tell them how much you love your hair. Tell your friends, post about it on Facebook! A referral is the BEST compliment! When you let the world know it helps us out more than you know and, well, it's always nice to feel good about yourself!