Ombre Hair - DIY

Hi!

I ombre'd my hair during the Summer and I wanted to share my step by step guide as I was very pleased with the finished look! I am not a hairdresser, but I did do lots of research before attempting it myself and I found reading posts like this very helpful. I hope you do too!

Step by Step:

1. Mix the bleach (just read the instructions but ignore the times as there meant for full head bleaching and highlights which won't be the same as ombre hair). I used the BBlonde Powder Bleach by Jerome Russell which you can purchase from superdrug/boots etc.         

 

2. Put the bleach on your hair, now you have to do this in two steps:

Step one: Put the bleach on your hair as high as you want it to go. I decided to stop mine at roughly the bottom of my chin, but it really depends on what look you're trying to achieve. DON'T use the brush they provide as bleaches your hair in weird lines (happened to me first time) just use your hands, treat it almost like shampoo.

Tme: The time you keep the bleach on for largely depends on your hair colour, so just keep in mind the longer you keep it on, the lighter it goes! To speed up the process and to ensure minimum damage to your hair, wrap the hair in tin foil and leave the bleach on for about 20 mins (if you have a similar hair colour to me - light/medium brown). Keep checking the colour by scrapping the bleach off a few strands.

Step two: Wash the bleach off but DON'T hair dryer your hair as it will be very weak. You should towel dry your hair then blow dry the bottom with the cold option on your hair dryer (if you have that option)

3. Put the bleach on again but now just focus the tips, I re-bleached about an inch of the bottom of my hair but it largely depends on your hair length. This will give you the ombre look and will ensure that you do not look like you just have massive roots. VERY important step.

 - Keep it on for an extra 10 mins, again keep checking (and use foil).

4. Finally, wash off and let your hair air dry.

Extra tips!

Your hair will be damaged, even if you don't notice straight away you will in a few weeks. (Mine is still very dry at bottom even though I've had my hair cut recently:-/ ). You will need to make sure that you use lots of conditioner every time you wash your hair. I even bought Moroccan Oil, its quite expensive at about £30 but you could use a cheaper alternative if you are on a budget.

You may not be completely happy with colour straight away, (I wasn't) but don't be tempted to do it again. You should WAIT at least 2-3 months and repeat process but this time you will need to cut the time in half. I didn't and was shocked at how blonde it went, I got away with it because my brown hair was quite light, but you may not like that if you have darker hair.  

I would also recommend using silver shampoo to keep it blonde and not brassy!! I've seen girls with brassy orange tints to it and its looks awful. I bought my silver shampoo from bodycare for a couple of pounds and it was amazing, there's a whole range you can get, but I just used the shampoo.

Good Luck!

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