Back to Blonde!

Yep, after about 5 months, I finally went back to blonde. I loved the red, it reminded me of Joan Harris in Mad Men, but the upkeep was too much. I had to redye it every 2 weeks, and I didn't want to pay double what I did when I was blonde. I went to Walmart and picked up L'oreal Paris Super Blonde Lightener, $8.97 US. It's the same stuff I always used when I had borderline white hair, so I know it's good.

(Steps I took to lighten my hair and the result after the jump.)

Now the first step I did, I have to admit was a mistake. Never do what I did! After I put the lightener in my hair, I decided to watch a movie. Normally you should only leave lightener in your hair for an hour at most. I accidentally left it in for a little over 2 HOURS. Yes, it helped get a lot of the red out, but it fried the ends of my hair and made them feel like a Brillo pad. Stupid, stupid me. Anyways, I went from this:

To this:

Some sort of white roots to yellow to orange to pink-orange ends combination. After I rinsed the lightener out, I used lots of purple shampoo and conditioner, but it still needs more TLC. I highly recommend One 'n Only Shiny Silver Ultra Conditioning Shampoo, at Sally Beauty Supplies for $7.29 US, and Suave Professionals Almond and Shea Butter Conditioner, anywhere shampoo and conditioner is sold for around $3 US, they're both amazing products. :)


I waited 2 days before I tried again, this time with L'oreal Paris Excellence Creme in Lightest Ash Blonde, at Walmart for $8.97, to cancel out the yellow and orange. It probably wasn't the best idea to try again so soon after the first lightening, but it worked out. My hair still needs some TLC on the ends, but the color looks a lot better. I just need to use some more purple shampoo and deep condition it this week and it should be good as new.

It's not back to white-blonde, but it's a start!

How often do you change your hair color? What color do you prefer? :)

Joan and Betty Photo - Mad Men, Rest of photos by myself.