Hey Guys! So.... I did something kind of dramatic and I wanted to share it with all of you! I've never been one to do crazy things to my hair or experiment with wild colors, so this brown and rose gold is pretty much as dramatic as it will ever get for me! I wanted to share my experience with you in case you were interested in doing something different with your own hair to change it up for the new season, a new start in your life or career, or just for fun (you don't always need a reason, right?).
To give you a little background, I naturally have straight, black Asian hair. To be honest, I've always appreciated it only because it didn't take too much effort to style it, and it looked, well, natural (haha). But once in a while, its always nice to change it up. I started getting highlights starting the end of middle school and the beginning of high school using mostly box dye. I never overdid anything since I just wanted some hint of color to my hair, which is good because I didn't severely damage it. But at some point I decided that I really didn't like it anymore and actually dyed my hair back to my natural color and kept it like that for about two years. I had let my hair grow out for a while, so I had a lot of virgin hair to work with when I decided to go into the salon for an traditional dark to light brown/blonde ombre. I really enjoyed having it for a year and a half, and by the end of my junior year, it was just getting too long to maintain. I decided to chop off my locks into a pretty short medium length cut, and the color from the previous ombre was still a bit visible at the ends. Flash forward almost a year and I find myself sitting at a 9am appointment at BeScene hair studios in Rockville, Maryland.
Before - This picture actually makes me cringe a little from looking at the straggly ends, but happy that I finally got rid of it!
Inspiration Pictures - I came in with a few inspiration pictures (see below), and Jenn Shin (@jennshinn), the awesome hairstylist helped me to decide how to combine the colors that I wanted into a melted masterpiece. Pictures are definitely the most helpful thing you can bring in for a stylist, and from there, they can help you customize your color and style. She added an extra touch of rose gold to the ends which should fade out a bit into a lighter blonde in a few weeks. It's definitely a bold ombre to rock but it is so different and unique that I'm trying to wrap my head around the fact that it's actually my own hair! She first cut my hair into my preferred long layers with long side bangs, and then used lightener (a few inches from my roots since I wanted to keep it dark) twice. By then, about 3 hours had passed before she mixed the colors and brushed them through my hair with a brush and then her fingers to really melt the colors together. My hair was shampooed and conditioned, dried, and then curled at the very end. The whole process took about 6 hours (I would recommend a morning appointment), with a lot of waiting time for processing in between.
After- Ta Da!
Needless to say, my hair went through a lot that day and I felt terrible about the damage, although my hair is still holding up well and feels really healthy! I would just make sure you ask your stylist how to best maintain the color and strength of your hair. The rose color fades first, so that beautiful shade is unfortunately, very temporary.
It was a really enjoyable process altogether and I love my new hair :) Thank you so much Jenn! I totally recommend her if you will be visiting the salon. She's fun to talk to and also listens to exactly what you want so you will never have a bad hair day again after leaving. Hair is a fun way to express yourself so I'm a huge supporter of doing something outside of the box.