BEFORE
Rihanna's Loud album was the inspiration behind my hair. On the cover, she had this exact same fiery red. She's one of my top fashion icons and I look to her for many hair and wardrobe ideas. I just love how unapologetic and unpredictable she is. Loud was released in 2010, so it took me almost a decade to do this.
The Internet simply confused me, and I couldn’t find a general consensus on whether I had to my bleach my hair or not. Black hair is always tricky to work with, since extreme colors usually require bleach. Some said they had to start with bleach, while others said they achieved the color without it. Since I couldn’t find the answer, myself, I emailed Lan, who dyed my hair last year. She ironically did the same shade several months ago and bleach was in fact, the answer.
Last year, she dyed my entire hair blonde, but it had grown down to my ears. I’m so glad that I reached out to her because I would have grown it out, otherwise. Before moving onto another color, I wanted to appreciate the blonde for as long as possible. Now that I knew it would save so much time and money, I booked an appointment, immediately.
AFTER
This session took a total of 5 hours, which is half the amount of time it took to go blonde. Lan began by bleaching my hair and leaving it in for 2.5 hours. She had me sit under a heating lamp to help speed up the process. The bottom portion of my hair was already blonde, so the color was really uneven after being bleached. The top half was yellow, while the bottom half was nearly platinum. I was worried that this would also make the red uneven, but I didn’t see any patchiness, at all.
After washing and blowdrying my hair, Lan applied the red dye, which made my scalp extremely tingly. It was really uncomfortable, at first, but the feeling disappeared after 15 minutes. She sat me under the lamp for another 30 minutes, and then shampooed and conditioned my hair, again. She left my roots unbleached and dyed it burgundy, so that it will look more natural once it grows. For the final touch, she sprayed my hair with Ionic Color Lock to help retain the color.
The red turned out exactly as I envisioned, and I walked out of the salon feeling like a completely different person. It’s the boldest color I've ever done, so I definitely turn heads and stand out everywhere where I go. Not only is it a kickass color, but it’s also so forgiving and low-maintenance. Unlike shades of blonde and pastel, I only have to use red shampoo, once a week, to maintain its vibrancy. This is the best color experiment I’ve had yet, and I can’t wait to come back to see what else Lan can do.
+ Tube Top | Wild Fable (Poshmark)
+ Necklace | Etsy
+ Lipstick | MAC’s Ruby Woo
xx
Dana