D.I.Y. Pastel Hair.

At long last, I finally decided to do a post about how I maintain my pastel hair!  Currently my hair is a cool shade of mint, but this technique can apply to any pastel shade.  If you have been following me since the beginning, you are well aware that my hair has been various shades of pastel including lavender/lilac and pink/coral.  Please note that I am NOT a professional; this is simply how I've been doing my hair for the past several years and what seems to work the best for me as far as time, money, and maintenance.

Also (and this is probably the most important information that you might take away from this post):  your hair MUST BE BLEACHED FIRST if you want to achieve any sort of pastel shade.  Even if your hair is a dirty shade of blonde, the color will NOT show up.  YOU ABSOLUTELY, ONE HUNDRED PERCENT HAVE TO BLEACH IT.  IT WILL NOT BE PASTEL IF YOU DON'T.  I know bleach is scary, but it really isn't that scary if you have someone to help you.  I am sorry to burst your bubble if you were hoping to have My Little Pony hair simply by putting a little color on top of a darker shade, but bleach has to be a part of the process, and the bleach NEEDS TO REACH A LEVEL 10 BLONDE (example here) if you want to achieve any pastel hues in your hair.  I'm sorry!  It's just hair science. :(

 *Make sure to wear an old shirt when dying your hair and to cover any surfaces with a towel so as not to get hair dye on unwanted clothing and items around your house (as I have been infamously known to do.. haha).*

Let's begin!

Before

This is a photo of my mint hair before I touched it up with a bit of color.  I tend to update my hair about every two weeks.  As with any pastel shade, it seems to fade to a silvery version of its original shade after several washes.  Keep in mind that I wash my hair about every 3 days to maintain the color as it fades super quick with each shampoo.  If you are someone that absolutely has to wash your hair every single day (honestly you shouldn't, because it is not healthy for your hair), your color will fade much faster.

 What you will need

1.) Pigmented hair dye

I am super lucky because I have a beauty supply store two blocks away from where I live, so any time I run out of dye or wanna switch up my color, I can go for a quick walk and I have pretty much everything I need at my beckoned call.  The brand 'Adore' is nothing fancy, but it does the trick.  My store carries every shade of it imaginable and 'Emerald' is the color I chose in order to achieve my mint hair.

2.) A big bottle of conditioner

Since I go through this process about every 2 weeks (sometimes less), I don't splurge on expensive conditioners.  TRESemmé tends to work well for my hair when using it to update my color, and a 

39 oz. bottle costs me about 4 bucks.

3.) Hair dye bowl and color brush

You can also find these items at your local beauty supply store.

The Process

1.) Fill your bowl with conditioner

I use A LOT of conditioner every single time I touch up my hair.  Since dye is pretty harsh , and since I put my hair through this process more often than one should (beauty is pain.. or something.. haha), I use this as an opportunity to deep condition my mane while also touching it up.  

2.) Add a tiny bit of color

Since this is a post about pastel hair, a little color goes a long way.  If you add too much to your conditioner, it may come out a bit brighter than you want.  I always recommend starting out with just a little bit of color and adding more as you go.

3.)Mix it up!

3.) Not quite bright enough? Add a little more.

I wanted my color to be a little more pigmented than the first mixing of dye, so I simply added a bit more of the emerald to achieve a richer shade.  

4.) Mix again!

There, that's better.  I realize the shade in this picture looks almost like an electric blue, but you have to realize that after you wash it out with shampoo, your hair will be at least a shade or two lighter than the original color you mixed in the bowl.

5.) Saturate, and wait.

The process of applying the dye to your hair is entirely up to you, but I usually start with my roots by applying the color with my brush in sections, and then adding the rest of the color to my hair with my hands in the same way I would shampoo it.  The technique, at least for me, is not as important as the saturation.  As long as you make sure that every single strand of hair is completely saturated with color, you should achieve your desired result.  (I should also note that I do not use gloves for this particular process.  Since I am only using a tiny bit of color in relation to a large amount of conditioner, I have found that the dye does not affect my hands and washes off just fine with warm water and soap.  But if you prefer to use gloves just to be safe, go for it!)

After I apply the dye, I leave it in for about 40 minutes (40 minutes is the maximum amount of time it takes for color to process before it stops developing).  When time is up, I rinse my hair out with warm water and shampoo and condition as usual, and then I style it however I want!

After

The very first photo in this post is obviously an 'after' photo as well, but I thought I'd throw in another for good measure.  ;)  Anyway, I hope this was a little bit helpful to those of you who were curious about how I maintain my pastel hair.  Let me remind you again that I am not a professional and I certainly do not maintain my hair in the most conventional, 'beauty guru' type of way.  This is simply what works for me!  I did go to cosmetology school for a little while several years ago, but almost everything I learned there has escaped me, and I kinda just make the rules up as I go along. :)

Thank you so much for reading!!  As I've said before, I plan to implement more posts like this within my blog to add variety and switch things up a bit.. you know.. to keep things lively and interesting haha.  Let me know if there is anything else you would like me to post about that isn't just outfits!  Right now my camera is in the shop for repairs (I um.. dropped it while out on one of my photo-taking excursions), so my regular outfit posts will be out of commission for a few weeks.  I *do* have a backup camera but am not sure where the USB cable for it is *crycrycry*, so in the meantime I will try to come up with different ideas for posting.  Anyway, I hope you have a beautiful week, and I will talk to you again here very soon!

Love to you all. =^.^=