I'm the type of person who never, ever thought I'd color my hair, whether it's hightlighting to going to a completely different color. I thought "This is the color God gave me, and I don't see the need  to have a fake color that isn't my natural one.
  And I didn't do it for years, not even thinking about it, or considering it a possibility. I kept my hair long, one lengeth, and one color, my natural color... medium dark blond.
   Kind of boring. Medium blond. And in the winter when the sun barely shines, it gets even darker/muddier.
   That changed when I got fed up with my hair. It was between 23 and 25 inches long and slightly wavy. One length. One color. It was a lot of hair, and boring.
   Then, one day, I decided that I was sick of it being boring, and being too much to take care of.
   Don't get me wrong, I loved my hair, but I also did lots of stuff to it that wasn't the best for it. The biggest thing I did that was bad for it was brush and put it up while it was wet. That is very damaging to the hair folicles, particulary if you brush it with a plastic hairbrush.
   So, a few years back my mom talked me into getting it layered. Only a few, but still getting it layered. So I went to a hair salon and got a few inches cut off of the bottom, and got about 2 inches of layers. That pretty much makes it only one more layer, but I felt like it was a huge change.
   I loved how it looked. It made my hair a little lighter, and freed up some of my previous issues with tangles.
   At that point, I also started using the straightener a lot. I loved how it made my hair manageable, smooth, and straight! I used it after every shower (about once every two days).
   I layered it again in 6 months time, this time the shortest layer resting just below collar bones. In another 7 months, I had my hair cut to about 16 inches, and layered it to my chin. That was where I stopped straightening my hair and let it dry naturally. And to my surprise, I found out that my hair, being cut so short, was curly. Really curly!
   Before that, my hair was wavy, but it was also frizy from being damaged by years of torture. So when I found out that my hair was curly, I was quite happy because I never got the hang of using a curler. And sad, because I couldn't get my hair wet without it frizing like crazy. It was at that point that I decided to let my hair grow out.
   That summer, I found out about John Frieda's Go Blonder lightening spray. I was really curious about it because it didn't dye your hair, but still changed the color, and after reading some reviews, it made your hair super soft, which is kind of weird since most products make your hair worse.
   I decided to give it a try, and I hoped it would work because I paid $10 for a 105 ml bottle. Over the summer, I used a whole bottle, applying it after every shower, and I noticed a huge difference. Like, huge. It was worth the money I paid. It not only made my hair blonder, it made it way softer. Curly hair is quite coarse, and it made my curles silky soft.
   I kept my hair light blond for the rest of the summer, and into fall. around Christmas time, I decided to have another change. In case you haven't noticed, I like to change things up about ever 6 months.
   This time, I decided  to go the opposite. I decided to go brown. As shown on the opposite side picture, I dyed my hair brown, but left the top part blonde. The red lines show the maker where the blonde meets the brown. I used Herbatint's henna hair dye, and like John Frieda's products, it left my hair silky. 
   I left that for a while, but it soon faded out, and I was left with a not so nice brown. The color was rather like my original  color, and I wasn't happy with it. So got a mahogany dye from the same company.
   I dyed the under color, but also took a few strips in my blonde coloring and colored it.
   So I got 7M-Mahogany, and managed to use the dye for 3 seperate dyes. The first dye, I dyed the lower part, and the strip that you see in the picture. I got it out again in a few months and added a few more strips throughout the blond section. And just a few days ago, I decided to finish off my bottle of dye.
   And this is what I came out with. I dyed the rest of my blonde section except for two chunks that seperate my part.
   I am quite happy with the way my hair looks now, but I can already tell that I'm going to get another dye soon and re-color the mahogany part. This time I'm going to try Garnier's Nutrisse Mousse, which is a Mousse instead of a liquid dye. I think I'm going to be getting it in the color 4RR which is Dark Intense Auburn. It also uses Avacado, and Grape Seed Extract which is wonderful for hair.
   I've found that, with my skin tone which is more yellow then red, auburn's/mahogany look better than browns.

   As much as I love to dye my hair, I don't reccomend it for everyone. I do it because I don't mind the change, but I also think of it as an artistic expression. My sister, who is a natural red head, and has almost 3 feet of one-length hair, says that she'll never dye her hair. And with her color, I don't think I'd dye it either.
   So, that is my hair story. If you have a "hair timeline" like this, I'd love to read it.

Signed with Mars Mud - Leauphaun
Picture
My original color. Nice, but it's a nutral color that isn't very interesting
(the face does not resemble me in any way)

Picture
John Frieda's Go Blonder Lightening Spray.
  You spray this into your hair like you would hairspray, only you do this when your hair is wet. It uses Lemon peal extract, Chamomile, and peroxide to lighten your hair.
  After you spray this into your hair, let it dry, or blow it dry, then use a hair curler or straightener. This product is activated by heat. So sitting in the sun will also lighten your hair. It takes about 10 uses before you see a huge difference, but after 2 uses I noticed something different. I went from my original blonde, to the color below. A nice light blond. And with a tan, this looked really nice. Warning though, if you're not a blonde, or light, light brown, do not use this product. It's not a dye, and it will make your hair orange or worse.

Picture
After using the Lightening Spray. A nice light honey color.

Picture
This is my first dye. The red lines mark where the brown hair is dyed to, and where the blonde hair starts.
   I used Herbatint's 4D Golden dye.

Picture
Second coloring using Herbatint's 7M Mahogany coloring,

Picture
Current style only with curly, longer hair. My layers reach about the widest part of my chin.

Picture
Garnier's Nutrisse Mousse. I'll do a review on it once I use it.

Lauricia
7/4/2012 01:03:35 pm

Awesome hair story!!

Your hair "looks" really cool!

You see, I always wanted to dye my hair. More like highlight it actually. I have brown hair, with natural gold but mostly redish orange highlights. I wanted a little more of a red/brown look, for I always wanted a rich red colour for hair....Not aloud to dye it yet, but perhaps someday I will.
A friend told me I would look fantastic with black, and I pretty much said "no way!" Thats just a little tooo un-natural for me.

Can't wait for that review! :) Me wants my hair that colour too. haha.

Leauphaun
7/6/2012 03:39:30 am

Thanks! :)

Yeah, nothing looks better than a rich red-brown hair color when done right. If you do dye your hair, I'd recommend using a henna dye first, just incase you don't like how it turned out, because it'll fade within a few weeks. Actually, my color has already faded out, and you can barely see the red color anymore :( I don't think I let it set long enough...

Haha, I'm the same way. Black... NO WAY! Black is a hard color to dye, and it's really hard to pull off if you don't have the right complexion (like me). It's funny thought, I WILL go black one day... just not right now.

Hopefully I'll get the color this week, but I might not dye it until the last week in July... I don't know what I'll do :)

Thanks for the comment - Leauphaun

7/9/2012 12:26:01 pm

wow! You've given me a lot to think about, Leaphaun! Y'see, I too have red hair, but only about fourteen inches of it, and it's very thin. But I'm rather sick of the hairstyle I have now. I was thinking about getting it layered, but since my hair is so thin... got any ideas? You too, Lauricia. And bangs...I had full front bangs for a long time, and now I have everything just pulled to the side. I'd really appreciate any ideas....I'm sorta at a loss at what to do.

Lauricia
7/14/2012 03:38:39 am

Well Ely....

In my experience....*leans back in chair* Side bangs, layers, and letting your hair grow out to *maybe* the middle of your back could look nice. But the issue of it being thin would pose a problem. Curling your hair with an iron adds body and usually makes it look silky and darling and like you have more hair. A lot of the time, I find it depends on how your styling it....But the cut does have a lot to do with how wonderful the styling turns out.
Or, if your up to doing something this drastic, get it cut to your jaw bone/chin, with some sweet layers, get a flat iron, back comb it a little, and vwala! haha.
What do you think of these suggestions?
Leauphaun? Did they sound ridiculous??

Leauphaun
7/14/2012 03:15:25 pm

Sorry it's taken me so long to comment. It's been a madhouse this past week!
No, not ridiculous at all! That all actually sounds like really good advice, Lauricia.
Yeah, Ely, it totally depends on what you want your hair length to be. If you want it long, look at growing out your length, but layer it a little, or if you want it short, you could try keeping it one lenth. But before you do anything, you could try volumizing shampoo, gel, even hair spray, something to give it more substance, than if any of it works at making it appear like your hair is thicker, you could ask a stylest what would look good on your face shape. Sometimes those stylist people can see things that we don't.

My best friend had long hair for the longest time, but two summers ago decided to cut it short. Like really short. With a fohawk. She's not a punk girl, nor a tough one, but one that loves God. Yet, this haircut was perfect for her. I never would've suggested this haircut to anyone, and please don't go and do it, but sometimes something that is completely opposite of what you'd want is exactally what is needed.

Did this help??

- Leauphaun

Lauricia
7/14/2012 03:40:46 am

Leauphaun: Haha....it was actually a guy with black dyed hair himself.....figures. lol.

Leauphaun
7/14/2012 03:02:07 pm

Haha, totally figures!! =D

Ely G.
7/16/2012 12:38:48 am

yes! Thanks guys, this really helps!
I like my hair long(I went many years with it extremely short, so I love it being long--except when it's over 100 outside...) so I think I'm gonna try curling it more often(my hair is naturally curly as well) and perhaps layering it a little in the coming days.
Thanks for your advice!

Ely

Leauphaun
7/16/2012 04:44:20 am

Glad to help! :)

Yeah, I had my hair "short" for a while, but now I have it longer again, and am loving it! (except for times, like you said, when it's hot outside)
Layers look really good, and they will make your hair look thicker than it is (in my case, like a lions mane ;) ). Let me know how it turns out, because I'd love to know! :D

- Leauphaun


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    Hi, I'm a younger artist who is trying to please my Father, God, with my artwork. I am planning to get into graphic design in a few years. I'm also helping my sister, Eldra, with her book. How the characters look, what weapons they use, planets, vehicles etc...etc...etc. In the past 4 years I have come to love snowboarding.
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