Below: Me driving windows down...cross-country to AZ (from WV)
I didn't immediately make any changes as I knew I was feeling a bit impulsive, instead I soaked in the southwestern culture (and sun!) and just focused on work. Before I knew it I was in love with the Sonoran Desert and was feeling rather refreshed and...free. Emboldened, I took on a bit of a new persona...I jokingly called my sunny carefree side last summer "Brittany del sol". I admired those women of Mexican and Navajo descent who had lovely dark skin and shiny black hair, who wore bright colored sundresses and beautiful gold accents and red lipstick. Wanting to imitate that look, I went out mid-summer and dyed my light brown hair to a soft black, deciding I didn't want to look too gothic (I had quite the tan though!) I immediately fell in love with the look. I am naturally a very dark brunette, but I had never tried quite so black before. It really was a nice fit with my summer tan and style.
Below: Mid-summer soft black permanent color (ignore my crazy faces...I'm not super photogenic haha)
I worked hard, played hard pretty much all summer. The job at the mine was interesting and fast-paced, but it was a small company town with few people my age so I spent a lot of weekends traveling to Tuscon alone, and spending away my paychecks between shopping and boutique hotels with room service. At the end of the summer I flew my best friend (Bryan, in the bottom pic above) out to Phoenix and we roadtripped back to Ohio together. It was a blast, as all irresponsible carefree things tend to be. When I got back I had a few weeks to kill and I was feeling more impulsive than ever, so I took a big plunge and dyed a couple pink streaks in my hair (Hot Topic temporary vegetable-based dye). I LOVED it. It felt like my old edgy middle school days (is that a thing?) and so I continued to dye my hair pink over the next few months (I didn't have a job). It was a great reflection of how I felt at the time, but soon, "Brittany del sol" came back to reality and graduate school, finding a job, etc. and I decided to go back to basic black, dye over the pink, and given my love affair with the soft black,
Below: Summer fun & pink hair (top), darker black permanent color (bottom)
I decided to go even a little darker black than before. I hated it. The
dark black in winter, with no tan, was just not a look for me. I
decided to give my hair some time to recover and wait a month or two
before dyeing it, and in reality, I ended up waiting several, but I felt
pale and like I looked sick and just didn't love it. I was very happy
in my personal life, I met a new guy (Matt!) and was on break from
school, so maybe I ignored the hair a little, I was busy living life,
but it certainly was not a look I was intent on keeping that long. It's hard to tell the difference in these pictures, but it was MUCH darker than it looks. It did effectively cover up the pink, which was my other concern, as I had conferences and job interviews and wanted to look professional, so in that sense, it did the job it needed to.
I decided about 2 months ago that I wanted to lighten up the look. Winter was dragging on and my hair was looking faded and dull. The pink was starting to show again so I figured I could dye over in a lighter (albeit, still DARK!) brown using permanent dye. I can't remember now what dye I was going to use, but I decided to take before and after pictures of this dye job.
Below: Before (top) and after (bottom) dark brown permanent dye
Can you see the non-existent difference? Me either...aside from the pink being slightly more covered up and my roots getting ever so slightly lighter. I was pretty pissed, as you can probably tell by my face in the bottom photo. I was expecting results! A week later I decided to remedy the problem by using the L'Oreal Feria Wild Ombre kit for medium/dark hair, and just go ombre. I was pretty excited! I had done ombre before when it was very first becoming popular, but it had been a year or two, so I figured, why not. It would be a way to transform my boring black hair into something different, and so I went ahead with the kit (wished I had done a how-to for this!) I didn't get the dramatic results I wanted, but I did get a subtle ombre effect (note: I have seen this kit do wonders on lighter hair, I'm just stating the effects I got with dark dyed hair). I left the kit on for about an hour, which was a bit longer than suggested, but I knew my hair was dark and I needed all the bleaching action I could get (short of risking my hair breaking!)
Below: Before and after ombre (top), bleached ends (bottom)
I actually didn't have too many people notice the change in my hair. My boyfriend's mom thought it was lighting, but then said it did look kind of like it was two different colors. My hair kind of had the ombre look but my roots were also still light from the recent failed dye job so i had this weird 3-colored hair I couldn't really love, despite liking the ombre bottoms. I was beyond frustrated at this point, I wanted the black hair gone, I wanted the pink gone, I wanted to be able to dye my hair and see a difference again...so I went to the internet. I found out about TWO products that supposedly would remove hair dye, giving you a "do-over" close to your natural color (or last dyed color)--L'Oreal Color Zap and Color Oops both promised results. After reading reviews I decided to go with Color Zap, however, when I went to the store (4 stores!) I couldn't find it. Not having the patience to order it online, I settled for Color Oops, which I found at the drugstore for under $10.
Three things about Color Oops. #1: It REEKS. Like, really bad. Like, rotten eggs. Like, for a week. #2: It's runny. About the runniest hair product I have ever used...and DEFINITELY the runniest dye product I've ever used. It was basically like using water. I fortunately devised a system to apply it quickly (per the directions) using the comb/applicator I had saved from the Wild Ombre kit (I promise, it's awesome, you should buy the kit just for that applicator!) and last but not least...#3: IT WORKS LIKE MAGIC! I was stunned that it actually worked for my hair. I had been dyeing it black for almost a year. It didn't take my back to my natural color, but it took me so close to where I was a year ago I was just speechless. I still had a nice gradient in my hair because of the bleaching/ombre, which I had hoped would stay put, but yes, I was rid of the black! Everyone noticed it this time. My mom was married and I was fortunate to play photographer but folks snapped a few really good photos of me (with new hair!) which I included below to show it off. :)
Below: After Color Oops
Here's where I will take a minute to give some advice about using this product. First off, it takes much longer than the 15-20 minutes promised on the box. That's the mixing and application time alone. The product was quick and easy to mix, and like I said...very runny to apply, but with practice it's better. It s recommended you apply it as fast as possible due to the chemicals involved, so have a game plan going in. It does come with a plastic cap to put on your head while you're waiting. I would recommend using plastic wrap and doing it somewhere warm. It did itch quite a bit while it was on, so I would imagine people with really sensitive skin may want to avoid this product, but it didn't burn my scalp or anything. Lastly, here's where we get back to that time issue...you have to rinse it, and continue rinsing it out for AT LEAST 30 MINUTES! Yes, 30 minutes in the shower standing there rinsing your hair. Be prepared for that folks. I did about 20 minutes (shampooed it 3 times) and couldn't take it much longer, so I maybe made it 25 minutes total. The rinsing is where the dye comes out, so you need to be patient and try to do the full 30 minutes or longer. I was happy with my results with 25 minutes, but it could possibly had been better if I was more patient. I don't know. So I have to recommend you go the full time. Basically plan on this taking AT LEAST an hour. Minimum.
So to finish up my hair journey, I couldn't be happier with where I am now (new job, new boyfriend!), and how my hair looks (I mean, aside from needing a haircut...and the pink is still there...faded but there haha!) I have come so far from just a year ago and my hair over the past year reflects that in a way. I made some big changes and some of them stuck, so we'll see where I am a year from now (I'm thinking about going red again and getting a body wave perm this summer!) Time and change :) never a bad thing!
