From Brassy to Blonde Balayage

Date
May, 09, 2017

I’m so excited to launch the beauty section of my blog! It’s always been part of the plan to expand the topics I cover here so I can’t wait to share more of my thoughts, reviews, and recommendations on all things beauty. To kick it off, I want to share my recent experience going blonde and how I maintain the color and health of my hair.

I’ve pretty much had the same hair color for the past few years but I finally bit the bullet and went for a pretty drastic change. I’ve been wanting something different and did some major research before going through with it. When I first moved to LA, I found a great hairdresser and trusted him to do my first ever balayage. I got tons of compliments and even though he charged me a ridiculous amount, I knew I could trust him to get the job done. Realistically I knew it wasn’t a sustainable option so I started to look for someone else. Since I’m originally from Seattle I figured getting my hair done there would be cheaper. Let me just say that I have definitely learned my lesson.

After that experience, I promised myself I wouldn’t compromise. It’s been a year since I last got my hair colored and I originally wanted to try going silver until I learned how much maintenance was required — no thank you. Instead, I started seeing more and more Asian blondes and thought that would be a happy medium. After about 4 months of Googling, Yelping, and talking to friends I finally found the right person and salon. And I have to say I’m pretty damn happy about the results considering it was all done in one session!

But don’t be fooled as drastically changing your hair color often takes several sessions and patience. The salon warned me about this and gave me the option of progressively going lighter with sessions every month until I got the desired result. Of course, I am not very patient so I asked my hairdresser to go as light as possible in the first session. (Warning: everyone’s hair lifts and reacts to hair products differently so my experience is not the norm.) To give some background, I’ve had my hair treated about 3 times in the last 5 years and I was confident that my hair would take the color pretty well. Luckily, my hair behaved and in just about 5 hours I went from a brassy, grown-out balayage to my ash blonde.

It’s been a little over a month and overall the maintenance hasn’t been that bad. The color has changed slightly and differs in certain lighting but I absolutely love it. I plan on going back for periodic touch-ups every couple months to maintain the tone and grow out. Feel free to leave any comments or questions if you’re interested in learning more about my personal hair transformation. I’ve also included a list of haircare products that I swear by and have totally saved my color-treated hair!

Products:

Redken Sulfate-Free Color Extend Magnetics Shampoo

Redken Sulfate-Free Color Extend Magnetics Conditioner

It’s a 10 Leave-In Conditioner

Josie Maran Argan Oil

Got2be Guardian Angel Flat Iron Balm

Bumble & bumble Dryspun Finish Spray

Elizabeth & James White Nirvana Dry Shampoo

2 Comments

  1. Reply

    Becca

    February 28, 2019

    Love the hair color!

  2. Reply

    Yuanne

    April 7, 2019

    Thanks for your post! I had my first balayage by a Redken colorist two years ago, but she sadly moved from Seattle. I’m looking for a more chocolate tone, but love the ashy blonde in these photos! Could you tell me which person and salon you ended up with in Seattle? Love your blog!

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