I Tried It: Ombré Hair Color Part Deux

As much as I love to try unique fashion, new beauty trends and fun hairstyles I usually am a MAJOR baby when it comes to changing my hair. I used to color my hair red/auburn about 12 years ago and I once chopped off over 10 inches of locks my sophomore year of college. But that's about as far as it goes when it comes to drastic change. I'm still that girl who goes to the salon and says "Only 1/4 of an inch please" But when 2011 came around I was determined to make this year fun and different. In part of this "Year of Change" I took a major leap and decided to have my hair professionally colored. I ended up absolutely loving the ombré effect on my hair. However, there were a few issues I noticed afterwards. First, she only colored the bottom half of my hair so it was mostly just peaking through the top pieces. Almost none of the outer hair layers were colored. She also did huge streaky chunks instead of blending the color throughout the pieces. Don't get me wrong - I still loved the change and for a color-virgin it was a great introduction. But 6 months later I'm officially bitten by the dye-bug. I've been itching to get it re-done and for it to be correct! Since my birthday is Friday (Eeeee! I'll be 25!!!) I thought I would gift myself with a little present. So, long story short, I got a recommendation from the owner of the same salon I went to back in January and this time I was definitely not let down!! Check it out...!

I Tried It: The Carrie Bradshaw Bun

Carrie Bradshaw with her amazing and larger than life bun

I love and I mean love trying new hairstyles. It's so fun when you can figure out to work something new into one of the best accessories out there - your hair! I'm always wearing my hair in buns and top knots [they're my favorite and soooo easy] but I had yet to experiment with "The Carrie Bun"

If you didn't know what it was before just take a look at the photos above. Basically you take a regular bun and then super size it. So fab. My roommates and I always loved when Carrie would pop on an episode with this hairstyle, rocking it super casual or at major functions like Charlotte's "perfect" wedding/1st breakup with Aidan. The bun was also spotted several times in both SATC movies too - proving to be a true Carrie signature. I've been trying to come up with a hair style for an upcoming wedding but I'm pretty sure I have that one nailed down. However I knew I would need something for other functions (bridal shower, rehearsal dinner etc...) So I thought I'd give this a little practice. Ready to see it??

Front and back shots of my "Carrie Bun"

 

So big yet so smooth! I'm in love!

This is literally on the first try as well! I definitely want to make a few changes for next time (I think it needs to be much higher) but I am loving the volume it gives versus the regular bun/top knot I usually sport. The best part... it was SO SIMPLE! Like seriously took about 10 minutes - probably that long since it was my first time. This could totally be a 5 minute bun with some more practice. Have you seen those hair gadgets that help you achieve this look (like the hair donut)? Well I am proud to say this is all me baby! No extra shortcuts needed And since my hair-experiment went so well this morning I was feeling extra "Carrie-fied" as I got dressed:

Shirt, Jeans & Flower Pin: Forever 21; Shoes: Sole Society Wylde; Jewelry - Pearls: Thrifted; Watch: ASOS; Dimpled Cuff: Express

{Sans my Black Blazer that I threw on before work}

Still getting used to the outfit shots... but what do you guys think of my hair? I can't wait to practice more and perfect it! Have a lovely Wednesday! xoxo

1st image via MissTrendyKitty; 2nd image via Australian Vogue, 3rd image via BellaSugar

I Tried It: Ombré Nail Polish Trend

After Nicole guest posted about Ombré Nails - I have been wanting to try the trend! I decided upon going with a pink color scheme and I set out to put together the most fabulous combination of colors! However after looking through my whole collection (all 52 bottles!) and talking with Katy about my current selections I discovered I need to make one last trip to Target in order to get the correct spectrum of light to dark colors. What I ended up with is the finished product above! I love the look of this - it's so different and super fun! The colors I used are as follows:

shades from left to right: OPI Bubble Bath, Sinful Colors Glass Pink (my purchase from Target), OPI Arose at Dawn Broke by Noon [probably my favorite color ever] Sally Hansen Baby Doll, Confetti in Get The Party Started (found at CVS)

So what do you guys think? I am totally in love - the next color scheme I want to try is blue. Or I was thinking about trying this Lauren Conrad twist and going from baby pink to RED:

How fabulous! Thanks Nicole for a new and exciting suggestion! If you guys try either of Nicole's or Katy's nail suggestions send them me (bedazzlesafterdark@gmail.com) I'd love to feature them on the blog! xoxo

last image via Allure

I Tried It: Ombré Hair Color

Since I have decided that 2011 will be my year to spice things up (I turn 25 this year which kind of freaks me out!) this weekend I ventured out to check off my first to-do on the list. I've been wanting to change up my hair for the longest time. I got the Brazilian Blowout at the end of the summer - and loved it. I fully intend to do it again this year closer to May so that I can really get great use out of it for beach days. I got my first taste of change and I was craving more. I decided  to go a little bit further down the path and do something other than just changing the texture of my hair. (But without the cut. I've been enjoying it long lately and I'm not quite ready to part with the length yet ;)) The next thing that came to mind - Color! I've always wanted to dye my hair so at first I thought about going drastic and doing it blonde. But Bill convinced me I might want to start with something smaller first to see if I liked it. After running through some ideas - it hit me! Ombré! I have seen so many celebrities rocking this new hair trend and looking amazing doing it. Drew Barrymore and Rachel Bilson to name a few. What is Ombré you ask? The look it's supposed to give is kind of like grown out roots. It usually starts out dark on the top and fades to a brighter color on the bottom - maybe honey brown or blonde. It's very bohemian and beachy (which I so heart). Plus, this would give me the hint of change I needed without any of the real color commitment. One of my favorite ladies to sport this look is the oh-so-gorgeous Lily Aldridge. She's a Victoria's Secret and model and the Queen of two-toned hair.

Totally gorg right?

I found a salon that was running a special and called to speak to a stylist. Jaye at Forme Salon was super informed about Ombre. We had a quick 10 minute conversation about what the process would entail and how drastic I wanted to go. I made my appointment for Saturday and printed out some pics to take with me. When I arrived at the salon I was super nervous - I was basically a color virgin! But I showed Jaye what I wanted and we talked about going just blonde enough on the ends without it being too "buttery". I'm pretty inquisitive whenever I take on a new project so I was asking questions every 5 minutes. I found out that before Jaye put the color on she teased the section of hair she was coloring so that the line of color would be softer and not so drastic. She also didn't do every single end on my head so that it would a littler bit more natural looking.
So cut to the end result: she took the foils off and I literally about fell out of the chair. I had blonde hair on the ends! And it looked pretty rad. I kind of totally loved it but told myself I needed to see if dried before I could make any judgements. I knew that it wouldn't look exactly like those celebrity photos I've seen but I still left the salon feeling pretty good.

   

Sorry I don't have better pictures right now - I haven't had time to really style it. Plus it's much more blonder in the back on the bottom than this picture is doing justice. I can't wait to see what it will look like when it's straight. So far, I love it. I also am pumped about the fact that I didn't have to make a commitment of coloring my hair every so often since I left my roots alone. Plus as my friend Katie put it my hair looks "sunkissed". Have you ever tried this? Are you interested? Do you like it? Let me know! xoxo and Happy Monday!

images via Glamour and We Heart It

I Tried It: Brazilian Blowout

Today marks the day of my 24th year in existence. For 24 years - I have had the curliest hair you have ever seen. Ok maybe not the curliest you ever seen, but it is definitely full on ringlet-city. So in honor of my birthday I decide to finally do something I have been dying to try ever since I read about it last year on Nicole Richie's blog. Brazilian Blowout. For those of you who haven't heard of this - it's basically a semi-relaxer. As a professional smoothing treatment the Brazilian Blowout uses keratin protein to seal in the frizz. This means that us curly haired gals can give ourselves salon blowouts for up to 12 weeks in less than half the time it usually would take. This treatment is so great because it gradually wears out and there is no damage to hair like Japanese straightening. In fact it makes your hair healthier. It also means FRIZZ FREE hair - which is pretty major! Now I am usually all about testing out the latest trends, newest products and beauty treatments. However when it comes to my hair - I am a bit fat baby about it. I'm that girl who goes to the salon and says "a quarter inch off please". So I was pretty nervous about trying it! My girlfriend Vanessa had it done in May and ended up falling in love with it. So after many questions (Sorry V!) I decided to take the plunge. First let me show you some before pictures. :)

    

Both of these photos were taken last week. As you can see my hair is pretty long and extremely thick. On the left is obviously my natural texture - air dried. On the right is a very quick blow dry and fast flat iron - Probably took about 1/2 hour but it's obviously not a good blow out. My hair was already air dried so i just took the dryer and straightened it a bit and then ran a flat iron through it. I can get it smoother than this - but it usually takes forever. I mean we are talking 70+ minutes of heat between the hair dryer and then the flat iron. So I was pretty excited about the thought of my hair basically being styled and finished in 1/2 the time or less. So I found a new salon in Venice called Studio Noi. Mar (the stylist) was running a special and I just couldn't turn it down. I had read great things about her on Yelp and Facebook - so I took the plunge and went in on Sunday. And boy was I soooooo glad I did! Mar is absolutely amazing at what she does. I knew I was in good hands when I walked in and she was rocking 4 inch heels and the raddest tattoo. She really listened to me about my haircut, told me what would be the best cut for me and answered all my questions about the BB treatment. Let's talk about the haircut first - Ah-mazing. Probably the best I have had in a very long time. Then Mar began the Brazilian Blowout! She coated my hair with the keratin protein, then blew dry on high high heat. Next she used a special flat iron to "seal in" the treatment (and the frizz as I like to think of it) After 90 minutes, I was ready to go! I walked out of the salon in the best mood ever. Now for the After photos.... are you ready?!?!

    

Amazing right?! Check out the cut first off - Mar is fabulous!! And obviously my hair is stick straight. Now granted, a salon blowout is always better than what you can do with your own two hands. So I finally washed my hair and blow dried it myself. Results: Stick straight hair in 20 minutes - I kid you not. Photo proof?

I know I am not a model people so focus on the hair! This took TWENTY minutes - seriously?!? and I didn't even have to flat iron. I was literally in shock. As I was drying my hair it was looking like this. Wow. I can't wait to see what my hair will look like when it's natural and frizz free (I'm praying for boho waves) So everyone who says the BB changes their lives - well at least in the hair world - it definitely changed mine!!! I am fully obsessed and am already planning out my budget as to when I can do it again. So for all you guys emailing and facebooking me about photos: Are you impressed? What do you think of the results?! Are you ready to go Brazilian. ;) Let me know please!! I am dying to hear. Oh and if you are looking for a place in the LA area to get it done - go to Mar! You won't be disappointed! I promise! xoxo!