Chloe Luckin

How I Went From Bleached Blonde to Brunette (without the green tint)...

As many of you who watch my YouTube videos will know that I have recently gone from bleached blonde to brunette. it was a very hard decision for me to make, as I've been bleached blonde for 3 years and I absolutely loved being a blonde for those three years..

So why did I go brunette after loving it so much?

The first factor, was that my hair was getting a lot thinner from all of the bleaching, and my roots did not go blonde with just a toner or a regular hair dye. So bleach was my only option.
     I also hated the fact that my hair was refusing to grow. I'd take hair skin and nail supplements and id constantly be putting on leave in conditioners in my hair overnight, but the breakage was still there and it wasn't going to budge until it was cut off. I'd been trying to grow my hair for a good 2 years after I got the beautiful Frankie cut (Frankie from The Saturdays asymmetrical cut) and it was just refusing to grow just below my chin.
     Another reason, was that was hair was getting like straw and it was vile and was never shiny, no matter how much serum I would be putting in my hair. It was never going to go shiny and healthy, no matter how much products I would out in my hair in the hope of doing what it promised and to give me "healthier, stronger, Thicker looking hair". Nothing worked. And I tried a lot of stuff!
    Some problems with my hair colour last year, and earlier this year, sort of gave me the inkling that I should definitely not keep bleaching my hair.
     The first happened last year when my friend suggested me to buy some purple shampoo. This tones your hair so all of my brassiness and golden tones come out of your hair. Because my hair was so porous, my hair and my new micro ring hair extensions turned turquoise. Not impressed! I didn't know what to do, so texted my mum's hairdresser, and she suggested to keep washing with head and shoulders, tomato ketchup. After about 4 weeks, it all came out and I was happy as a hippo again :)
     The other one happened this year on my holiday to America. I was having a shower after being in the swimming pool, and didn't want to get my hair wet. So, as anyone would do, I tied my hair up. The only problem was, I used a fluorescent pink hair band. How was I to know that if my hair got a little wet around the hair band, the colour would run into my hair and my hair extensions? Not the best idea.
     Maybe I should have thought about going brunette sooner?

So what colour must you use to not get the green or orange colour?

I've read so many stories from many different places on the internet that you have to go to a professional otherwise your hair will turn out disgusting and vile!
     I also heard that if you put a colour on that has reds in it, it will turn your hair orange and if you have ashy colours, it will turn your hair grey, and if you have natural colours, it will turn your hair green.
     I also heard stories from so many different places that you MUST have a dye with red in it for it to work, and that you MUST have a natural colour and it will turn out the colour on the box.

I have to say, that I know the answers because I have tired it out myself, and after that, my mum's hairdresser told me I was completely correct.
     The answer to the first statement is a complete lie. Of course it will look better if it's professionally done, but it will not look disgusting if you do it yourself. I refused to pay £30 for the hair dresser to put colour on my hair that's just going to fade after a few washes.

And the answers to the other statements?
     You should definitely not get an ash colour. The reason? It will turn your hair grey or green! It doesn't matter which type of ash you get, or what colour it is on the box. It will not turn out that colour. It will go between different shades of grey.
     You should definitely not get a natural shade of brown. Anything with the word "natural" in it. Be prepared for hair with a tint of green, or green hair.
     You MUST get a colour with red or golden tones in it. Anything that says the word "golden" or "red" or "copper", or any other names for red, will not turn your hair orange.

The reason for this? Bleaching takes out all of the colour pigments in your hair. You're basically working on a blank canvas, so you must put back the colours that it has taken out. Adding red tones will help to add the pigments back in your hair for the colour to work.

What did I do?

because I knew about having to put red tones back into the hair, I made sure that I went out and bought a hair colour with a red tone.

My colour of choice?
Schwarzkopf Color Mask in colour 665 - Light Golden Brown.

I loved this hair colour. It looked beautiful, but with not too much gold. It was the perfect colour and because I have pale skin, a warm colour works best next to my skin. I knew as well, that the colour was going to go a lot darker on my hair because of the pigments, and I didn't want to get medium brown, is the case it would go very dark brown. I think I got in on sale for £4.50 from Boots.
I put on the dye, making sure I read the instructions carefully and fully. I mixed all of the pots together, and slapped it on my hair as if it was a hair mask you use to nourish your hair every week. It was strange because it was very thick and I'd never used a dye like this. The instructions say to leave it on for 25-35 minutes. So I left it on for 25 minutes, because it could go darker if I left it on for the full 35 minutes.

The Outcome

I absolutely loved the outcome of my hair. It was darker than on the box, but after a few washes, its faded to roughly the colour on the box, with what looks like a few blonde highlight! There is absolutely no green in my hair whatsoever. and I even dyed my bleached clip in hair extensions with this, and they haven't got a green tint either, just a lovely golden tone.

There are a few photos of before and after dying brunette, and there's also the video from my YouTube channel underneath so you can see the true outcome on video.

Subscribe to my YouTube channel and have a look at more of my videos: www.youtube.com/chloeluckinphotos

I hope my blog post helped you out. And let me know how you're dying experience went!

Chloe :)