As I have been pastel pink and lilac for the past 10 months or so, I have had a lot of lovely questions and compliments about my hair. So I thought I would answer a few FAQ’s about my hair colour, haircare and conditioning. There are three main questions which I will go through one by one including the hair products I use, the tips I use to maintain the condition and the way I colour my hair. So here we go…
What haircare products do you use?
I never used to use a lot of hair products. For daily wear, I always opted for blow drying, straightening and then a bit of hairspray if I could be bothered, but that was all I used throughout my Uni days. Yet, I was always unhappy with the way it sat or how boring it looked, so I do not know why I didn’t start to build up a real hair routine sooner. However, recently I have found a true routine and stick to this every time I wash my hair.
So lets start with Washing –
I wash my hair with the Paul Mitchell Super Strong range generally. It smells incredible and it works wonders on your hair, strengthening each strand and softening them in the process. I alternate between this and the John Frieda Full repair range. Every few weeks, I also use the Phillip Kingsley Elasticizer to add even more of a taming and smoothing treatment and again this works wonders. The Tigi Pro Serious conditioner is also a god send, and I probably use this on every other wash, applying it to the very tips of my hair for around 5 minutes before rinsing. I do not brush my hair when wet as this will pull out more hair. I also try to have the water cooler, so that it does not pull as much of the pink dye out of my hair. I wash my hair every 3-4 days.
Haircare and Volumising Products –
After washing, I will then add either the Bumble and Bumble hair undressing creme, usually about a 10p amount, flip my hair over and then work it into the lengths and tips, avoiding the roots. This gives texture and a bit of grit to the hair, not literally but in terms of a bit of a rougher texture that leaves your hair more manageable than super soft and unworkable. If I dont use this though, I use a pump of the ghd super volume foam or Paul Mitchell Sculpting Foam, both as good as each other. I add about 2-3 pumps into my hand, flip my hair over, rubs my hands together and then work it in again the same way, through the lengths and tips to add more texture. After that, I then add a spritz of ghd heat protect spray all over the hair to protect it from the heat of the hairdryer, which I have at half the heat by the way. I will then add a pump or 2 of the Wella SP Luxe Oil to my hand and run it only over the lower lengths and tips, to really soften the hair. Then it is ready to dry.
Dove Nourishing Conditioning Spray //
Paul Mitchell Sculpting Foam //
Drying –
To dry, I flip my hair over and blast it with a hairdryer, constantly moving the hairdresser around and leave my hair upside down until my hair is dry. This adds ultra volume to the hair and sets the roots in an upright and therefore volumised position. The foam or undressing creme in the hair also help to give it that extra lift and I have even started having my hair dried upside down at the hairdressers as I hate it dried flat. Only when my hair is nearly dry do i then brush it with my tangle teezer and then continue to dry it all. I will then add ghd curl hold spray to curl, Toni and Guy Sea Salt spray to enhance the natural waves and finish any style with the Pantene Volume hairspray and a spritz of Paul Mitchell Super Spray for ultimate hold – this baby is the hairspray to end all hairsprays.
Pantene Volume and Body hairspray //
ghd Curl Hold Spray //
Paul Mitchell Freeze and Shine Super Spray
How do you keep your hair in good condition?
The condition of my hair is actually quite good for someone who has bleached it since the age of 11, so thats 12 years of bleaching, eeeep. Most brunettes who dye their hair blonde find the condition of their hair is much worse unfortunately and I think that must be down to your hair not being used to such strong dyes and also perhaps not up-taking a haircare routine that really takes bleached hair into account. I would say there are a number of reasons my hair is currently in a better condition than you would expect:
- I only have my hair dyed every 10 weeks. Any less and it would definitely be in a much worse condition.
- I only have my roots dyed. Bleached hair should not be touched twice with bleach or it is likely to split, fall out or be in awful condition. Only ever have your roots coloured.
- I no longer straighten my hair everyday. I only really curl it and that is probably once a week average. If I curl it, I use the ghd curl spray which not only holds curls but includes heat protectant spray.
- I now spray ghd heat protectant on my hair before drying it, which again will save it from the heat.
- I have had the strength of bleach lowered to the very minimum. The strength of the bleach used to dye brunette or black hair will be extremely strong to pull the colour up, hence why it can ruin the ends of darker hair shades. But as I am blonde, I can luckily get away with the lightest bleach and also the lightest toner shade to bring it to white, pink or lilac.
- I use a lower heat setting on my hair dryer to reduce the amount of breakage and burning.
- I use a hair treatment or super conditioner practically every time I wash my hair to soften up and repair the ends.
- I alternate between Paul Mitchell and John Frieda Damage Repair shampoos, which will both contain properties that strengthen and repair your hair.
- I do not brush my hair often, reducing the amount of hair pulled out and the amount of split and broken hair due to brushing.
- I only wash my hair once every 3-4 days which will help it to repair each time, without continuously coming under heat and strain.
What hair dye do you use? / How do you get your hair so pink?
Many times I have been asked this question and every time I have had to let the person down with the statement a lot of us hate – I have my hair dyed at the hairdressers. I have been going to the same hairdressers since I was 11 and they totally understand my hair. I have had it a number of shades including a deep red brown at the age of 15 and each time they have given me a style I love. For about 5 years I had my hair bleached and toned silver to bring it to a white, shiny silver tone. Yet, I always asked them to make it more and more silver to bring out the lilac tones that it often pulls out. One day my hairdresser asked if perhaps I would like to go entirely lilac, so I figured why not and took the shallow plunge. All they do is add a blob of purple dye into the toner and voila, lilac hair. The same for pink yet with red dye. It is my hairdressers own concoction and brain child but I absolutely love it. So unfortunately it is not bottled pink and to be totally honest, I dont think you could get a true pastel pink out of a bottle. When you can, I will be the first to buy some.
The colour starts out as either a deep purple lilac or a bright fuchsia pink as below.
After around three weeks of washing, the colour has lightened to either a light, lilacy pink as you can see on the left above, or to a light, candyfloss pink, as on the right. After each wash, the pink will fade and fade until after about 9 weeks my hair is practically white blonde again. This way I get two hair styles for the price of one and the tone of my hair isnt ruined or discoloured whatsoever.
So that is it. I hope I have given you a few tips as to hair care and conditioning and that it may have answered some of your pastel hair shade queries. If not, please do leave me a comments and I will answer any of your questions you have.
V x
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