the blue experiment [2]

I figured I'd share some of the behind-the-scenes of how I achieved my blue look, for those who are interested in taking the plunge and experimenting with colored hair. This was my first time delving into coloring hair and I found the process extremely simple and easily repeatably - mainly because I bought hair that was already bleached.

The three bundles are from Landot and the closure is from Carina. I received the Landot hair first (quick) and thought it was platinum blonde. When I received the Carina closure (it took 2 weeks to be delivered), I realized how mistaken I was. LOL. Although both were labeled as being color #613, the Carina closure was a blinding platinum blonde that was almost white and the Landot hair was more of a warm beach blonde. The Landot hair was a bit rough to the tough, probably because it was still a bit under-moisturized from the bleaching process. The Carina closure was extremely soft and supple. Both companies sent me a free pair of lashes and Landot also included a free weaving cap. I don't wear any of those things but getting freebies is always fun.

The goal was to use one bottle per bundle (I purchased these before the closure came in). I dyed the 16" bundle indigo blue first and ran out of dye three-fourth of the way in. Luckily, I started dying from the bottom so only the roots were left without dye. I ended up dying the roots Royal Navy and used half a bottle so that bundle has a slight ombre effect.. I bought two more bottles of Royal Navy dye and used two and a half bottles for the two 14" bundles of hair and a littlle over half a bottle for the closure. In the future, I would definitely plan to use two bottles per bundle. I would suggest one bottle of dye would only be suitable for 12" bundles or shorter and you may need three bottles per for any bundle length longer than 20". 

I opened up a white trash bag on a table and dyed my hair using gloved hands. After dying the hair, I put each bundle in its own separate gallon size ziploc bag. I left the hair in the the dye in for about 2.5 days (a tip I learned from Malibu Dollface). When I rinsed it out, there was almost no color running out; its as if the hair follicles absorbed all the color. I rinsed with cold water and put it in conditioner. I left the condition in for about 10 minutes but I wish I would have left it in over night, as the hair is bleached and it needs a little bit more tender loving care. I detangled the hair while the conditioner was still in the hair. After rinsing out the conditioner, I towel dried and braided into large plaits. The two braids on top (16" and 14") in the picture below were air dried and the two on the bottom were dried in a hooded dryer.

The closure ended being more of a indigo color instead of Royal Navy (as depicted on the bottle). I'm not sure what happened but I assume the color came out brighter because the platinum blonde color was lighter. The two 14" bundles where also dyed Royal Navy and color came out as a beautifully, rich navy. The 16" color was dyed the Indigo Blue and came out incredibly beautiful as well. The variation of tone in the blondes helped to create a multi-dimensional color that I absolutely adore. 

The one qualm that I had was what I felt like was an exorbitant amount of gray hairs in the Landot bundles. Had I not dyed the hair, I probably would have never seen them but... they annoy the crap out of me in the navy hair. That doesn't sit well with me at all...

xo,

jana-lynn