It's Time To Do YO Roots!

So, after 2 weeks of sitting on my booty recovering from surgery, I got all dressed up today and went out to lunch in Cool Springs (Franklin, TN). It was my first day back in full high heels! (or as we will  refer to most all of my footwear ... SSS -Slighty Slutty Shoes) YAY!

As I was getting ready I had to have a little "Come To Jesus" with myself over how badly I needed to color my hair. I could not wear a hat for one more day  to cover up my  ROOTS just to go out in public anymore!

Now -  I am actually a natural blonde... shocking, I know, but we DO exist. The truth is, that I am not the COLOR of blonde that I "choose" to be. In fact, it had been so long since I've even seen my natural hair color, until the last couple of weeks, I couldn't have told what the hell my God given shade was? But today as I stood in the mirror with some very intense sunlight coming in through my bathroom window, I was forced to face about an inch and 1/2 of boring, dishwater blonde roots while trying to decide how I could camouflage it for a few more hours in public. So, I just put on an even more ridiculous pair of shoes,  a little extra lip gloss, ordered a margarita with my grilled fish tacos, and made up my mind to spend an hour coloring my hair tonight.

A few hours ago, I took off my ridiculous shoes, poured myself a glass of wine to kill my foot pain, and began the process...

 

 Now, I am not a certified colorist, or stylist. I am a person who has spent many, many, many hours over many years coloring my mother's hair, my friend's hair, and my own hair. Sometimes successfully, sometimes, as in high school with my friend Krystal Herde, ending in some REALLY orange highlights on top of her VERY  brunette hair. Or the one case in early 2001 when I decided I wanted to go for a new shade of Feria "Deep Golden Blonde"... that instead,  ended  with a fantastic shade of BOLD ORANGE which took almost two weeks, and two stylist to correct!

So, after living with a roommate who was a professional stylist, being friends with several amazing stylists, and just learning my own hair through many trials and errors, I have learned how to blend my colors and color/highlight my own hair successfully when necessary.

As I was beginning this less than fun, but necessary process,  I thought I would share a few  basic tips that I have learned throughout the years. 

-A. Do not try to color your own hair anymore than 1-2 steps lighter OR darker than your own current hair color.  These drastic changes are usually best left to REAL professionals, or you might be wearing a hat for more than a couple of weeks. (Or as I did, buying REALLY, REALLY low cut  tasteless dresses so that the last thing people were looking at was my awful orange hair)

B. If your hair is really, really light... DO NOT TRY TO JUST PUT A DARKER COLOR DIRECTLY ON TOP OF THOSE DRY, WHITE ENDS! They will usually come out 2-3 shades darker than the rest of your hair...and sometimes they turn a lovely shade of ashy gray.

C. If this is a new product for you, or a new process - read all of your instructions very carefully, and give yourself plenty of time to work on it. This is not the type of thing you need to rush through. 

Here are a few additional basics for a simple root touch up... 

1.Mix you color and developer as instructed on the packaging.

2. Have a good fine tooth comb for parting/sectioning your hair at the root. I like to start in the middle and work toward the sides. 

3. With your comb, Make a clean part 

 4. Apply color to clean roots down both sides of the part

5. Comb the color just through the fresh,  root area 

6. Make another 1/2 inch part next to this area, repeat this process throughout the entire head.  I usually part down the middle. Do the right side to the crown of the back of head and the top of the right ear. Then I will repeat this process on the left, and then make horizontal parts across the back of my head all the way down to where the hairline meets the top of your neck.

7. Make sure that you have completely covered your entire hairline at your forehead, above and around ears, and at the top of your neck.

8. Let the color sit, JUST ON THE ROOTS, for anywhere from 10-20 mins. This is all according to your type of  hair and the time the instructions that come with your hair coloring package suggest.

9. Then comb the color through the rest of your hair, if needed apply more color from the bottle. Leave on anywhere from 4-10 minutes. If you are lifting your hair considerably here (laymans terms bleaching the hell out of your hair)  ... Most stylist wouldn't suggest leaving this on the ends for more than 4-6 minutes if they are already lifted, as it damages the ends even more and can cause the hair to break even more easily.

Now if you have to leave it on for about 10 mins like I do ... pour yourself another glass... and wait.

 10. Wash out the color. DEEP CONDITION! And style...

And, after about an hour (or more) of products, blow drying, a flat iron, 1-2 curling irons of different sizes, a couple of more products and finishing spray... mine usually comes out looking something like this...

So there ya go... When it's time for you to COLOR 'YO ROOTS too... I hope this helps out. :)

Now, I'm going to polish off this bottle of wine I started on last night, look for something good on HBO, and get some rest... I have my first post surgery co-writing appointment tomorrow, and about 100 things to do before it!

Next time I share info on hair, I'll share a little more about the picture below of some of my absolute favorite products, and why I use certain things for certain looks.

Good Night!

-Crystal