Adventures In Blonding Part Deux

For those of you just joining us, this is a follow-up of Adventures In Blonding, so take a gander at that first, so you're not lost.

...And the journey continues! So Stephanie tackled the beast again.

It has been six weeks since our first adventure together and this time we got my hair even blonder! And I'm so in love!

This time around, we had to fight against every blonde's arch nemesis, Roots! So we started there, since that hair is the darkest and needs the most time to process. We applied lightener all over my regrowth area (AKA Roots) first.

Photos: Lightener on regrowth (roots); Lightener all over

Then we pulled a more gentle lightener through the rest of my hair to get it even lighter. 

And then we waited, and waited...

And waited.

Finally, we rinse!

Photos: Hair after rinsing; Hair with toner on

Again, we have some not-so-lovely highlighter yellow hair. For that, we call in every blonde's handy-dandy sidekick, Toner! Remember him? Toner is what neutralizes unwanted tones using complementary colors on the color wheel. It is also something that is custom to each person. So remember kids, don't try this at home! You could easily turn your hair green! EW!

Photos: After! All work done by Stephanie Pion!

After styling and a much needed trim, Voila! Its gorgeous!

Photo: Olaplex!

This whole process would not have been possible without Olaplex. Olaplex is a bond multiplier used to prevent damage or breakage caused by lighteners. It is an added on service that take almost no extra time and is a complete life saver!

Photos: The whole enchilada!

Thanks again Stephanie!

Want To See More?

For Adventures In Blonding Part One

For my Beachy Wave Tutorial

For Confessions Of A Hairstylist's Bad Day

Adventures In Blonding

I am particularly excited about this post because the model for this transformation is me! The hard work you are about to see was performed by my girl Stephanie Pion, who works with me at West End Salon. 

Well my friends, my hair has been every color under the sun! Brown, black, dirty blonde, light blonde, red, purple, platinum. But one thing stays the same, I love a good change, and a drastic one at that! 

Today, I'm going to take you through the adventure that Stephanie and I took to achieve this amazing color. I hope you learn a thing or two about how labor intensive it is to take a brunette, blonde. Maybe even find a new appreciation for your hairstylist, and their vast knowledge of every corner of the hair world. 

Our journey began with the history of my hair. In the last 18 months my hair has been: mostly virgin (never been colored or lightened), colored, highlighted, dyed back to brown, a little balayage, and not colored for 9 months. Needless to say, I presented quite a challenge for Miss Stephanie. 

Photos: Coco and me before (I love Coco's face! Yawn! Bored already!); lightener on everything but the virgin hair.

We started with putting lightener (AKA bleach, lightener just sounds nicer) with Olaplex (a bond multiplier that prevents breakage and damage cause by light enters) on everything that isn't virgin. Virgin hair is hair that has never been colored or lightened before. We left the virgin hair out because it lightens faster and doesn't have any barriers for the lightener to break through, like color.

Photos: Stephanie, Coco, and me waiting patiently; my gorgeous hair after rinsing out the lightener; neutralizing the color with toner

After the ends were light enough, we went back and applied lightener on the virgin hair. Then, we waited... And waited....And you guessed it! We waited some more. Once the hair was light enough, we rinsed. This next part was crucial: toning! (Toner neutralizes unwanted tones in the hair by using complementary colors on the color wheel.) Toning was what took my hair from highlighter yellow and Nickelodeon orange, to a beautiful sandy blonde. This vital part of the blonding process really separates the professionals from the DIYers and box dyers. Getting the right tone is something you really can't duplicate at home and without the right training.

Photos: Before and After!

Once the toner was done processing, we rinsed, shampooed, conditioned, and blowdried. All in all, this whole process took us about 3.5 hours. Oh and did I mention, we did this all with the baby hanging out on my lap. So thank you Stephanie, for being patient and making my hair gorgeous!

Photos: My whole blonding journey from start to finish!

Tips from Stephanie:

Do an in-salon or at-home repairing treatment once a week.

Use a violet shampoo or conditioner to keep your hair from looking brassy.

Get regular trims every 6-8 weeks.

If you have iron in your water, rinse your hair with bottled water to prevent a brass attack!

Use some sort of oil or serum on you ends to keep them hydrated. Trust me, they're thirsty!

Don't use products with dye in them.

Be gentle and enjoy! 

Check out Adventures In Blonding Part Deux. The adventure continues!

What are some of your transformations you've loved?