My Ombré Hair Experience

Memorial Day weekend is upon us, and it couldn't be more perfect.  While everyone is off to the lake or hitting the pool, I am happily dog-sitting for my parents and sitting out in their backyard, soaking up the sun and embracing the unofficial start to summer.  As much as I love traveling, I so needed this weekend to just relax.  I've got some crafty ideas floating around in my head that I want to try out as well.  Anyway, the real reason I am writing today is to share my experience with adding ombré highlights to my hair.  It's been about a month since I did, so I have had time to get used to it and know that I absolutely love the look!

Earlier this year, as soon as we had the first glimpse of warm weather, I got this itch to change up my hair and do something different.  I hadn't been to a salon since before Christmas, so my bangs were grown out and my color was pretty faded (I had been in a ritual of coloring my hair every couple of months).  Chelcey made the jump and went ombré, and seeing hers in person sealed the deal for me.  I'll be honest, I was pretty nervous to have any kind of blonde in my hair, seeing as the one and only time I had highlights in 8th grade was awful.  For that reason, I didn't want to commit to full blonde at the bottom, but instead some subtle highlights to start.

This is the picture I brought with me...

And this is what I ended up with...

I actually really love the way it turned out, and I am ready to have more blonde added in as soon as possible.  I think starting off subtle helped so that I didn't go into complete shock when the stylist turned me around to face the mirror for the first time.  The ombré look has really grown on me - get it, grown on me - and I love it!  And even though I totally felt like I was being prepped for the Hunger Games at the salon I went to (probably because it was my first experience at a true, full service salon - total organized chaos), they did a fantastic job with it!  They really listened to me and what I wanted and knew the right questions to ask, because obviously my inspiration picture really looks nothing like what I walked out of there with.

So, the moral of the story is, if you're considering going ombré or making a change to your hair color, just know exactly what you want so that the stylist can do it for you.  Don't be afraid to ask questions, even if you have a picture of inspiration to show them.  And if you are weary of a huge change at once, start off subtle like I did.  It's probably easier to add more later than to strip it and start over.