Bleach Blonde Again

I finally bleached my hair! I didn't use my normal stuff, because I didn't know where a Sally's was around here and I was honestly too cheap to buy all the things I needed. When we moved out of our house I gave away all my hair dying tools so I would have to buy everything to start over.

When I decided to try the L'Oreal Feria Wild Ombre I also saw a product by L'Oreal, Absolute Platinum. The Feria Absolute Platinum comes in three shades. I filed that information in my brain for future use, I guess I always knew I'd want to go back to blonde. So, we took a trip to Target, I was looking for the Extreme Platinum shade since that was the one that was supposed to lighten the most. Target didn't have it and I was dead set on bleaching my hair so I got the next lightest of the Feria Absolute Platinum. The shade I tried is called Very Platinum. But, while standing in the isle I noticed a really pretty red hair color and I was torn. So, so torn. I contemplated the red for awhile, but decided to get 3 (yes three!) boxes of the platinum color.

We come home and I decided to test a piece of hair before laying all that bleach on my head. I was pretty terrified that my hair would fall out. I have bleached my hair many, many times before and I've only had my hair break off once. It was at least 10 years ago, I bleached my hair and in the shower it felt like mush, I knew something was wrong and I was really worried. I went to bed and woke up with my hair crumbling and I ended up having to cut my already short hair even shorter. So, when I bleach my hair I often remember that time and worry about my hair. I tested a piece and nothing happened, my hair didn't break off and it also didn't change color very much. This made me doubt my decision to go blonde. I knew my hair wasn't going to be platinum, it was dark brown and it takes A LOT of work to go from dark to light. I really didn't want to damage my hair more for nothing. I spent a good day and a half trying to decide if I should return the two unopened boxes of blonde and go for red. I love red hair, it's so pretty, but it usually looks awful on me. This red was different though, this was bright and much crazier of a red than I had ever tried in the past. I eventually decided to just go for the blonde!

I left the bleach on my hair for 30 minutes. The directions said 30 to 60, I was still afraid of being bald so I didn't want to go too far. It took all three boxes to cover my head, and I still missed a few spots. I washed out my hair and it felt dry and brittle. I was worried. I conditioned the heck out of it and got out of the shower. When my hair dried I noticed that it is a little drier but my ends were already fried, I don't think they are any worse than before I started. I've been conditioning my hair often and using a hair oil and my hair is feeling much better. I was even brave enough to use my straightener on it.

Right after it dried

straightened and with makeup on

no makeup but straight hair. this is the most accurate photo of the color (ps I look like I have no top teeth)

My hair is a weird color right now that I don't like. It makes me wish I would have tried the red. I really hate bleaching my hair but I realize I will need to do it one more time to get it where I want it to be. I will use my regular stuff from Sally's this time though. I plan to try again in a few weeks. Hopefully it will be the right shade of blonde after the second time and I can just focus on maintaining my roots. Now, I just need to stop dreaming of the red!!!!

The Feria Power Reds Color I am still dreaming of

Going back to blonde!

Hello, my name is Jen and I am addicted to hair dye! It all started back in 7th grade when I decided (at the suggestion of my friends) to dye my dark blondish hair a strawberry red. I liked the color and became hooked on changing my hair on a regular basis. Since that first time I have dyed my hair more times than I can count and more colors than I can possibly remember. I have had many color mishaps; green, pink, gray - but none of that has ever broken me of my addiction. It has only made it stronger! If I were to take all the money I have spent on hair coloring products over the years I am certain I could buy a small house! I will be dying my hair until the day I die and this addiction will never be cured!
 
I am itching to bleach my hair and I will be doing it as soon as I have a proper bathroom to do it in!! This has been my thing lately. I dye it brown thinking it will be less upkeep and easier on my hair, then after a few months I am sick of the dark hair and go back to blonde. It's a long, painful process and my hair probably hates me for constantly doing this to it. Since my hair is becoming more and more gray (a tear falls from my eyes) I have decided it's really not worth it to have brown hair, I don't like it as much as blonde and it is taking just as much work to keep it brown as it did to keep it blonde!

My ends are pretty damaged from the L'Oreal Wild Ombre I tried a few weeks ago so I will definitely have to cut a few inches off before I start the slow and agonizing process of going back to blonde. I am not looking forward to the days or orangey-yellow hair but it is what it is!

You know, life would be easier if my hair just grew out of my head blonde like it did when I was a kid!

Here are a few pictures from my most recent blonde days:

The most recent blonde, around May 2012

Don't remember the date of this one but we're at Disneyland. No older than a year or two because C was born.

Not sure when this one is from but it's in the last two years because that's our old house

This one is the oldest, we're at Sea World for G's 8th bday, so two years ago

And here are some photos I will be using for color and cut inspiration. The forth one is my favorite, but I don't think I'll go that short, I think I might go for something more like the first:

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L'Oreal Paris USA Feria Wild Ombre Hair Color Review

Over the weekend I finally got to try L'Oreal Paris USA Wild Ombre. I have been dying to try it since I first found out about it a few weeks ago. Since my hair is dark I bought the Feria O60 box, for dark brown to light brown hair.

The kit comes with a new comb that you use to apply the product to the hair. The idea is that the comb helps create a straight line and also helps to evenly distribute the product. I did use the brush that was included but I found it was hard to get through my hair. I ran the comb through each section of hair a few times then applied some of the mixture to my hand and made sure I didn't miss any spots.

The package directions say to leave the product on for 25-45 minutes, depending on your desired lightness. My hair is pretty damaged (I've dyed it at least 4 times in the last 4 months, if my memory is correct, which it usually is not) so I only left the dye on for about 15-20 minutes. I also didn't want the lightening to be too drastic, I wanted something a little more subtle than what was on the box. I liked the way the Feria O70 and Feria O80 boxes looked, the result was more subtle and gradual than O60.

Hair before...

 I like the result, though I think I might buy another box and make the bottoms just a little bit lighter. I like that it's really subtle but think it would look better just a tad bit lighter.

After

This is the back, I obviously didn't do a great job straightening my hair but at least the color looks mostly even

here's an updated one..curled. Yes, I look tired because I got no sleep the night before due to experiencing our first tornado warnings in TN

Overall, I liked the results. The Wild Ombre kit was easy to use. The comb helped to create a more even, straight line and I would definitely use L'Oreal Feria Wild Ombre again in the future.

***All photos were taken using my iPhone so the quality is not the best, but you get the gist...