Lately, I’ve seen quite a few questions on Instagram regarding my hair color. So today, I’m teaming up with my colorist to give you the inside scoop on how we achieve my color, and what products I use to maintain it.
Ariel (my sister in law) has been coloring my hair for the past few years. She works at L.W. Boutique Salon, just south of Nashville, Tennessee. My family lives there so we typically visit every couple months and I almost always get my color touched up when we’re in town.
I should start by saying that my natural hair color is very dark. Ariel says it’s a level five for all you hair gurus.
Over the years she’s done an all-over platinum blonde:
An ombre blonde:
And my current baby lights and balayage blonde:
Even though we’ve made a few changes, I’ve always wanted to keep the blonde parts cool and “ashy”.
So here’s the process Ariel uses on me currently.
First she foils my hair, using light master (40 vol) and oloplex. Then she balayages my ends with light master (30 vol) and oloplex. Next, she tones it, using Redken shades 9B and 9P (customized with what i need at the time). With the toner she does a 2 to 1 ratio (diluted with clear). We tone it at the shampoo bowl with damp, towel-dried hair (for 5-10 mins). And she finishes with oloplex #2.
I don’t know what some (most) of that means, but I do know I love the result. To avoid getting brassy in between visits, I use this shampoo (once a week). I’ve tried 4 different purple shampoos, and so far this one is my favorite.
The extensions I wear are from Bellami Hair. These are the Guy Tang 8/60 220 grams.
(How funny is this last picture? I was trying to be all artsy with the hair and make it into a heart. #fail)
I just got a new set in and the shortest they had available was 22 inches which ended up being too long for me. They weren’t blending with my own hair naturally so we gave them a little trim and now I love them! I have worn Bellami extensions for the past three years and I love them. If any of you decide to order a set you can always use code SARAHK for a discount.
*note: we didn’t do any coloring or toning on the extensions at all. This is exactly how they come and they were a perfect match for my hair.*
I am linking the curling wand and styling products I use as well, but I’ll do a separate post about styling soon.
I hope this helps!
Xo,
Sarah
