My Hair Color: Ombre Dye
9:37 PM
So if you haven't already figured it out, ombre hair is supposed to have a gradient effect going from dark on top to light at the tips. Here is the best example of what I wanted mine to look like:
Juuuuuust kidding! Although, I do think that goat's hairdresser deserves a pat on the back.
For real now, here are a couple of celebrity examples of ombre hair:
Rachel Bilson always looks cute and classy
Lily Aldrige has a beachy, blonde ombre
This is more the look I was personally going for.
Camilla Alves looks stunning with a warm brown ombre.
It's funny because when I decided to get mine done I really hadn't seen it much on black-haired ladies but my sister-in-law was the one who showed me this pic of Camilla as reference and it was exactly what I had in mind!
So here are photos of my actual hair:
before (air dried)
after (air dried)
totes profesh
after (curled)
In terms of color, I really love the natural beigey-undertoned medium brown shade it turned to and I am still considering lightening the ends a touch more to enhance the "gradient" effect. I'm uncertain about if that will damage my ends though. Anyone have advice?
These past couple months I've just been living with it and seeing how I like it, and so far, I really love how the brown color has brightened up my whole look.
The product that was used is Kaleidocolors Powder Lightener. She told me it was in the beige tone to prevent the resulting shade from pulling orange. (Maybe it's the "neutral" or "violet" type? I'm not 100% sure.)
As I've said before, I'm not a huge hair-coloring person. I tend to stick with my natural color with occasional brown highlights here and there. Since I'm very low-maintenance with my haircare, I didn't want to have a dye job that would be difficult to keep up with. I do love how all-over color looks but I just don't think I could keep doing it so ombre was a good option for me.
People seemed to be very polarized on Youtube comments about liking or not liking the look but I definitely do love it and I (and all of my friends) swear it does look quite natural in person. Obviously, cameras skew the color, even here!
At the end of the day, we should do what makes us happy despite what is trendy or what others think so I am content with my new hair for the time being. ^_^
So are any of you feeling the seasonal hair-change itch like I did? Share about your change or change-to-be
in the comments!
57 comments
Ahhh, it's so cute! I think it's very natural looking - it just brightens up your look :) I love it :D I get bored with my hair very quickly, too, but now I'm growing it out from a super short bob...and it's taking forever, of course. It's so much easier to go the other way XD
ReplyDeleteOkay, I definitely laughed out loud at the totes profesh! Love it!
ReplyDeletePretty hair! I love that it's a little shorter than usual as well. Your layers are just gorgeous!
<3
Jen are you using any special shampoo and conditioner to manage your hair colour now?
ReplyDeleteP.S. I think the most important thing is if you like it or not, it really doesn't matter if others like it =P
wow! that is such a beautiful color!
ReplyDeleteI adore it! <3
ReplyDeleteLorraineNpopo: I am rotating shampoos so my hair doesn't hold onto too much extra gunk and using a thicker conditioner for damaged/color-treated hair which seems to keep it healthy. She told me I don't need a color-protection shampoo to keep the color since we took color away instead of adding it.
ReplyDeleteyour hair looks gorgeous Jen! :)
ReplyDeleteI find irony in this ombre trend being that I started dying my hair years ago to cover up the natual ombre I had picked up from the sun bleaching my ends blonder!
ReplyDeleteIts so cute! It looks great on you~
ReplyDeleteI love your new hair look!!! Prettayyyy!
ReplyDeletei've always had an aversion to lightened Asian hair, but i am LOVING this look!
ReplyDeleteif only my hair was longer...
jenny
http://goldnturquoise.blogspot.com/
this is really interesting o.O i find it so fascinating cuz ombre hair dye is like dyeing your hair and growing it out and being too lazy to retouch the roots but its an actual look lol i do like the actual color and i would consider getting it done except i would end up having a reverse ombre look since the bottom of my hair is dyed black and i can't imagine it getting lighter. but i think it looks great cuz lighter hair looks better curled so you can see it better :D
ReplyDeleteMy first comment! I love your blog so much though. I've been looking at it for about a month now. But I love your new hair! Mine was like that a few weeks ago, but I just died it red! It was hard since I have dark hair but I love it :)
ReplyDeleteAlso I think you should lighten your ends more, as far as if it will damage them more.. Probably.. But if you trim them first and then dye maybe it won't be too bad?
I think you look better with your old hair color... or maybe just because I don't like the ombre look so much. To me it looks like someone hasn't had their roots touched up for months (LoL)
ReplyDeletemy hair looks like that but it's only because my hair dye grew out for soooo long. is that where the inspiration for ombre dye come from?
ReplyDeleteIt looks so good on you!! Did you style your hair here? It looks wavy/curly.
ReplyDeletei think the ombre dye enhances your fabulous layers and it's making it even more beautiful. i even thought about doing it myself but my hair's a little too short, and after looking into the mirror i saw that my hair's naturally lighter at the bottom. funny, i never realised that it's doing that on it's own (probably the sun. who knows? :D) love reading your blog. so all the best wishes from vienna, austria :)
ReplyDeleteI think it's gorgeous, really really nice :)
ReplyDeleteI had the hair itch 2 months ago, decided to grow out my pixie cut. My hair tends to grow pretty fast so i'm hoping by next May it'll be shoulder length as i'm off to Mexico (beach curled hair!!)
Lx
ahh, you look gorgeous! i love the color on you! :)
ReplyDeletePretty! I want to do it now - it looks gorgeous and natural. I don't like the ombre look a lot of girls do where their ends end up BLONDE when their roots are dark brown.
ReplyDeleteI love ombre hair its lovely it really suits you! :]
ReplyDeleteThe colour looks fantastic! When I grow mine (much) longer, I'll definitely try this too ^^
ReplyDeleteI like your hair much more than those celebs. Maybe it's the cam effect. I'm also hair-colour virgin, because i think it'll damage my already fragile hair.
ReplyDeleteMy hair change- I got the keratin straightening done on my wavy frizzy-as-hell hair 3 months ago, and the number of guys who look at me now have increased by 200% !!! For real!!
And after watching the beautiful effect of your hair colour change I might just get mine done for first time.
Love your hair! I've never dyed my hair before so it's always been black but seeing how pretty yours looks makes me want to try!
ReplyDeleteJust a question, how did you curl your hair?
Thanks! Love your blog!!
aawh, it's awesome! :D beautiful color!
ReplyDeletei love this ! i want to try it but im scared? :/ lol anyway, it looks really good!
ReplyDeletehttp://luxeandluve.blogspot.com
I LOVE it! Didn't know it's called ombre dye, I kept calling it gradient hair XD and tks for the product recommendation, my hair tends to turn orange when I lighten it as well :T
ReplyDeleteWow! This looks absolutly amazing on you Jen! I really, reallyx1,000,000 LOVE it!!!
ReplyDeletehi jen! so happy you're on the ombre train! i'm asian too w/similar coloring & started doing ombre like 9 mths ago & looove it!!! i had a similar story, low maintenance, hair color virgin who wanted some color & had highlights done once 10 yrs ago & despised it! i started subtle like you & then decided to lighten the ends which i really really liked. my stylist also threw in 4-6 blondish streaks around my face along the entire strand which made me nervous but it would catch the light & add dimension to my look. it really pops when i curl my hair & i ask for it everytime now. i think hair like ours is pretty healthy & easy. i could go 5-6mths w/o a trim before it'd get dry or snarly. now i get trims every 3 mths & take extra care & conditioning of the ends. also, did your gal do the foil technique or balayage? i started w/foil then recently tried balayage. balayage really did look even more subtle & natural. but i'll probably switch between the two dep on if i feel more dramatic or less so. i also tried a base bump which is great for summer & i think will transition well into the fall. sorry for long post but i'm literally a raving fan of this ombre look! love your videos & keep up the good work!!
ReplyDeleteYou really make want to try out the ombre style, but I'm afraid it'll turn out bad if the hairstylist think it is highlights that I want. I've dyed my hair really frequently in the past so I've cooled down for the past 2 years already. But certainly, with summer coming up, I want to try out a brown ash shade!
ReplyDeleteunni~ I love this look! I really REALLY love how it brightens you up as a whole hehe. Now I wanna try it!! Your sister in law did a really AWESOME job :)
ReplyDeleteI think it looks beautiful on you and I'm thinking about getting it done myself! It seems like it's a lot less maintenance then getting highlights.
ReplyDeletei like this look
ReplyDeleteyou hair looks great
super cute!!! the layers are really nice and the light brown catches the sun :)
ReplyDeletehye, I just had a few questions about your hair dye job, with the product that you listed, did you dye your hair or did you bleach it to have that affect. What kind of developer did your sister in law use, 10? 20? 30? to achieve that kind of look.Did you bleach your hair hen color it or just colored it with strong developer. Appreciate it loads if you answer my questions.
ReplyDeleteoem gee!! i love it!! i've been wanting to get the ombre dye too :D it looks great on you :) how did you ask the stylist to do it for you? did you bring in a picture? thanks <3
ReplyDeleteI think the ombre hair color looks very nice on you! I do like that the color change looks very gradual - it looks a lot more natural than some of the ombre dye jobs in the other photos you posted. I guess maybe it's because summer is coming soon, as it seems everyone around me has been changing up their hairstyle recently. I want to lighten my hair as well, but I'm probably going to go for an all over color :)
ReplyDeleteYeeaaaah.... not a fan. :( I just can't get over how it looks like you need to touch up your roots.
ReplyDeleteomg!! I love it!! I think I'll get mine ombre too~ thanks :)
ReplyDeleteombre kinda looks like super-grown-out regrowth tho
ReplyDeleteNot hair related, but i LOVE that gray dress with the belt that you're wearing. Where is it from?!
ReplyDeleteLove your hair. Never done ombre before. Will try in the future.
ReplyDeleteGreat blog and really pretty hair coloring :) I had a question: how do you get your hair curled very naturally like this? Would you be willing to do a tutorial...I saw your "japanese curl" tutorial, but this looks much more natural and the curls start a little lower :) Would appreciate it! :) Great blog again :)
ReplyDeleteDo you have a picture of your hair when it's straightened? D:
ReplyDeleteYou always look so cute and this hair color suits you perfectly! Thanks for the info on how to do it/what to ask for!!
ReplyDeletethatoneweirdox3: You can see it straightened in this post http://www.frmheadtotoe.com/2011/03/haul-forever-21-asos-hautelook-6pm.html
ReplyDeleteThis looks so good! I love the video you made explaining everything. I have short hair but am so bored of the growing out process so I'm thinking of dying it ombre. Just have to figure out how to ask my Korean hair-stylist unni hehe. Thanks for sharing the photos!
ReplyDeleteThis is GORGEOUS! I've been thinking about dying my hair for the first time, but was a bit concerned about having to dye it back to black after the roots grow out. This seems like a great option.
ReplyDeleteQuick question about your bangs, how long are they or how are they cut? I actually have very similar bangs, but they keep falling in front of my face and shielding my eyes. I really like the fact that yours stay out of your eyes--do you style it or cut it in any particular way?
Thanks so much for your time!
I want your hair.! hahahaha
ReplyDeleteIt's perfect. :3
how come after u dye ur hair, ur black her on the top still shows?? it's like u haven't dye ur hair for a long time !
ReplyDeletehey jen, do you have a tutorial on how to do this dye? I like it so much on you that i am gonna to try this on myself. my very first hair dye OMG lol
ReplyDeletethanks!
love it! you've inspired me to try this look. I've always had my natural deep black color. Thank you for this post!
ReplyDeleteThank you for a lovely advice on Ombré hair style, your hair look fantastic and I'll show your YouTube to my hair dresser.... This is exactly what I was looking for, first I want to do balliage but I think with Asian black hair, probably ombré technique will be better for us. Thank you thank you and thank you so much, now you have one extra fan page :) Em xx
ReplyDeleteHey, i was just wondering if the powder was a neutral or violet powder color?
ReplyDeleteHey, Jen I just wanted to ask you I really want to do ombre hair because it is all black and boring and I would do it at home because dying hair for long hair costs in Austria about 40~50€!!! So I thought I should do it at home but O am really scared to do it :( Please help me... I have never dyed my hair and no one in the family is a hairdresser:/
ReplyDeletejen, have you ever done brown highlights yourself at home?? i am considering doing a home highlighting kit and was wondering if you had recommendations for which brands and techniques to use, etc.?
ReplyDeletethanks!
Quick question about your bangs, how long are they or how are they cut? I actually have very similar bangs, but they keep falling in front of my face and shielding my eyes. I really like the fact that yours stay out of your eyes--do you style it or cut it in any particular way? http://www.ombrehaircolors.com/ombre-hair/brown-ombre-hair.html
ReplyDelete