How to Maintain Ash Blonde Hair

I'm a brunette who started to go blonde last Summer and haven't looked back yet. I love my natural brown hair, but I wanted to try something new and have found being an ashy shade of blonde suits my colouring quite well after admiring it on others with similar a similar skin tone to me.

My original salon experience to add highlights was a disaster. Despite having gone lighter before with no issues, the bayalage I had done was not the greatest and the warm tones in my natural, un-dyed hair just didn't lift, even with a cool toner applied. I appreciate that going blonde is a process, but I was surprised how far from my goal colour I was due to my previous experience with bleaching.

Not one to give up, about eight weeks later I tried another salon and was really happy with the results. I used Olaplex as part of both my colours which stops the bleach damaging your hair as much. With fine hair like mine, I didn't want to take any risks of my hair breaking off which it no doubt would without the Olaplex. My new colour had some lowlights with an ashy blonde to create some texture to the colour. 

I've been getting highlights every three to four months since last Autumn and I'm really pleased with my current colour- most recently done by the lovely Emma at Kate Preston salon in Fareham. 

See my blonde evolution below and read on for how I try to maintain my colour at home.

2014 Favourites: a Round-up

I always find it difficult to think about the previous year in the sense that it is hard to get a clear picture of what characterised those particular twelve months. It wasn't a great year in many ways (in terms of personal life), but I did turn 30 and have some fantastic moments too. I loved celebrating with my two best friends- friends I've had for around 18 years now! 

It was also a year of picking up some new interests, for example, finding a love for folk music and photography after purchasing my Sony A5000. And of course, it was in April that I started to blog more regularly and actually saw a small audience start to grow- something I'm really happy about. If you have read my blog this year, thank you very much! It is amazing to think that my hobby can be shared with others around the world! It is also a blessing that in today's age of technology, I can record my year in this blog- potentially as something to look back on for years to come!

So without further ado, I want to present to you: my year's favourites.

First impressions: Colab Dry Shampoo by Ruth Crilly

Youtuber and model, Ruth Crilly, has released a range of fragranced dry shampoos. When I saw them on Feel Unique I knew I had to try them out, so I purchased all five scents in the 50ml size for £2.00 each. The full size is 200ml and is even more cost effective at £3.50.

Washing Your Hair Without Shampoo? Review: Ojon Cleansing Conditioner

I heard about the concept of washing your hair without shampoo through a link on Twitter to an article on the Cosmopolitan website. Cleansing conditioners have been popular with those with afro hair for some time now, but Ojon have recently released their Rare Blend Moisture-Rich Cleansing Conditioner, so I decided to try it out.