My Multicolored Hair

I've been wanting an unnatural color in my hair ever since I graduated from my high school which had a strict dress-code. When I visited my talented cousin Rozi in New York, she offered to do my hair for free as a present. It didn't feel right let her do that, so I decided to pay her, but she kept rejecting it until she accepted an extremely discounted price from me. That's family for ya! Rozi was able to transform my boring, overgrown hair into this sort of mermaid fantasy. Rozi is not just a hair stylist; she's an artist. She carefully cut, dyed, and cared for my hair and I absolutely loves what she did with it!

Here's what my hair was before: drab, overgrown layers, too thick, and just boring. It did not suit my personality at all.

So I went to the salon Rozi works at, which is called Selah Salon located in White Plains. 

Here's how I got this mermaid look!

First, she added highlights throughout my whole head using 25 vol. developer. She started at the bottom of my hair that way my longer layers would have more time to process, giving me platinum blonde at the bottom and a darker blonde towards the top of my head. She made sure to make the streaks vertical and chunky on the bottom layers of hair and gradually made the highlights more subtle an thin at the top. This was to add dimension to the blue so that I wouldn't get a solid color. I left the foils in for about 30-45 minutes.

And here's how it turned out:

As you can see, the blonde is thick at the bottom and fine at my crown.

Now it was time for the haircut! Rozi gave me tons of texturized layers for a funky look that would look good even when I don't style it. At the picture on the right, you can see those chunky vertical layers. I like to wear my hair half-up so that they're visible. 

Rozi said it looked amazing like this, but this is too typical of a look for a Cali girl. To make it less generic, I asked her to add blue, pink, and purple to my hair. She gladly agreed.

The next week, I stopped by her apartment to add color. She first mixed bleach with 20 vol developer and shampoo and left it in my hair for 15-20 minutes to lighten my base color, bringing my natural brunet to a dark blonde and further lightening my highlights. My hair color was lifted and cleansed at the same time, preventing the bleach from causing damage to my hair. Again, she started at the bottom to center the lightness there. She left between 1 and 2 inches from my roots free from bleach to add a dimension of dark blue at the top of my head. This was also done so that I could recolor my hair myself without bleaching my roots every month.

After she rinses out the bleach, she washed my hair with conditioner so that the cuticles of my hair would be partially closed. If you dye on freshly bleach hair, the cuticles are wide open so they absorb quickly, but also leave the hair quickly. If you plan on doing this, it's best to bleach and shampoo the night before, then add color the next morning.

I'm a blonde! Sort of. Notice how the ends are much lighter and how my roots are brown. I feel like this tinge of blonde color makes me look pretty washed up and gross, so it was time to add in the funky colors!

Rozi used the brand Splat, which can typically be found in your local drug store. I got them in "Pink Fetish" and "Blue Envy." Rozi has been coloring her hair in crazy vibrant colors for years, and she says that these dyes last longer than what she could buy in a professional beauty supply store. Each box comes with bleach and peroxide. The downside is that the tubes are only 2 oz and it costs $10 a box. I ended up using 2 blues and 1 pink on my hair.

She first applied the pink to my hair with a tint brush and tightly wrapped the hilights in foils. She varied the thickness of the highlights. The thicker chunks would remain pink while the thin ones would turn purple when blending with the blue. After that, she coated the rest of my hair with the blue dye. The top section of my hair did not have any pink aside from a tiny bit in my bangs. 

After all the dye was in, I let it process for 35 minutes. Normally you would want to put it under a blow drier, but it was so hot that day that I just turned off the AC, sat by the window, and let my head bake in the sweltering heat. After the 35 minutes were up, I rinsed my hair out with ice-cold water to seal the cuticles. I did this in a stainless steel sink because this dye stains like crazy. If you're gonna do this at home, line the skin hear your hairline and ears with vaseline or a thick amount of lotion to prevent getting color on your skin, and cover the area you're working in with a towel. I rinsed until the water was clear, then towel dried before Rozi blow-dried it.

And here's the final result!

As you can see, there are many different shades of pink and blue in my hair just from using one blue and one pink dye. Most people people bleach their whole head white and get one solid color. Because I had different shades of blonde to begin with, I was able to achieve hot pink, purple, royal blue, teal, dark blue, and even a blackish color!

It looks much darker indoors:

Vibrant in the sunlight:

I love love LOVE my new hair. I couldn't thank Rozi enough. If you live in NY and want the best haircut of your life, make an appointment with Rozi at Selah Salon in White Plains. And if you have any questions, leave a comment below and I'll gladly answer it for you!

-Liza