I don't find going to the hairdressers relaxing. I find it stressful.
If they're not scalping you they're dying your hair some random colour you didn't ask for or pushing products/treatments on you that you don't need or want.
The biggest scare your hair faces is of course transitioning from brown to blonde. Not to fear, I have done this transition many a time. Call me your hairy god mother.
I got told by a lot of hairdressers to "grow it out." Grow.it.out. Don't they realise how LONG that would take? Of course they do, they're hairdressers!
What self-hair-respecting person would wait years to just GROW it out?
A hairdressers "can't" is usually a won't, to cover their own backs if something goes wrong. Stick to your guns and if you're confident on the change/accept responsibility for any wrong-happenings then you're off.
Find a good colour technician. Don't walk in to a random salon and go with any random hairdresser without seeing any of their work - try to go with someone who's been recommended to you by a friend perhaps.
To give you an idea of what I was dealing with, I've included some pictures.
If I can get to blonde, ANYONE can.
I had brown packet dyes on top of black packet dyes on top of red tones on top of purple on top of more brown and black and it was just a mess, it seemed literally, an impossible job.
Note the key work: packet dye. These are, to be frank, little bitches for colour; and noone likes little bitches. If you can then avoid, unless you plan on staying the same colour for a long period of time or are saving the pennies (like what I was).
You end up with a build up of different tones and colours. Sometimes because the hairdresser hasn't personally put the specific colours on your hair, when it comes to stripping it it can be a bit more difficult. Some colours lift better than others and your hair can end up patchy/uneven because of this.
It's all to do with chemicals. Some ingredients in the packet dyes DO NOT react well with the ingredients the hairdresser may be using; meaning your hair can break completely OR not lift very well and go different colours.
This sounds like bad news but the good news? This happened to me. I was ginger and all sorts. Getting the blonde you want is possible; it may be costly and slightly damaging to your hair but it is possible. Persistence is key.
ASK FOR A COLOUR CORRECTION. This usually involves stripping existing colour from your hair and bleaching your hair. Lots of chemicals, very damaging. You'll receive a strand test, to basically make sure your hair won't fall out or turn green. Some hairdressers tried to fob me off with this saying my hair actually turned green, it hadn't, they just didn't want to take the risk. Make sure you ask to see your strand test, as proof.
You'll usually spend the entire time at the salon being lectured about hair care and what not and they'll force hair products on you to buy that cost like 457 quid, don't buy them (unless you're treating yourself that is) because I'm going to give you some cheap alternatives in this post .. See, I told you I was your hairy god mother.
I forgot to mention before, if you're hair is NATURALLY brown and you're just crossing over to the other side (because blondes have more fun and all that and you've considered yourself a Malteser all your life), the transition is a lot LESS complicated.
Me on the other hand endured a strip. After, I had hair looking like this. Nice.
Notice the orange? thats what I mean by some colours lifting better than others/unevenly.
I think my mother nearly had a heart attack seeing me strut out the hairdressers looking like this but ladies I did have a boyfriend at the time and he stuck about for a while even though I looked like some kind of baby faced prostitute, so don't be too disheartened.
I went back a week later after my hair had had a rest where I then had my hair bleached, it looked like this after. Some people might stop here but personally I don't think the bleach blonde look suits me very well and my hair still wasn't 100% even.
I was advised to not touch my hair for a little while with colour which was understandable, it just meant I had yellow hair for a while. My hair felt really strangley. You can test your hair for strangliness. (It will have a proper hairdressing term but I don't know it.) Basically brittle, feels kind of stretchy? If you take a strand of your hair and pull it a bit like an elastic band and it feels stretchy/like it could snap then your hair is pretty hard done by = strangley.
So I'd probably say avoid any harsh chemicals. Lots of conditioning, deeeeeeep conditioning. Use less heat. Hair masks. Coconut oil. Aragon oil. Morocon oil. Hair supplement vitamins. Bash these for a couple weeks. (longer if you can but I couldn't wait.) If you get a bit paranoid, like me, about having yellow hair then hair pieces. They'll be your best friend. They're usually synthetic hair, pretty cheap and you only have to match your fringe/front of your hair because they cover your whole head. So any uneven colour will be hidden.
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Choosing a blonde is hard, there's so many. Honey blonde, dark blonde, golden blonde, and so on. Ask your hairdresser to help you decide. They will advise you, get that famous colour chart out and you can have a good ponder. Be careful, not to go too dark though otherwise what was the whole point?
I chose an ASH blonde. If you've never heard of toners, ASK about them. They're amazing, especially for blondies. What they do is stop the horrible, brassy, yellow blonde tones from making an appearance. (Like what I had previously.) I had light and dark blonde highlights (full head) pulled through my hair and then an ash blonde toner on top. Worked wonders and gave my hair a nice, well, tone.
For anyone wondering, the condition of my hair is fine. Not perfect, but nothing some tender, love and care won't fix. I've since died my hair back a light brown and currently, I'm blonde again. You could call me a serial hair abuser but I am also living proof it's possible to switch between blonde and brown. I do however recommend picking a colour and sticking to it for both hair health and financial reasons.
PRODUCTS
Hairdressers take your eyes out most the time with products so here's some of my favourites that I promised above and they won't break your bank.
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You'll need a purple/silver shampoo at some point throughout your blonde lifespan. Blondes tend to go brassy/yellow and it doesn't look good so, try this one. FUDGE VIOLET TONING SHAMPOO. I found it for £10 in HairCity, Newcastle. Don't waste your time with products such as Pro-voke or the cheap and nasty ones you find in boots, I found they didn't really do much and they dried my hair out a lot.
I mentioned them before but the three hair gurus are:
- ARAGON OIL
- MOROCON OIL
- COCONUT OIL
No need to spend a fortune, you can pick these up for pennies.
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Everything starts from the inside. These are incredible. They take about 3 months realistically to notice any REAL results but your hair, nails and skin do improve. My hair felt strong and it grew a lot. My nails grew super fast and skin, well its always a love/hate relationship but I can only assume these done some good.
Pick these up from Boots/Superdrug.