Back in November, I did something I’ve been wanting to do for a while. I dyed my hair a crazy color.
I don’t change my hair a lot, but when I do, I always get the urge to do something ‘out there’. If I’m going to make a change, it better be noticeable!
I looked around for a good (affordable) hair stylist who wouldn’t make me look super trashy. In my (personal) opinion, there is a fine line when you’re dying your hair an ‘unnatural’ color. Maybe it’s because I live in the south and half of the hair jobs I’ve seen tend to lean more toward ‘trashy’.
I’m a stay at home mom on a pretty tight budget so these stylists charging over 250$ just weren’t going to work for me. I also tend to make a decision and then want it executed IMMEDIATELY.
I used to have a good friend to dye my hair with who lived nearby. We were constantly dying our hair together! She up and left and since I definitely don’t trust my husband to do a good job (sorry babe) I have to wait until I visit my sister.
SO, in November, my niece and I set to work! She is 16 and could easily be a successful beauty blogger. She’s amazing with makeup skills! But on the other hand, she could be a scientist, doctor, or astrologist. She’s basically a genius.
That said, I trust her with my hair. And my face (makeup). We got our supplies from Sally’s, then looked up balayage techniques on YouTube. We drew up the diagram on the mirror for easy reference (in dry erase marker) and set out our tools.
Here’s what we got:
I didn’t want to dye ALL of my head blue, so we used a root touch up to make the top bit look fresh.
Here’s my ‘BEFORE’. Don’t judge my crusty frizzy hair. It’s bad. I know. In my defense, this was post mom bun.
My niece first applied the bleach solution to my strands in the ‘V’ formation that we learned about just moments before.
We let that sit a while, washed it out, and then got started on the blue dye. We bought two different colors of Manic Panic. A darker blue and a lighter turquoise. Looking back, I wish I’d have just gotten two of the darker blue. The turquoise would look a lot better if my hair had lightened more, but instead you can kind of see the yellow through it.
These next two are post bleach/blow dry:
After carefully painting the blues on the bleached portions (darker blue up top, fading into the turquoise), we realized that it was streaky in places. Our solution was to just take the remaining dye that was in the bowls and rub it in all over my head. Not professional by any means (and at this point my niece’s best friend was there to help, so there were three of us doing this).
Once I’d washed it out and dried it, it actually looked pretty good! That is, considering a bunch of amateurs did it with amateur supplies.
I think this was the day I got back from my sister’s house.
I have seen ads on Facebook about Overtone conditioner and it was always in the back of my mind as something I wanted to try. Now was the perfect chance!
Overtone is a vegan formula that deposits color gently to either keep your current colors bright, or add a little color to your natural locks. They have reps to chat with on their site whenever you need help, too. I spoke with someone, sent her photos of my current hair and what I had wanted to achieve, and she gave me her best recommendation. She suggested I go with vibrant blue, so I did!
It took a couple of weeks to arrive (high demand/holidays I assume) which was hard for me because I am spoiled by Amazon Prime.
Now that I have it, I try to use it sparingly since it’s basically gold and I don’t want to have to buy it once a month.
I got the pack that includes an 8oz conditioner, 2 oz travel conditioner, and 8oz deep treatment. I don’t wash my hair every time I shower, so it hasn’t run out TOO quickly.
This photo is my hair today, after taking a shower with both hot water AND regular shampoo and conditioner. I’m stretching out my last bit of Overtone! Obviously you can see a lot more fading here, without using my Overtone! I didn’t notice it was that bad until I took this photo.
I try to alternate between using the conditioner and the deep treatment. When I use the deep treatment, I apply it to dry hair and let it sit for 15 minutes before I shower. For the conditioner, I apply it after shampooing and let it sit for 5 minutes (or less if my hot water is running out).
One of my favorite things about Overtone is not having to rinse my hair in cold water. Apparently, this is what you’re supposed to do to keep your color from fading too quickly. Well I’m sorry, it’s the middle of winter and this mama is NOT about to take cold showers. I’d lose my color before I took a cold shower. So thanks, Overtone, for helping me keep my color and my hot showers!
If you want to try Overtone for yourself, get $10 off your total by clicking HERE. By giving you $10, I will get $10 too! I am totally loving this stuff so do me a favor and use my link so I can KEEP using it! (I actually found a link to use on someone else’s blog when I bought mine! I’m not passing up on $10 off)
Once more for those in the back…CLICK HERE FOR $10 OFF YOUR OWN OVERTONE!
Meg Smiley says
January 15, 2018 at 11:24 amSuch a fun color!!! I love it! Maybe you will inspire me to try something gutsy! I didn’t know about overtone conditioner either. That’s good to know.
Ayana Nell says
January 15, 2018 at 6:44 pmYou totally should! I love Overtone too because it’s gentle and if you use it by itself over your hair (especially you blonde) it won’t be SUPER bright, but it should look really good!
Allison says
January 16, 2018 at 1:45 amOh my goodness you are SO BRAVE! You guys did pretty great! And you pull that color off so well!!!
Jenny says
January 16, 2018 at 6:30 pmLOVE that color. I’ve been coloring my hair for years and occasionally I get adventurous too! You taught me a lot (now I’m learning more about the ‘V’ formation). Bookmarking for future reference when I color my hair next week!
Ayana Nell says
January 16, 2018 at 6:40 pmI’m glad you learned something!! If you look up ‘balayage techniques’ on youtube you will see better what I’m talking about! Good luck!
Chava says
January 16, 2018 at 6:36 pmWow what a fun color! And what a little cutie you have there! 😀
Ayana Nell says
January 16, 2018 at 6:40 pmThanks so much!!
Jenn says
January 17, 2018 at 4:07 amOh you’re so brave! I’m at red right now. However, my hair is a dark brown so there’s no way I could have achieved the look in my own. I had to go to a salon.
Ayana Nell says
January 17, 2018 at 4:10 amI did red once…it was SO hard to get out of my hair!! I thought I would have to go to a salon too! It ended up working out pretty well, but I know it could have gone south easily LOL. Risk taker I guess!
Summer says
January 17, 2018 at 1:08 pmI have been wanting to try overtone but I don’t want to bleach my brunette hair do you think it would look okay? I was thinking red might be fun!
Ayana Nell says
January 17, 2018 at 6:18 pmThey have little charts on their website to give you an idea of how it will turn out! I think it might look cool! Probably pretty subtle, but I’m sure you would be able to tell!
Brittany says
January 18, 2018 at 1:26 amI LOVE this color!! The picture where your hair is curled seriously looks professional!
Ayana Nell says
January 18, 2018 at 1:31 amThank you so much!! It’s funny, when I look at these photos I feel like it’s different colors in each one! But that’s what I like about Overtone too, it keeps things fresh…lol
Shadlyn says
January 18, 2018 at 6:54 pmI’m loving the blue hair! I always wanted to change my hair by myself at home, but I’m scared I will mess up or something.
Ayana Nell says
January 18, 2018 at 7:21 pmIt’s a risk for sure! LOL. Especially if you don’t have anyone to help you!
Amy-Lynn says
January 18, 2018 at 7:54 pmwow… i used to be big into dying my hair fun colors but never heard of overtone (i used ink works). i’ll check it out next time i take the plunge into color.
Ayana Nell says
January 21, 2018 at 7:15 pmI’ve never heard of Ink works! You always learn something new, right? haha
Alicia Taylor says
January 19, 2018 at 5:22 pmI haven’t ever heard of this – but I just colored my hair the first time in September. I also went with a different color – Red – not like auburn – like a light burgundy. I loved it, but it’s already faded to an awful orange shade because I had no idea how to care for it.
Ayana Nell says
January 21, 2018 at 7:15 pmI think it’s easy to underestimate the care that goes into hair dyeing! I did red dye once…it took FOREVER to get rid of that hue!
Erica D Ardali says
January 19, 2018 at 11:46 pmCool Hair! I plan on trying out Limecrime’s Unicorn Hair in a couple of weeks. 🙂 I just love seeing people not give two bleeps about what others think and just live their lives, and expressing themselves in a way they see fit. Get it girl!
Ayana Nell says
January 21, 2018 at 7:16 pmThank you!! That’s how I try to live, for sure! That sounds like an awesome product, I’ve never heard of it! I’ll have to check into that!
Amber Stanfield says
January 20, 2018 at 3:54 amThe color actually looks really good on you! It makes a cool ombre effect as your natural color grows out! Never heard of Overtone, but I’ll keep it in mind if I decide to color my hair this year. I have been flirting with adding some coppery highlights.
Amber S. | http://www.thesuburbansocialite.com
Ayana Nell says
January 21, 2018 at 7:17 pmThat was the plan!! I really like it too! I didn’t want to to my full head because of what you said, my roots would be hard to keep up with. You should do those highlights, they sound super cool!
Kelley says
January 20, 2018 at 5:49 amI’ve been twitchy with wanting to try something like this – it looks great and I really appreciate seeing the grow out stages, too!
Ayana Nell says
January 21, 2018 at 7:17 pmI’m glad you like that part! You should definitely try it!
Evelyn, Path of Presence says
January 20, 2018 at 11:51 amGood for you!! And ya know the best part? You look great! Thanks for sharing your journey with us – enjoyed a look-see into your beautiful world. Blessings. Evelyn
Ayana Nell says
January 21, 2018 at 7:17 pmThanks so much Evelyn!! I’m glad you enjoyed it 🙂
Stephanie Jeannot says
January 20, 2018 at 3:58 pmI guess it is more important to try things to see how they sit with you. I haven’t dyed my hair in such a long time. Maybe this year I’ll try something different.
Ayana Nell says
January 21, 2018 at 7:18 pmIt can’t hurt! Worst case scenario you can have a hair dresser fix it back for you LOL.
Elizabeth O says
January 20, 2018 at 11:12 pmSeriously love the colour, it is gorgeous. What transformation indeed.
Ayana Nell says
January 21, 2018 at 7:18 pmThank you!! I love it as well!
Amy says
January 22, 2018 at 5:29 amI personally love the blue hues, and went blue with my own hair a couple of years ago, too! I’ve grown mine out since then and am now trying to go completely normal. Of course, who knows when the next super urge to do hair dye will come again, right? 🙂
Ayana Nell says
January 22, 2018 at 7:46 pmFor sure! Once you do it, it gets in your blood and it keeps coming back! hahaha
Maria says
January 22, 2018 at 10:45 amlove that cplor so much! It’s so important to have a good conditioner regardless if you dye your hair or not… It just keeps your hair healthy!
Ayana Nell says
January 22, 2018 at 7:46 pmVery good point!