DIY Hair Toner Adventures

I've been on a bit of a (overindulgent phrasing alert!) hair journey as of late, and en route from my trademark red mane to wherever I may land, I ended up somewhere I will kindly refer to as Orange Hair, USA. Okay, "orange" is sort of alarmist and panicky, but let's just say that where I was expecting to see golden sands, I instead got citrus groves.

Delicious, yes, but decidedly less appetizing growing out of your head.

In my years of hair dye adventures, I'd never allowed my hair to take the driver's seat, instead insisting on calling the shots and lead-footing all the way to burgundy, teal, purple, brown, blonde, clown red and every ill-advised stop at blue-black in between. This time, however, I'm suddenly carefree about where my hair may end up and have decided to just see how it reacts to processing. The only certainty is that it needs to no longer be red. I'm finally, after nearly a decade of on-again/off-again business, over red hair. (Mostly I just never want to clean up a bathroom that looks like a crime scene ever again.)

Maybe I'll see how close I can get to my childhood platinum, or maybe I'll go deep brown and look like I'm actually related to my family. My first step was simple: soap cap. A soap cap, or bleach bath, is a gentler way to lighten your hair than processing with just bleach. It involves mixing a batch of bleach and developer according to package instructions (I like Kaleidocolors in Violet and Salon Care 20 Volume Creme Developer), and adding an equal part, or more, of shampoo.

My preferred bleaching setup.

This mixture lightens hair without the harshness of normal bleach processing, but it also gives less effective results. I kept the soap cap on my hair for about 45 minutes (watching Blossom reruns, which is way darker/weirder than I remember, FYI), then waited another week to do the same (sans Blossom). I needed long process times because I'm lightening several shades and battling deep red box dye, which fades and bleeds right until you actually want it gone, and then decides to buy a 3-bedroom ranch style home and move in on your head. It won't budge! One more week and I did a third process, followed by Wella Color Charm T-18 Toner.

I figured by this point I'd be blinded by my flossy white locks, but was instead annoyed to see the aforementioned citrus groves, and planned to end it all with some ash brown dye. On a whim, I thought maybe I'd tint my brassy blonde with some DIY hair toner made from stuff I had around home. I know that sounds like the beginning of a horrifying anecdote (instead of the middle of a self involved hair essay!), but it actually worked out pretty well.

Purple tones neutralize yellow or brassy blonde because purple and yellow are complementary colors. I didn't want to chemically process my hair again just yet, and also didn't want to leave my apartment, so I whipped up a batch of what I hoped would be homemade purple hair toner.

The color wheel: not just for ninth grade art class!

In a perfect world this would've been more of a blue-ish purple since my hair was more orange than yellow (and blue and orange are complementary) but this is what I had on hand:

WHAT YOU NEED

+ Purple Hair Dye (ion Color Brilliance in Lavender)

+ White Conditioner (cheap is fine)    + Mixing Bowl    + Tint Brush

HOW TO DO IT

Dump a bunch of conditioner in a mixing bowl and add a random blob of purple dye, like so:

Mix it all up until it's a lilac shade (I ended up making twice this much for my hair length).

Put it all over your hair - make sure to get it everywhere! Let it sit until you like the shade and then rinse well. I left mine on for 2 hours. Since "fun" color hair dyes are not really damaging (tons of people sleep in them!), my hair was fine afterwards.

I sectioned my hair to make sure I got it everywhere except my white-ish bangs, which would've turned purple.

My original strand test: after on the left, before on the right.

This stuff isn't going to lighten your hair, but it'll adjust the warmth. It probably won't affect SUPER brassy hair, but it made my hair feel like a real shade of blonde rather than an obvious work in progress. Plus, a total stranger got out of line at the grocery store to tell me that my hair color is, and I quote, "super pretty!" Honestly, that helped me feel better about my hair so if nothing else I encourage you to compliment strangers whenever the mood strikes because you could be saving them from dropping $18 on hair dye later that day.

Have you ever played hair chemist in your bathroom? Do you cut and/or dye your own hair? Can you believe how much I have to say about my hair? Please, shut me up by talking about your hair in the comments!

BLOGLOVIN  | TWITTER  |  TUMBLR  |  PINTEREST  |  INSTAGRAM  |  ETSY

BEAUTY: Natural Instincts Malaysian Cherry

After (sorta) recently jumping back on the hair dye wagon, I've done some semi-permanent experimenting with Natural Instincts hair dye. I'm not totally ready to go back to the permanent dye game just yet, so I'm sticking with what appears to be the only drugstore options for those, like me, that are afraid of hair color commitment. I'm trying to avoid the long term grow-out phase that is inherent with permanent dyes, but the dismal selection of semi-permanent options is making the case for permanent color a pretty strong one. 

I'm all about red hair, high maintenance as it may be, and while there are a handful of red and reddish shades in the Natural Instincts family, very few (sometimes NONE) are sold in most of my local stores. What's up, Natural Instincts? Got a beef with (outrageously fake) redheads? It sure seems that way, but luckily these wilder shades can be found online. I purchased Malaysian Cherry (shade 20R) from drugstore.com after first letting my Raspberry Creme (which I loved!) fade out. You can see that color here, here and here if you want. 

Malaysian Cherry is much darker than Raspberry Creme, but I had a hard time finding reliable pictures of either color online when choosing dyes, so I'm making this post for others who are struggling the way I've struggled: being slightly unsure about the exact hue of a hair dye shade. This one's for us, guys.

Natural Instincts Malaysian Cherry in the Box:

Kinda brown, right? But it has CHERRY in the name so I persevered, knowing they would not call something brown "cherry". For example, if someone gave you a BROWN pie and called it a cherry pie would you eat it? NO! Okay, I might because I am so awkward with confrontation and they went to all that trouble just to make me a pie. Have a heart! 

Malaysian Cherry on My Hair:

Right after I dyed it and dried it. That phrase makes it sound like I did something really demeaning to my hair or, like, slept with it and never called it again. Dyed it and dried it, guys!

After two washings. So, like, a solid week. :)

So, it's a bit more red than the box but generally the same shade. I'd call it "Cherry Cola" if I was the kind of person who was paid to name beauty products after familiar food items.

Also, I always feel like somewhat of a geek/creep/neighborhood weirdo when I take large closeups of my hair or face to put on the internet. That's, like, a totally weird thing to do, right? I was SO close to wearing a pair of fake joke teeth just to break the tension while snapping these pictures, but couldn't find any of my fake teeth thought better of that because I'm not insane. So, to make us all a little more comfortable, please retroactively imagine these on my face while you scroll through. 

Ahhh, much better.

xoxo,
Michelle

OBSESSED: Pastel Hair

Lately, I can't stop fantasizing about pastel hair. It looks SO sweet and SO cute and adds an instant pop of color to every outfit - it's like the ultimate accessory. I recently helped my sister achieve cotton candy pink hair (which looks so adorable on her!) and now I feel like I have the pastel hair bug. Since I just got back into hair dye after a two year break, I probably won't take the plunge on pastel anytime soon, but I'll gleefully watch from afar!

Sources: 1 // 2 // 3 // 4 // 5 // 6 // 7

How could I even pick a shade anyway? The entire rainbow spectrum is so appealing in pastel, although I do think everyone looks great with purple hair. What color would you pick?

xoxo,
Michelle

STYLE: OOTD Gray Leopard Leggings

Cardigan: Target

Dress: Old Navy

Leggings: Old Navy

Boots: Rampage

Necklace: Target

Ring: Michael's

I find myself in leggings more often than not these days, as winter finally starts to loosen its chilly grip on my wardrobe. These gray leopard leggings are from a few years back, but they still make the cut pretty often since their soft color palette makes them somewhat neutral. Ok, so maybe you don't consider leopard print a neutral, but in my world that's just par for the course. Paired with super bright pops of color like my beloved cobalt blue and green (which I love with my newly dyed red hair!), these leggings make a statement while still letting the color be the star in this outfit. Basically, bright colors + leopard = Michelle.

Wearing this locket makes me feel like an edgy school girl with its rosary-like chain. Target clearance! 

This ring is so colorful and magnificent in person (but reallllly hard to photograph) and I found it just laying by the jewelry supplies at Michael's - you really never know where good accessories will pop up!

xoxo,
Michelle

BEAUTY: Hair Chalking

As a former hair dye junkie I’m always looking for all natural and non-damaging ways to color my hair. I’ve let my formerly dyed hair grow out for so long without coloring it that I feel like I can’t start up again now. Ok, so I obviously bleach my bangs, but whatever – a girl can have one vice, right?

Of course, there’s nothing wrong with a little temporary, no chemical color. Dipping a toe back into the color pool is ok by me so when I started reading about hair chalking recently I was instantly ready to try it out. If you haven’t heard of it, hair chalking is basically like drawing on your hair with pastel crayons - pretty simple stuff. It leaves color that stays until you wash it out and you can make it pretty opaque or more of a dreamy tint. If you love color in your hair but aren’t ready for commitment or just want to switch it up, hair chalking is a great way to do so!

What You Need

> Chalk Pastels (mine are from Michael’s)

> Spray Bottle of Water

> Hair Straightener or Curling Iron

> Rubber Gloves

> Towel or Old T-Shirt

How To Do It

1. Put on your towel or t-shirt and select a section of your hair that you’d like to color. I chose 6 medium sized sections evenly distributed around my head. Spray that section with water wherever you’d like to add color. I chose to color the ends of each section.

2. With your rubber gloves on, color your hair section with a chalk pastel in a downward motion until the desired color intensity is achieved. The color may diminish somewhat in the following steps, so brighter is better.

3. Run your heat tool (I used a curling iron) over the colored area several times until the hair is dry and color seems set.

4. Repeat these steps on as many areas as you’d like to color. I used 3 colors (aqua, purple, blue) and did 2 sections of each. Style as usual.

That’s it! This is a great way to add a few pops of color to my hair in a pretty quick way. Sometime between coloring and curling a little color intensity was lost, but I attribute that mostly to my brushing my hair. I didn’t mind a more subtle color but if I wanted it stronger I’d avoid touching it too much.

This method worked well on my dark blonde/light brown hair so I imagine it would be really intense if I used it on my bleached hair. The color did make it through a night out and sleep, but washed out completely in one shampoo - perfect for a weekend alter ego look if you ask me.

Have you tried this or another temporary/gentle hair color technique? Share your tips in the comments – I’m always game for new hair ideas!

xoxo,

Michelle

DIY Lemon Juice Hair Lightener

I was born and raised with a head of beautiful light blond hair that fell gracefully down my back and wouldn’t know how to get frizzy if it tried. After a gift such as this, how did I repay the hair gods? By obsessively dyeing and cutting my mane myself for the better part of a decade, of course! While I still do the cutting myself and I maintain the bleaching of my bangs, I have opted to avoid hair dye on the rest of my head for almost 2 years. For fellow hair dye addicts out there, you know how difficult that can be.

I’ve become accustomed to the much darker shade of blond my hair has become over the years (probably more light brown at this point but I can’t let go, okay?) but I can’t help but yearn for the sunny highlights of yesteryear every now and then, which is why I wanted to try lightening my hair with lemon juice.

One problem: the mood struck at 8:00PM and there was no sunlight to be found. Plus, I have no dedicated outdoor space at my building and it’s not really beach season anymore. I read about substituting sunlight with a hair dryer so I gave it a whirl. The premise seemed okay; the heat of the dryer would spur the acidity of the lemon…blah, blah, blah, other scientific reasons that I was willing to believe.

Here is my virgin, pre-lemon juice hair:

And here is my post-lemon juice hair:

Ta-da! Or more like ta-don’t, as in don’t bother trying this because it sucks. My hair actually looks darker, if that is at all possible. I know it still looks wet in the ‘after’ photo but it felt dry; the crunchy look is due to pure stickiness. Ewww. Also, this may burn your scalp like a mutha’ if you have any cuts on it. BONUS: this is a great scalp cut detector!