Okay… So I didn’t exactly do **every** color of the rainbow but it was pretty darn close! One year ago exactly, I decided to finally take the plunge and start experimenting with fashion hair colors. My hair is naturally dirty blonde, but I had been dyeing it black for years. This post is to document the colors I tried, the brands I loved and brands I wasn’t so crazy about and my tips for caring for fashion hair colors. I had wanted to experiment with fun colors for literally years so I’m sooo glad I was brave enough to play around with all of these different colors. My year of fashion colors might be over, but I regret nothing! I had so much fun with it!
Where it all began…
I had long black hair and bangs. At this point, I had been dyeing my hair black for about 5 years. The first thing I did was obviously, stop coloring my hair, and then switch to regular shampoo (so not a color safe shampoo). After a few weeks of this, I started the vitamin C method to lighten my hair. Over a period of several weeks, about once a week, I would crush up Vitamin C tablets, mix it with shampoo, fully coat my hair and then let it sit before rinsing thoroughly. Several treatments of this lightened my hair from black to this brassy blonde color pictured next.
After a few months of brassy blonde and trying to let my hair recover, I finally bleached my hair before dyeing it my first fashion color. I used Ion Flamingo Pink. Loved the initial result but it faded out almost completely within a week. Major sad face. It also dried my hair out like crazy. I finally ordered myself some overtone color conditioner which was much better for my hair. I used the vibrant pink and over all, was really pleased with the results.
After a few months, I wanted to switch things up so I did another overtone color and opted for their vibrant purple. I added it directly over my pink hair and it did fine since pink hair fades so quickly anyways.
I liked the color but again, it faded so much between washes. So I bleached my poor hair again which returned it to a super light blonde/pink color. The next color I tried was a beautiful blue by L’oreal Paris. When that faded, I added another Ion color just to refresh the blue. I used Ion Shark Blue.
I liked the blue but once I got tired of it, it was so hard to remove! My poor hair stylist spent hours removing the blue. Lesson learned, blue is not a good choice for those of us who struggle with commitment. This was the point in my hair journey where I finally went to a professional and had the blue removed and pink added again. She worked absolute magic on my hair after I had caused so much damage to it earlier in the year. See below for the before and after photos…
Obviously, she did a great job and worked a miracle on my hair. If you’re in the Atlanta Area, check out @angelahallfx on Instagram and book her to do your hair!! You won’t regret it.
Major Takeaways…
Pastels and Fashion colors are high maintenance. They are costly and they consume a lot of time. There’s not really any way around that. They are however super fun! A few things to consider if you’re thinking about taking the leap into rainbow colors for your hair….
Do I have enough time to maintain this?
Am I willing to wash my hair in only cold water and cut back washing my hair to only two or three times a week?
Do I have enough money to invest in the proper shampoo and conditioner to maintain my precious hair color?
Going to a professional is obviously your best bet for achieving a beautiful and healthy color. The next safest option from my experience (and I am in no way a hair expert, just a lover of risks and experimenting) would be the overtone color conditioners. These do fade quickly so be prepared to reapply every single week.
That’s a wrap my friends! In 2019, I had black, brown, blonde, pink, purple, and blue hair. I have since gone back to a more natural color but haven’t had a chance to take any pictures. Any guesses what the current color is? Thanks for reading along and let me know if this inspires you to try a fashion hair color!
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