How I Took My Hair From Auburn to Lavender: Part 1

I haven't blogged in such a long time but I'm happy to finally sit down and get back to it! This was my second year going through this color transition and I have DEFINITELY learned some things the hard way. I want to warn others about some of what I experienced and how they can achieve pastel hair successfully!

Please keep in mind that I am NOT a licensed or trained professional! I wouldn't recommend doing this at home alone but if you're stubborn like me, I would strongly advise doing your research and learning from my mistakes!!! I'm going to be breaking this into two separate posts; this one which will be about how I processed my hair and the products I used, and the second one will be how I upkeep and maintain it.

THE #1 PIECE OF ADVICE THAT I WOULD GIVE ANYONE ATTEMPTING THIS: BE PATIENT AND PLAN ACCORDINGLY!!!

It is entirely unrealistic and frankly unhealthy to try and achieve this in one day. Even salons don't recommend it but if they agree to do it, you'll be sitting in the chair for well over 6 hours. Therefore, do not plan to do this the night before an event or a day where you need to see a ton of people. My biggest regret both times around was rushing the process and trying to complete it in day and a half. If you have a long weekend coming up, that would be your prime time.

Here are the products I used:

1. L'Oreal Quick Blue Powder Lightener
2. Olaplex
3. Salon Care 20 Volume and/or 30 Volume Creme Developer
4. Pravana ChromaSilk Vivids in Violet, Silver, and Clear

*Note: Olaplex can only be purchased by licensed professionals. A 3-piece kit is $65 but is often sold for about $120 on Ebay and Amazon. I luckily had a friend who got it for me and I highly suggest using it for minimal damage; the technology and science of it is amazing and well worth the money. The same goes for Pravana- it's about $5 a tube BUT BE CAREFUL BUYING ONLINE! A lot of people counterfeit it online.

Here is what I did, what I should've done, and what I would recommend:

• I followed the package directions for mixing the bleach and the Olaplex. My biggest mistake was thinking Olaplex is a miracle worker. Just because it's designed to lift your hair faster with less damage doesn't mean the rule book goes out the window! I used a 30 volume developer which is the max you should go with bleach and left it on for nearly an hour, with a cap on, and without watching it closely. DO NOT DO THIS. Caps process hair faster and I was thinking I'd be doing it perfectly so that I'd only have to bleach my hair once and I'd have less damage. This is not how it works. LOW AND SLOW IS THE BEST THING YOU COULD POSSIBLY DO! Accept that it is a process and mistakes you make during it could ruin your hair for years. As a result, I wound up losing CHUNKS OF MY HAIR- see the picture below! My hair was snapping and falling out like crazy, the texture turned to what looked like shredded spaghetti noodles, and it was unbelievably fragile. I have never done anything so stupid with such detrimental results.

Here's what I should have done and what I would advise:

• Use a 20 volume creme developer. It may end up taking longer but it is 150% worth it. I still needed to bleach my hair again after the first process because it was a brassy-yellow and you need your hair close to platinum. So no matter what, know that it will take more than one time, and that's why you need more than a day. Also, if you have Olaplex, it's working to protect you, so if you have to bleach it 3 times, it still won't come close to being as harmful as what I did. I always lose my patience having to do multiple processes but as I've said, it is absolutely worth it in order to keep the integrity of your hair- THERE IS NO CUTTING CORNERS!

After I finished the bleach, I used about three tubes of Pravana Clear and mixed about 3 drops of Silver with 2 drops of Violet to get a customized shade of lavender. I would recommend this because Pravana's pastel purple has really bad reviews and I believe was either recalled or is being reformulated. Not to mention, if you begin with pastel color it's going to wash out so much faster.

I REALLY, REALLY, REALLY don't recommend diluting color with conditioner. Girls all over the internet are doing this and I think it basically sets you up for a loss. The color will apply much more unevenly and it will wash out so fast you'll be dying your hair once a week- no exaggeration. I'm so happy my friend recommended the clear because it dilutes the purple but with a base that is actually formulated like a professional dye. My hair color lasts for weeks and not to mention Pravana is the only dye I have ever used that actually makes my hair feel BETTER after using it. So if you don't have a license, start hunting someone down who does!

So to summarize my experience, be patient and set realistic expectations. Find someone with a license or save up and buy Olaplex. Do your research on it and follow all package directions. Use a lower volume developer and process your hair in shorter sessions while monitoring it closely. Get *real* Pravana color and don't mix hair color with conditioner. If you follow all of these steps I think you'll get really amazing results and won't have to go through the trauma that I did. Good luck!

*all pictures are my own and this post wasn't sponsored*