For the longest time, I've been wanting to switch up my 'do. I had black/dark brown hair for 3 years straight and I was BORED! This summer, I chopped off 6inches of my hair due to boredom and heat damage, and I loved my new short hair. But after a few months, I was itching to change up my look once more.
While chatting about hair with my dear friend Caitlin, I mentioned to her my next look would be lightening my hair. I've been into the balayage look since it's been trending for the past couple of years, post ombre hype.
A balayage, as defined by the Oxford dictionary, is a technique for highlighting the hair in which the dye is painted on in such a way as to create a graduated, natural-looking effect.
I definitely wanted a subtle change that over time, would gradually become lighter at a healthier pace. A balayage was the most appealing choice for me. Caitlin asked me if I wanted to be her first balayage model and of course, I said yes!
The process
The lightening process was quite simple. She mixed 20 volume developer and lightening powder and painted a V-shape onto sections of my hair, focusing mainly on the ends of my hair because that's where we want the most lift. Each section was topped with clear plastic wrap to avoid unwanted blending. It was also easier to watch the hair process since it was clear.
Once done with the painting process, we waited about 45mins until the hair lifted to a dark blonde. Since my hair was previously dyed red ( a horrible mistake I made) and dyed black on top, there was a lot of red, brassy tones in my hair which were very difficult to get out.
First Caitlin used Wella Color Touch 8/71 Brown Ash to tone my hair. That had to be done 2x to remove most of the red tones, but we needed something stronger. So then she went in with Koleston 8/2 which is an olive based toner. It really helped remove most of the red since green is the opposite of red on the color chart.
After a trim and blowout, this was the final result!
My hair turned out to be a beautiful brown balayage. It honestly looks so natural and I absolutely love it! I wasn't going for a warm look, but due to all the red tones, the brown is on the warmer side. But I don't mind at all because it's the perfect hair color for fall!
It's been about 3 weeks and a lot of the red tones have resurfaced. It doesn't look bad at all, but I will eventually visit for color correcting. I want to give my hair some recovery time before the next session. Ultimately, I want to be an ash blonde. But hair health is the most important! So I'm making sure to nurse my hair back to health before going lighter.
I couldn't be more thankful for my dear Caitlin. She spent hundreds of hours being such a great friend to me over the past 5 years, but I definitely appreciate the 5+ hours she spent doing my hair. It's amazing to see my friend do something she loves and allowing me to be a part of it. I love my new hair and I loved being her model!
The folks at the David Groshen Salon are super welcoming and they make you feel comfortable right away. It felt great to spend the day in the Upper East Side getting my hair done at the salon. I can't wait to go back!
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Check out Caitlin's Instagram @haircait to see all the cool makeovers she does on the regular and email her: haircait@gmail.com to book your appointment today!
Thanks for reading! xoxo
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