Well, I finally did it. After years upon years of toying with dying my hair a pastel color, I finally built up the guts to do it. It wasn't all me though, my friends at Illusions of Georgetown played a huge roll in this and I couldn't be more thankful. Today I'm sharing all the behind the scenes and details of my temporary lavender blonde that we created, specially for my Vegas trip & wedding vow renewal at the beginning of the month.
I have been talking about coloring my hair light pink for years. I've tested it out my dying a streak or 2 of my hair pink in the past, but it wasn't enough for me. I felt if I was going to do it, I needed to go all in. I also wanted it to still look classy and not trashy, and I was scared of the color coming out too bright or uneven, and after the hair journey I'd experienced, I figured it was best to leave my hair alone. That is, until Amanda at Illusions started to do my blonde back in January. She'd experimented with coloring her hair blue and purple and I fully trusted her. I kept talking about it, and Amanda knew I wanted to try it. We had talks of dying my hair pink for Vegas months in advance, and we talked about it so much, it became reality. I was going to finally do it.
The two toner tests:
In May I went to see Amanda for my routine root touch up. My blonde had started to turn warm tones pretty fast, so she made a tweak to my normal toner and left it on longer than normal. When the toner was rinsed out, my hair had the smallest tinge of lavender/silver, and I LOVED it. The toner faded out pretty fast due to my blonde base color, so when I went in June, Amanda left the toner on even longer as a test/teaser. This time, I knew that I needed to go to Vegas with lavender hair, not pink.
The main inspo pic! From Pinterest.
I made my appointment for lavender hair 3 days before I left for Vegas, and I strategically planned it on my last day in the office at my full time job so I could have a solid week and a half to let the color fade out. When I arrived to Illusions for the color, Amanda and I had a quick consultation. I expressed my concerns (mainly that it would fade out) and she assured me of my nervous doubts. I showed her inspo pics and she went to mix up the toner. Amanda used a Colorance by Goldwell combination of Lavender Pastel and Clear to achieve the color, without using a permanent dye that would last longer, ruining all the work we've done to get my blonde color right or damage my sensitive hair.
The toner was applied all over my hair, and internally my stomach was a flutter. The color of the toner looks hot pink which can throw you completely off, but Amanda assured me it was the right color. I decided to not look at my hair until it was dry, to stop my nerves- which are totally normal. Amanda knew how I was feeling since she had been in the same position as me when she colored her own her purple, so I felt understood.
Before/After:
Since I had 3 days before Vegas, Amanda went a bit darker with the lavender to make it last longer. Because my hair is so light, the color would fade super fast. I agreed on the darker shade, knowing that the color would fade and I wanted it to last the length of my trip. I left Illusions that day with legit purple hair, and I washed it right before I left for Vegas 2 days later and it turned to the most perfect shade of lavender from one wash. It was perfect!!! As I washed it more during my trip, the lavender faded into a silver-ish gray blonde, which I adored. The color was cool and icy, and I loved the change! I loved it so much in fact, I decided I want to keep this cool smokey/silver/lilac blonde through the rest of the summer.
The purple toner & my new summer blonde:
I know that coloring your hair a "fantasy" color can be nerve racking- trust me, the 15ish minutes the toner was on my hair I was internally freaking out. But, having gone through it I'm so happy with the outcome and the quick, non-permanent change to my look for a week and a half! If you're considering coloring your hair a fun shade, I want to share some tips/pointers on what to expect in the experience:
1. Find someone you trust or has done it before! The Illusions stylists are all amazing and experienced in fantasy colors. I recommend scheduling a complimentary consultation with either the Georgetown or Shirlington location before jumping into it!
2. Don't schedule your appointment right before a big event. Like in my case, my hair was totally purple when I left and I needed the 3 days for it to fade into the perfect shade. If you want it to last longer, go darker than normal and give you hair some time to get to the perfect color before the event or trip.
You can see here how my hair lightened up over the week:
3. Seriously think on it and ask questions. If its something you've been too chicken to do (like me, lol) really think it out and consider all the scenarios. Ask you stylist all the questions you may have before making the decision.
4. Consider easing into it, like Amanda did with me. She showed me just a taste of what it would look like, and that was great as there were no surprises for me.
5. ROCK IT! Once you've done it, rock it, even if you're still unsure of it. It will take a few days to get used to it, but remember why you did it in the first place. When I left Illusions with a darker purple than I had envisioned, I was OK with it since I knew it would fade, but it was still a shock to look in a mirror for some time at first. Feeling confident in myself that I finally did something that I'd wanted to do for so long was a huge boost, too. And I can't tell you how many compliments I got on my lavender hair in all of its shades!
If you're interested in adding some color to your life, go see Illusions of Georgetown or Illusions of Shirlington for a complimentary consultation!
XOXO
Blonde in the District