The Transformation Journey Begins - Self Care, The Non-Natural Hair Color Metaphamorphisis

I thought I wanted a change... but what I really wanted was

A Transformation

Even though I like the 'rainbow' look, it's not a look I want to wear every single day.

I also liked the "Mermaid" look and that was something I felt I could live with having every day, but since I was going to be 'new' to non-natural colors, my plan was to go with a purple, which wouldn't be 'too' outrageous, and then use colored hair sprays to give myself 'temporary' rainbow or mermaid looks on days I wanted it, while maintaining a safe distance from the 'commitment' of making it my 'daily appearance.'

And it took me almost another full year to finally start the transformation process.

Because I have dark, dark, dark, almost black, brown hair, not a single 'non-natural' color would take if I didn't bleach my hair (or 'lift the natural color') first.

That's one reason it took a year... I kept looking for something that wouldn't require me to bleach my hair first, because, as I knew...

Bleaching My Hair 3 Times... 

It took 3 bleachings, once I finally started the process, to get my hair to a light enough color for these non-natural colors to take hold in my hair.

This picture on the right  is what it looked like after the 2nd bleaching... there was still quite a bit of 'pink' and 'orange' and just all around 'brassiness' in it... so back to Sally I went in search of yet another bleaching kit...

And this picture on the left, is the color of 'blond' I got after bleaching my hair for a 3rd time. It's possible that I may have gotten it even lighter, and gotten a better result had I left the bleach in a little bit longer, or simply used a different bleaching or color-lifting product to begin with, but... live and learn.

And then, it was so damaged from the bleaching, that I wanted to let it grow out a little bit, so I could cut the damage without losing too much length, before adding more harsh chemicals to it.


Then... AAAAACKKK!!!  Just as it grew out enough for me to be ready to cut it, my wonderful children and I found ourselves under a full frontal attack of head lice!

And just in case you don't already know this, no salon can cut your hair when you have head lice.  So... ya gotta get rid of that sh*t.

And the chemicals for doing that are just as harsh as the bleach for your hair.

I waited a good 2 and 1/2 weeks for the lice killing stuff to take effect, combing through it with the amazing "Robi Comb" every single day...

I wasn't sure they were all gone though, as my head was still itching like mad....

But I couldn't stand the blonde anymore.  ( I was definitely not born to be blonde. My skin tone is too dark and my eyes are too dark and too deep set, to pull it off.)

Dyeing My Hair 'Ultraviolet' by Manic Panic. 

So I went ahead and dyed it, using Manic Panic's absolutely gorgeous "Ultra Violet."

But, two days later, my head was still itching like crazy, so I used my lice killing shampoo again, figuring it would kill off anything that the dye didn't.

And that literally STRIPPED, so much of the violet out of my hair, that my color now looked like "Halloween Witch" gray, black and purple.



So, my girlfriend came over two days after that, and cut it for me.

Adding 'Rockabilly Blue' hair dye by Manic Panic

...And we decided to 'work in' a blue over the 'faded' parts of the violet... only.... the blue almost completely overtook my entire head and almost all of the violet, and so now, it's blue.

Once it 'fades' out a little bit, I'll pull out some sections, bleach them again, and add the violet back... and maybe try something else...

For now, I'm planning to buy pink, purple, green, and teal colored 'hair sprays' and use them to create different looks with the current blue.