Just in time for Summer - My Ombre How-To :)

I love that Summer is just around the corner and with it comes beautiful sunny days, visits to the beach and family BBQ's. The Summer months encourage everyone to be outside, so I always look to change my makeup as well as my hair before the Summer starts.  

Ombre is a trend that I remember noticing in Nails, Fashion, Makeup and Hair for the last few years.  Thanks to Instagram and Pinterest, we get to see some amazing photos of these trends. What is amazing about this trend is that it is very wearable and you can tailor it to your flavour and comfort.

Ombre Hair, I first noticed on an episode a few years ago on Y&R, on the character Victoria Newman, and found it very interesting.  I wasn't sure if I was in love with it at first, but I did find it unique on Victoria.  Over the last few years, the Ombre hair trend took off and now it has become a staple hair colouring option for women in salons and now at home!

I wanted to see if this could be easily done at home and tried a few options.  I am budget conscious shopper and wanted to share an easy and affordable option to achieve this hair trend. But I had to test it out first.  Here is the first attempt to At-Home Ombre.

Attempt 1:

I opted to use a very light blonde shade in regular box colour option, so I choose L'Oreal Superior Preference in #48 Copper Blonde:

This shade was a lot lighter than my own hair so I thought that this would work well, here is a pic of my before hair:

However, it didn't work as well as I would have liked.  It gave a great warm tone to my hair but did not lighten it enough to allow for the more intense Ombre effect that I was going for.  

Attempt 2:

So I went back to the Drug Store and picked up a box of L'Oreal Feria Wild Ombre for Dark Blonde to Light Brown Hair in #070:

There are a few variations available from Wild Ombre, but from all the research I did online and on YouTube, this one provided the lift and lightness I was looking for. This worked perfectly and here are the steps and items you will need to do this at home:

• 1 Garbage Bag T-shirt
• Butterfly Hair Clip
• Hair Brush
• Towels
• Old T-shirt and Bottoms (Trust me you will thank me later)
• Timer

You want to make sure wherever you are going to colour, that you have taken the precautions to cover and remove items that could get damaged by the bleach in this product.  What makes this hair kit unique is that it comes with a unique comb that allows for proper distribution of the bleach mixture.  

With patience, I powered through, and did it in two sections, a put the top section of my hair up, moved the loose hair forward and started doing 1 inch sections at a time.  First applying it with the mixture, and then massaging it in with my fingers.  Smoothly and quickly I did the first sections of hair on both sides, and then loosened the top section and repeated the same steps of application.  Then I waited and saw the transformation happening in front of me, so after 15 minutes I removed the mixture and was very happy with the outcome.

Things to be aware of:

• Be mindful of the time so that it doesn't over process
• Keep your gloves on until you have removed the product from your hair
• Read the instructions carefully on discarding the items used to dye your hair
• Avoid being too even, otherwise you will get a harsh line vs. a blended effect

Now because dark hair can result in reddish/coppery tones, you can always tone your hair the same day using any ash blonde shade, which will result in caramel/mocha toned ombre hair. Good luck and have fun doing this at-home!

Always Smile :)  - Sand