Hi everyone!

So I made a bit of a hair change this week, I went blonde… very blonde! I thought I would share a bit of the process and the products that I used in case anyone might find it helpful so here you are!

I’ve been feeling like a big hair change for a while now and since my hair is quite short and I don’t want to go any shorter… the other option is colour! I’ve been every hair colour under the sun at this stage- black, red, copper, blonde, brown, plum, pink…. I’ve had it all, and most recently I just had my natural hair highlighted.

 

 

I always feel so bland with my natural hair and it was starting to feel that way again so I decided I wanted a complete overhaul and off I went to see my hairdresser…

Needless to say she was not happy at all with my decision to bleach the s**t out of my hair again.  I hadn’t had my hair coloured in ages so it was natural and shiny and in great condition and she really didn’t want to go down the full bleach route as she said it would ruin my hair condition. My hair naturally has warm undertones meaning when it is bleached blonde, it comes up very yellow. In order to get a cleaner (less yellow) blonde, I have to use a very strong bleach in my hair which isn’t ideal as it can be very damaging.  I told my hairdresser that I wasn’t worried and I still wanted to go ahead with it, she gently reminded me of the time we bleached my hair to get it white and all my hair started falling off from the cheekbones down 😖  I still wasn’t worried so I practically bullied her into bleaching my hair! This wasn’t easy and as she said herself, she was going against her better judgement, but we know each other a long time so she said she would do it for me!

It was a long process as we had to leave the bleach on for quite a while to get the colour to lift enough, but there were two saving grace’s:

1. I needed a good hair cut so any dead ends were most likely gonna gonna be cut away in the end. (If you are thinking or bleaching your hair a lot be prepared to rock a shorter hairstyle)

2. My hairdresser uses Olaplex.

You’ve probably heard of Olaplex as it is such a buzz word for salons when it comes to blonde hair but what exactly is it?

‘Olaplex is system that permanently rebuilds the damaged bonds in your hair that are broken during the chemical process of bleaching and it allows you to rebuild the strength and structure of your hair!’

This stuff is magical, your hairdresser will mix the solution into your colour or lightener so that it can take effect while your colour is processing. And then use the treatment after processing has finished for a further 10 mins.

I didn’t have any breakage the last two times I coloured my hair and there was very little damage this time round if any. Sometimes it takes a few washes before you will notice any real damage so we will see, but so far so good! The only thing with the Olaplex is that when used with bleach it can take a bit longer for your hair to lift but I would take that over breakage any day. Like I mentioned before, I’ve been through bad bleach breakage (pre-Olaplex) and it was BAD!

Once all the bleaching was done my hair was still a bit yellow. I will need another session to get it where I want it which is a lovely silvery colour but in the meantime I used a white toner to eliminate some of the yellow in my hair. The brand I used is BLEACH London (this is just a toner and doesn’t contain any bleach) and it worked very well. I got it in Boots for 9.99!

 

Lastly to maintain the colour and stop the yellow returning I use a toning shampoo and conditioner especially for  blonde/platinum hair. I have been using this for a while and it is really good for blonde hair that goes brassy very easily. The purple colour cancels out yellow/ brassiness in the hair which keeps the colour fresh. The brand I use is Pro:Voke and is super affordable. You can get it in any Boots store or online  with shampoos and conditioners under €6 and treatments under €10!

 

So here you are, the Before* and After!

Before:

 

*Please note I was suffering with a head cold in the before pictures and made no effort to put on makeup or look good lol!

After:

Now all I have to do is decide if I should leave it blonde, or if I should put some pink, purple or peach into it! So many choices, I love having blonde hair! 😆

All suggestions happily received, and any questions just ask in the comments 🙂

Special Thanks to my fab hairdresser Rosie Finglas-O’Reilly for letting me have my way 😘

PinkLadyXo

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