Hair chalk? I think not..

I really love the look of "hair chalk" .. It's hard not to, it's ALL OVER Pinterest and everywhere else.. When I was at the store buying bleach for my ombre look, I saw "hair shadow", a similar product for $10. It was a little tiny pot, like an eyeshadow.. No way. I had seen on Pinterest that someone had used chalk and a flat iron. Well I have art chalk (conté crayons) so I knew I didn't need to spend that money.. And I have a lot of colors. I also had a hunch (based on the other pinners experience of having to make a "paste" with the chalk) that watercolors may work. 

Watercolor paint

So, I started with the watercolors.  I took a short handled (oil color) paintbrush and just got a good amount of color, and painted it onto a strand of damp hair. Easy-peasy. I let this sit while I tried using the chalk pastels on two strand on the opposite side.

Artists pastels

This was a little more difficult. I tried wetting my hair and coloring on it.. no dice. I ended up coloring on my hand and pulling it through. It was a little "chunky" in my hair.. felt kinda wierd. 

The wet pastel side:

The wet watercolor side:

Then I dried them both with my hair dryer. (Next time, I will be sure to comb through each piece while wet.. I didn't and it was pretty tangled.) When dry, I flat ironed them. (I read somewhere that this would seal-in the color.. that doesn't really make sense to me, but I did it b/c I just wanted them straight.)

The dry pastel side:

The dry watercolor side:

 

Although both worked fairly well, I definitely give the edge to the watercolors.  MUCH easier to use and the color is MUCH more vibrant.  Both made my hair kinda crunchy feeling, but this may be b/c I just bleached the ends and they are very dry. 

The color is fun and will only last until you shampoo.  Grab some watercolors and go to town!

Ombré .. It was time

So you DO know what ombre is.. If you don't, please let me know how you escaped the hype of this trend. Anyway, it is a graduated color change from your roots to the tip of your hair.  I went back and forth about it.. Mostly, I thought I would kill my hair or screw up very badly.  But this week I REALLY wanted to cut all my hair off.. like Carey Mulligan short. Unfortunately, the hubby is NOT in love with that idea. So.. I figured if I messed up ombre, I would cut it.. not quite as short as I want, but at least it would be a change either way.  

So today I had free time and a sudden surge of confidence so I ventured to Harmon and picked up my supplies.

What I bought:

 L'Oreal Super Blond Lightening Kit

Neutrogena Triple Moisture Pure Strength Conditioning Treatment (this line of products has saved my hair on multiple occasions)

I anticipated needing to tone down the brassiness so I bought 

L'Oreal Brass Banisher Color Balancing Gloss Treatment - but I liked the result so I didn't use it. 

I also bought Clairol Natural Instincts Shine Happy Clear Shine Treatment but before using it I read the instructions which say not to use it on bleached hair for 3-4 weeks after bleaching. So I will use this but don't want to put anymore stress on my hair yet. (P.S. I have used this product before and LOVE it.)

So anyway.. this is what I did.. maybe not exactly how everyone else does it.

Step 1:

Mix Bleach

Stick to the package instructions and combine bleaching solutions.

 Apply to unwashed dry hair. (I don't know why it has to be dry but I wasn't fooling with bleaching.)

Step 2:

Apply to lower half of your hair (or wherever you want the HIGHEST point of color to be) and drag through to the ends.  I also took random strands and held them closer to the root and pulled bleach down them. The idea is to be somewhat messy with your application to achieve the "natural" look.  When you are happy, let sit for 20-30 minutes. You should be able to judge how much color has been lifted (unlike dye). Rinse hair and blow-dry on low heat.

Step 3:

Apply bleach again, concentrating on the ends.  Don't let the bleach come up as high as your did last time.  This is how you acheive the graduated effect. 

Let sit for 30 minutes and rinse again. Blow dry on low again.

Step 4: 

If you like your result, stop now.  If not, repeat Step 3. Keep in mind bleach does dry out your hair.. Don't create unneeded stress on your hair. 

Step 5: 

Condition. Condition. Condition!! Use a hair mask, the conditioning treatments all over Pinterest, or your usual deep conditioner but anticipate dryness. 

Ta- da!