Tuesday, July 3, 2012

My Ombre Hair Experiment + How I Achieved It!


I've been wanting a change with my hair for a while now, and after procrastinating for months, I decided to finally "ombre" or "dip-dye" my hair. 

The ombre hair trend has been really big these past couple of years among celebrities, bloggers, and well - what seems like everyone. It's in fact so popular, that there are countless tutorials on blogs, Youtube, etc on how to achieve the look yourself with a couple simple tools.

What does ombre mean? Ombre (a french word) specifically means "shadow" or "shade". If you own a lot of French cosmetics, you may have spotted the word here and there - such as Chanel Ombre Essentielle Eyeshadow or the lovely Chanel Illusion D'Ombre Eyeshadows. When referring to clothing, hair, etc, it simply implies a "gradient", a graduation of a color from light to dark, or vice-versa.

So it makes sense to name this hair trend "Ombre hair", as it's a gradient of hair color. 

Here's are a few examples- 


Here's how my hair turned out-



My hair from the back

Overall, I really like it, but I'd still like to make some minor changes. I'd like a little more blond, and possibly additional highlights throughout my hair to blend it all together. I'm going to let my hair breathe for a few weeks, and by that time, I'll see what I'm going to do. 

In the meantime, I wrote out how I achieved this look to my hair, and provided the names of the products I used from Sally's Beauty Supply.

The Tools Used:

These are the products I used to achieve my hair color. They are all products I've used in the past, and have liked.

I've used the Beyond The Zone Bleach Kit several times to highlight my hair, and I've always had good results with no visible damage (of course bleaching your hair is damaging, but it was never in any worse condition than I started out with.)

I definitely recommend all of these products. 
Step 1 [using bleaching kit and foil] : Divide the powder bleach and developer included in the kit in half. I will be doing two applications of the bleach.

Step 2: Since the bottom of the hair will be the lightest, decide how far up your hair you want the lightest shade to reach. (I covered roughly 4 inches of my ends) Divide your hair in sections. I divided all of my hair in six sections- three sections on each side of my head.

Step 3: You can use a brush (included in kit) or your gloved hands to apply the bleach mixture to the ends. Cover the ends with bleach mixture. *They key to making the ombre look natural, is that you don't want to apply the bleach in a precise line. Where the color ends, use the brush sideways and paint several small brush strokes, and then rub it in between your fingers, envisioning that you want the newly bleached hair to diffuse softly into your unbleached hair. You want a natural gradient. 

The lines represent brush strokes. The image on the right shows the correct way of applying the bleach. (I apologize if it's not easy to comprehend in writing)

Apply the bleach to each strand of hair.


Step 4: Then, wrap foil around the area where the bleach was applied. It's not completely necessary, but it makes everything cleaner while you're waiting for the bleach to process.

It depends on the color of your hair for the time you need to keep the bleach in. Open the foil every now and then to check on the progess.


Step 5: You should see subtle blonde tones before removing the foil completely. After around 25 minutes, I took the foils out and rinsed the ends. You may require more or less time.

Step 6: After rinsing/washing your ends, blowdry (or air dry) the ends with low heat.

Step 7: Now, repeat, but this time, we are going to apply the bleach higher up. I used my hands for this - I put some bleach mixture in my palm and rubbed it in my hands and applied it to my hair as if I was applying a finishing cream to my hair. Starting from the back of the middle of my head, I brought the product down my hair, very lightly coating each section. To further blend the product, comb through the hair with a brush/comb. Then, saturate the ends as done previously, and wrap the strands in foil again.

I wanted to add a few lighter strands near the frame of my face, so with my hands, I grabbed a couple of strands that fall on the sides of my face and lightly coated them with the bleach mixture. I also pulled a couple strands through my bangs for color.

Step 8: Leave the bleach in for around 25 minutes again (periodically open the foil to check the progress.) 


Step 9: Wash your hair. 


Step 10: Mix equal parts of the semi-permanent dye with the Ion 20 Developer. Saturate your hair with the mixture, concentrating the product on your ends (the areas with the most yellow/orange-brassy tones). Leave it in for around 25 minutes. 

Step 11: Wash hair. I used Clairol Shimmer Lights Shampoo to further reduce brassy tones. Apply a deep conditioner, concentrating on the ends. I used a sample pack of One n Only Argan Oil Moisture Repair Conditioner and left it in my hair for about 10 minutes and rinsed with cool water. 

That's it!


Here's a breakdown of what I was wearing on my face-

Face:
Revlon Colorstay Whipped Creme Makeup in Warm Golden (Review soon to come!)
MAC Studio Finish Concealer & MAC Pro Longwear Concealer
Guerlain Meterorites (to set foundation)
MAC Nude on Board Pro Longwear Bronzer
MAC Crew Highlight Powder

Brows:
Maybelline Master Shape Eyebrow Pencil

Eyes:
Nars Smudgeproof Eyeshadow Base
MAC Satin Taupe Eyeshadow (all over lid)
MAC Soba Eyeshadow (blended in crease)
MAC Handwritten Eyeshaow (define crease and outer-v)
Bobbi Brown Black Ink Gel Eyeliner (top and bottom lash line)
Covergirl Lash Blast Mascara

Lips:
In some of the photos I'm wearing Revlon Strawberry Shortcake Lip Butter (light pink) and MAC Morange Lipstick (neon orange)

*As a disclaimer, I'm not a hair stylist, I just like to experiment a lot with my hair! If you're interested in doing the same thing to your hair - do lots of research! Bleach is damaging to your hair, so you have to be very careful when using it on your own. Getting it professionally done is your best bet, unless you have experience with hair dye, etc.

This style isn't for everyone, so I won't be offended if you don't like it! I think it's a fun look for the time being. :)

Thanks for reading, and I'll talk to you all soon!

xoxox

137 comments:

  1. woow, it looks fantastic *__*
    i Like it.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wow the end result is beautiful! Looks like you had it professionally done!

    xx Louise
    A Little Beauty Luxury

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Exactly, At first, I thought, OHH! it's going worse, but at the end it's looking outstanding, gorgeous.

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      Delete
  3. Your hair looks great, I wish I had hair like yours :)
    xoxo

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  4. It looks amazing Natalie! Completely agree with you, wait a few weeks before you make it any blonder as I reckon with continuous washing of your hair the ombre will get even better and lighter. Great job! xo

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  5. Your hair looks great! Thanks for also including the how-to! I think I'm going to try this myself.

    xo, Pareasa

    http://www.aswigofreality.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  6. great simple step by step post - your hair looks ahhhmazing, just like a salon do =)

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  7. wow! Your hair looks amazing! Love the look, too!

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  8. You look BEAUTIFUL! OMG, can't get over it.
    This is first ombre look I actually like, no LOVE.

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  9. Very well done, it's beautiful!

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  10. I've done DIY ombre before and it turned out a little too brassy. Thank you for including how you tone that down. I will be heading over to Sally's then re-doing mine tonight. Love your hair and the orange lipstick.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Your curls look lovely, would love to know how you did them.

    Ria x
    miniinstilettos.blogspot.com

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  12. Gorgeous Natty! You're such a beauty!
    I WISH mine came out as gorgeous as yours... I'm going to redo mine soon I think.
    PERFECT!

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  13. Wow, that looks stunning on you! Great job!

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  14. wow - it turned out great, I would love a tutorial on how you curl your hair, I have been having trouble lately.

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  15. They look really good, great job! thanks for sharing

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  16. Looks great! Your makeup looks beautiful too :)

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  17. it came out really well, great job!

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  18. You look gorgeous and I'm totally inspired to get Morange now.

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  19. your hair looks amazing Natalie! :D

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  20. WOW! Your hair turned out really nice!

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  21. I know I already said I loved it on instragram but I do! It looks so good! If I had long hair this is a style I would love to try.

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  22. it really looks amazing!!! you are absolutely stunning!!

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  23. Lovely! Smashing! Brilliant! I love it :)

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  24. It looks so nice! I would be to scared to do it on my own

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  25. You look great! I love the way it turned out!!
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  26. Utterly fantastic. You did a great job! Loved the easy to understand/follow breakdown! Another winner :) Cannot wait to do this!

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  27. I think it turned out beautifully! Great job.

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  28. First of all, I love the ombre on you. What I really wanted to comment on though, was how freakin' AMAZING Morange looks on you! Especially with your new hair color and the green top!

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  29. Wow, it turned out so well! I've been wanting to try ombre hair for ages!

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  31. you're hair is amazing! turned out so well. also, you are gorgeous xxx

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  32. morange looks absoloutely stunning on you!

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  33. I just got my ombre done professionally and honestly i think yours turned out way better! Wish I saw this post first! But it looks great on you!

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  34. I've been thinking of putting some ombre into my hair, but primarily because I want to do an ombre pink and i'd need to bleach it first to achieve that. You did an amazing job. P.S. Morange looks amazing on you!

    ReplyDelete
  35. I would be so nervous to mess this up! You did a great job. Love your necklace too!

    ReplyDelete
  36. Morange is stunning on you, you rock it!! Luv. I agree a hair tutorial on how you get those fabulous waves in your hair would be amazing too :)

    ReplyDelete
  37. Hi, love the ombre hair. I will have to try it soon. I have similar hair to yours, am pretty excited. On another topic, I really hope you review the Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua creme foundation. I have been loving it more than the liquid version, The liquid one used to feel pinkish yellow on me, even though I used B40.This cream one looks fab, and just the right yellow.

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  38. wow! It looks fantastic! I can't believe it wasn't professionally done. I've been wanting to do my hair like this for months now :)

    Xo

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  39. Your hair looks amazing and so shiny too! The ombre really suits you :) xx

    ReplyDelete
  40. Very nice! Luv it! "?" Is it the same process for
    Indian hair extensions?

    ReplyDelete
  41. Hi natty, heres a question for you. I have highlights and im not always able to go retouch my roots every two months. I really want to dye over my high lights myself. What brand of hair dye do you recommend me useing to dye over these high lights?

    ReplyDelete
  42. GORGEOUS! I really wanted to do my hair with the ombre trend but I have dark very CURLY hair and I think it would just look wrong if I did ombre on a big mane of curls. It looks amazing on you though!

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    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you so much!!! I have dark curly hair too, and it actually looks pretty cute curly! :)

      Delete
  43. Good job! That lipstick really pops off your skin, looks good!
    I really like your necklace. I think I saw it from Forever21 a while back, but I missed out on it. oh well

    http://ohtheendlesspossibilities.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you so much! I love Morange, but I only end up wearing it a few times a year. lol I need to wear it more often, but I always gravitate toward my pinks :)

      & thanks! Yep, it is from Forever 21 a while back.. I sure got my use out of it. haha

      Delete
  44. Wow, for an at home dye job, this turned out great!

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    Replies
    1. Thank so much! haha, thank goodness there were no disasters!

      Delete
  45. You're so pretty. Are you Italian?

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    Replies
    1. Thank you so much!

      I'm Jordanian and Scandinavian.

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  46. This really looks good on you! I need morange:)

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  47. I love it!! Looks like a pro did this! You have wonderful hair and i am scared i would break my hair bleaching it out like this

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  48. I love it I'm thinking about doing the same thing.

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  49. wow! It looks fantastic!

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    xoxo,
    jayndee

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  50. Wow that looks amazing on you. I am in love with ombre hair but am too scared to try it!

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  51. I love ombre:) I have a tutorial on my nlog as well :)xx

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  52. What brand of extentions did you buy?

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    Replies
    1. The post is telling how the ombre hair experiment was achieved with guidelines from this post

      Delete
  53. psh. I payed 160 to get mine done, and you did a much better job yourself. kudos! I need to blend my ombre as well. Yours looks good tho. I see what you mean by the blending with highlights tho.

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  54. This looks so professional, your smile lights up your whole face you are simply beautiful.

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  55. WOW WOW WOW!! U look absolutely stunning! I've been really wanting to do this but worry about bleaching my hair nd thought it would look odd with my black hair but it looks amaaazing on you!!!:-)

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  56. Hair extensions really blend in with your real hair and it looks very gorgeous. Kudos!

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  57. Cool, it looks cute. I love that orange lipstick on you!

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  58. Looks great! I think the best thing about dip dye or ombre is that if the hair gets too dry or damaged, it's a lot easier to trim off.

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  59. Great overview very detailed I was trying to show one of our stylists about the Hombre and your write up was perfect! Awesome hair by the way keep it up girl!

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  60. The author is sharing here ombre hair experiment. Read all about it

    ReplyDelete
  61. The author is sharing The experience of having ombre hair and how she achived it

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  62. You don't have a video of you doing this process?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Unfortunately I don't have a video at this time.

      Delete
  63. Looks great! When you bleached your hair higher up the second time round did you put bleach through the ends again? And is it nessesary to put the ion 20 in your hair? What does it do?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, I put the bleach through the ends again so they will become lighter than the hair above it. The very bottom goes through a double process in order for it to get to blonde. My hair is very dark so it only became a medium, brassy brown the first time around.

      The Ion 20 is a cream developer, so with any hair dye, you need to mix equal parts dye with equal parts developer otherwise the dye doesn't work on it's own. It's like when you purchase a box dye. It comes with developer and dye (as well as a conditioner).

      Delete
    2. Some dyes that have a lift (aka they're meant to lighten without the prior step of using bleach) require a 2:1 ratio though. 2 parts developer per 1 part dye) Just make sure to read the box and instructions first. :)

      Delete
  64. i love this look! I was wondering how much mL of developer you used? did you use more than two bottles, or just one?

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  65. I have short, color processed hair and can't go a day without washing it because it is sticking up all over the place when I get up in the morning. For you, I would recommend the Shielo Volume Shampoo. Its EXCELLENT at protecting the colored hair, and it has worked great to keep the volume in my hair without adding any build up.

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  66. I love your hair but I don't know if I want to go that blonde on the bottom. Just a lighter brown. My hair is also very dark like yours. What would you suggest?

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  67. Hey there. Loved this blog, and your hair came out wonderful. I played w/some ombre highlights myself and thought I would share how I did them. I sectioned then took 'slices' of hair. First I would tease the slice heavily (this is how I avoided the LINE)! After that I applied 10 volume bleach mixture starting how ever high up I wanted to start and all but 2 inches down. Then I applied a 20 volume bleach mixture to the remaining 2 inches!! THIS gave me the sun kissed tips that I wanted to achieve w/o two processes!! Hope that helps you in the future! :D

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  68. OMG I love how you had dark hair just like mine. I am overwhelmed with the tons of DIY ideas I have found on the internet. I am going to stick with your directions and hope it looks this good. Thank you so much!

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  69. I bought the shimmer lights shampoo is it OK to wash your hair with it all the time.

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  70. Olá bom dia...!!!

    Adorei seu Blog..

    Forte abraço..

    Fabiana Costa Brasil

    facebook Fabiana Ribeiro da Costa

    ReplyDelete
  71. Wow you did a great job! I would be scared that I'd mess it up (and I probably would haha) but your hair looks fab!! Maybe I'll get a little more confident and try this one day. ;)

    xo, Sarah
    hustlababy09.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  72. I want to dip dye my hair pink and curl it
    Is that possible to do ? ><
    I have some blond highlight hair and when I went to the salon to curl it, some staff there said NO to me because of my highlight hair :<

    ReplyDelete
  73. I want to dip dye my hair pink and curl it
    Is that possible to do ? ><
    I have some blond highlight hair and when I went to the salon to curl it, some staff there said NO to me because of my highlight hair :<

    ReplyDelete
  74. Thats a pretty good job on ombre hair!! Mines been done at a hairdressers, and yours is just as good, or even better. How are you treating your hair now, products? Having bleached your hair it doesn't seem to look as dry as mine :( x

    ReplyDelete
  75. Your hair looks so gorgeous now, did you do this alone? Is this product has any side effects?

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  77. Looks beautiful. Love the lipstick!

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  78. I love your ombre ! I'm looking for tutorials and talk throughs to do it myself and this is by far the best one I've seen ! I have a question though, when you used the Ion 20 Developer and the semi-permanent dye, did you apply it on your entire hair or only the bleached ends ?

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  79. Your hair looks amazing! Did you re-bleach it after or just added normal dye after 2 weeks? xo

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  81. nice. this will be my look in the fall for my stylist to do if she is not worried about the bleach.

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  82. My stylist used the wrong stokes even though I kept telling her to wiggle and zig zag motion... she kept telling me that she knows what she's doing. I can still see the lines and I can't wear my hair straight right now. Have to get it fixed, any suggestions how do I go about it?

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  86. It looks really very lovely! And this is an excellent guide! (I also really like your lipstick)

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  87. I can't believe you did this yourself, it looks so good! I really want to ombre my hair. I think it's a cute way to go lighter for summer without damaging your whole head from bleach. I'm going to show them this picture.

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