HAIRCUTS, OMBRE, and BALAYAGE... OH MY!

I always get asked what color my hair is... and I honestly never have a great answer because I really don't know. Dirty blonde, golden blonde, streaky blonde-ish strawberry red...(-ish?!). All this confusion is really due to that fact that I've never had my hair colored by a stylist before. Actually, I've never paid more than $30 ever for any hair appointment. (Disclaimer: I have hair stylist friends that work total magic with hair - and I am not against people who spend alot of money for a great cut and color!). This is how I have always cut and colored my hair...

My hair has just always been simple - long and angled around my face. So, I just cut it myself. Or my mom. And one time Ben. But don't ask him about it because he will totally deny it. (But really think about it, my hubby is in dental school... excellent attention to detail and amazing fine motor skills. If I can talk him into it, he can definitely deliver!). I usually do the whole ponytail trick like in this YouTube video here. (Funny because this guy definitely discourages DIY haircuts. He's probably right, but until I plan on actually getting my hair cut into a "style", I think I will stick with this.)

I also have always colored/highlighted my own hair. Sometimes it turns out better than others. But my method is always the same. I walk into Target or Walgreens look for a box of hair color in the $5-8 range that is a shade or two lighter than what grows out of my head naturally. Sometimes I buy a couple different shades and "highlight" my hair with both at the same time.

Well, now that I have Bentleigh, my "me" time has become less predictable, so I wanted to do something that I could let my roots grow free with a little va-va-voom. Since my roots are a dull dirty blonde, as you see in the picture; I wanted to liven them up a little bit, so I used a more vibrant shade of what my roots actually are so I could provide some contrast. It just so happens that the ombre, balayage look is totally trendy right now - and that's what I did. I got onto YouTube found a chick (ellebangs, here) that put dark color into blonde hair and my result was subtle but perfect (I just wish I could've captured the same lighting for both sets of pics.!).

...and after

Enjoy!