Fancied a change...

Blonde to Red

On Wednesday, after three and a half years of bleaching my hair, I finally succumbed, and went back to being a redhead. I loved having vibrant red hair when I was at university, and always got lots of compliments on it, but after a while, I craved the pale blonde shade I was beforehand and so committed myself to getting it back. It took me the best part of a year to get to the platinum colour that I have been for the past couple of years, having to live with every shade of orange imaginable in the process, but it was worth it. I have really enjoyed experimenting with the blonde, adding teal tips, purple roots and grey/ lilac washes (obviously not all at once!) but I felt that with Autumn coming in, now was the time to give my poor hair a rest from the strong chemicals I have been battering it with.

Obviously as I was so pale to begin with, I was aware that it wouldn't be a quick process, I would have to get gradually darker until it was block enough to dye it the bright red I wanted. It took many visits to Boots before I actually bought a dye that I thought was suitable; a Clairol Nice and Easy one titled 'Natural Golden Auburn'. It seemed dark enough to combat the bleach in my hair, yet was red based so was edging towards the shade desired. It also wasn't so dark that it would be a complete shock to the system upon stepping out of the shower! 

It was two for £10 which was handy as I knew I would need two packets to fully cover my hair, and my lovely mum obliged in helping me to dye it. The instructions said to leave it for 25 minutes, but as my hair was so light I left it on for about 40 minutes, just to make sure. It came out a gorgeous rich mahogany shade, but unfortunately once I started drying it, the luscious colour it was wet began fading, until when completely dry, it was sort of translucent looking, and betrayed my former flaxen locks.

Slightly disappointed, the following day I went and bought the next shade darker, 'Natural Light Auburn' and proceeded to put that on yesterday afternoon. I only used one packet this time, but left it on for longer than specified as before. Success! This time it has come out darker and more of an all over colour, though it is less red than the previous shade. I am not sure how long it will last before fading, but I have the other packet left in the cupboard to put on in the next couple of weeks. Here's hoping by the end of October I will be a certified fiery redhead!