State of my hair address: Blondes really do have more fun (with their hair!)

Warning: this blog post is all about my hair which not everyone finds as exciting as I do, no sponsored links but if Punky Colour or Manic Panic or any other makers of hair dyes want to send me some stuff – I will happily try it!

Hair Coloring history

I’ve had my hair professionally dyed nearly 20 years ago (2001) when I was visiting family in Taipei and then a few times in LA in my last year of college (2002). However, it was not a hugely noticeable red, which you’d not expect of red. I have naturally dark hair, but it has slightly red undertones.

2020 Quarantine Dyeing Experiments

However, my hair is so dark that even dyeing it Truffle Brown (by Schwartzkopf Simply Color) last March was hardly noticeable. Fortunately, I was sent the color from Influenster so it was free, but box dye is normally a big no no because it usually contains ammonia. This one was more natural, but it hardly did anything for my dark hair.

Adventures in Pink

Shortly after my cat died and I got a cute new kitten, I tried using color depositing shampoo by Punky Color in Pinktabulous (from Ulta). Since I hadn’t tried bleaching yet, it turned out unnoticeable except on my scalp! There is a slight pink glow from my hair, I guess?

To finally make the color stand out, I decided I had to bleach my hair and bought the cheapest boxed bleach kit I could find on ebay (it really should come with more warnings). I remember it smelled awful and I didn’t use a bunch of it. It did the job, but of course I was left with very orange hair.

Not wanting to wait, I immediately used the Punky Colour Pinktabulous color depositing shampoo + conditioner and was left with a decently pink coral color on my hair. I was pleased with the new pinker color and continued using the shampoo and even picked up the semi permanent creme by Punky Colour in Flamingo Pink from Ulta.

I put off a lot of haircuts while my city was in lockdown and finally went in mid January to my local Supercuts (my usual salon). I think watched a lot of bleaching and hair color videos on YouTube until I felt fully confident of what products to get to bleach and color my own hair again.

New Year, New Roots?

After attempting to use another box dye by Got2B Metallics from Target that did nothing but slightly orange my roots in January, I decided I would just have to bleach my roots again if I wanted to refresh and possibly change the color.

My first visit to Sally Beauty (a location I always drove by but never visited) was exciting and oddly familiar (most people mention it in their YouTube videos). I didn’t study beauty or cosmetology, but this is the kind of place that makes me want to: I think of it as like an art supply store for my artist friends.

Going Blonde (sort of)

I discovered Ion Bright white creme lightener and read on the instructions to use it with 20 volume developer on my roots. The ion brand was familiar to me because years ago, a seller included a blue semi permanent hair dye in my Poshmark order.

The shopkeeper at Sally Beauty recommended Wella Colorcharm toner in T10 since I mentioned I wanted to eventually dye the blonde blue, so no ash tones needed. I didn’t notice a huge difference, but perhaps it’s less orange?

Initially, I was going for a root touch up so I could continue coloring my hair a bright ombré – still considering teal/turquoise and hot pink/magenta. But after my 2nd bleaching session, I’m almost settled on staying blonde for awhile. The pink is still there and it’s more orange in the back and sides, but the blonde spots at the top of my head look surprisingly good.

My hair doesn’t even need to be the same color, it actually is a little more interesting being a few different colors to me. Lately, I’ve been playing around with YouCam Makeup app testing out different hair color combinations and I’m not even sure what i want anymore! Hogwarts Mystery had this great color for Valentine’s Day last year.

My Future in Color

The plan was Manic Panic Turquoise on top and Hot Hot Pink on the sides and back… if I wanted to use what I have the picture below might be what I could end up with, which I really kind of like! However, I also really like the blonde but I doubt I would look as good fully blonde and it’s not possible with my hair color and inability to reach the back of my head that well.

Here are my current hair dyes and post process color depositing shampoo and masks, as you can see they aren’t my desired turquoise or teal color… I’m not sure I want a regular sky blue, but I’m pretty cool with Hot Hot Pink and Magenta for my pinks:

Then again, this is how YouCam MakeUp app shows my turquoise ombre hair though with more of a purple instead of a pink and I do kind of prefer the other image because that blue is too light and too bright:

At this point, my indecisiveness is probably best for my hair so I stay blonde as long as possible so I don’t keep changing my mind and potentially ruining my hair (the prospect of platinum blonde hair is also intriguing and impossible!). Hair was never such a big deal to me before until I realized how many colors it could be!