The ombre hair is something I originally will admit to not exactly getting. But then early this Spring I felt like a change of barnet and re-read Zoella’s post about it and it looked fun! Which then led me to llymlrs post on how to diy it too. Hmm can’t be that difficult I thought, and it really isn’t. There are just a few tips & tricks I’ve picked up along the way which I hope may help anyone else trying to achieve this gradated look using Zoella’s and llymlrs tutorials.
* Less is more. The one thing about bleach is once the damage is done, it’s really rather hard to reverse. So apply your bleach cautiously. Less time is more time. if it’s not as bright as you’d like you can always apply more again.
* Approach foil with a weary eye. Foil. Sure it helps speed up the bleaching process but it can also leave you with a harsh line…i.e no soft smooth gradient. I once placed foil on the end of my tips and ended up with bright blonde tips, no ombre just a bad dye job with huge contrast!
* Different strokes. I’ve done the ombre job a few times now and the one thing I’ve found is that you get a smoother effect if you apply the bleach at the very ends of your hair and then gently stroke the bleach upwards. I aimed for a third of the way up so by the time you reach this point you would have spread most of the bleach about already.
* Ties don’t work! The first time I did it I thought I would be clever and use some hair ties to mark where I wanted the ombre to start. Basically I created very loose pigtails and this method sucked and resulted in a very uneven and unnatural effect…
* Heat. I know this helps speed up the bleaching process but again you won’t get enough time to judge how it’s looking. I wouldn’t recommend it.
* White toner works wonders. As my hair is naturally black, any lightening I did to it would ultimately be quite brassy. I hugely recommend you try out a white toner such as the one by the brand Directions as it really helps lift the colour and taking out the harsh yellow tones (I’ll review this product soon!)
* It’s easier if you have natural hair colour. The one thing I found hugely complicated whilst trying out the ombre was the fact that my hair is already dyed. I have naturally black hair but dye it red. Getting an ombre hair meant I had to bleach the ends which was all well and good until I had to dye my roots! It then becomes a complicated affair where you can easily end up with three shades of hair colour (which I SO did!).
* Bleach damages. I was pretty fortunate with bleaching my locks as it didn’t really dry it out, but my work friend on the other hand has mentioned hair hair being quite dry afterwards. So be prepared to sacrifice silky locks for this look!
TIPS FROM CHARLIE (see her results below!)
* Apply using toothbrush. The brushes that come with bleach are not very good. The toothbrush gets to all strands much easier.
*Use a hair brush. If you’re using powdery bleach brush it through with a paddle style brush so it distributes the bleach evenly.
* Start at the back. If you start at the front all of your hair sticks together and you can’t get to the front bit without tangles!
* Divide hair into two to make the application process easier.
I love having red hair so the ombre effect I achieved is as follows:
You can see it a bit better in daylight here:
My work friend on the other hand has a blonder and bolder ombre which I am hugely envious of! See below:
Have you tried the ombre? Let me know if you have any tips & I’ll add them to this post!
*UPDATE* Check out Charlie’s BLONDE ombre here
*UPDATE 2* Found a fantastic step by step tutorial with photos & product info. Definitely worth a read especially if you have dark hair. Click here to view
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Your hair looks beautiful! I’ve been wondering whether I could ombre my hair and then dye purple on top of it and get a gradiated effect, hmmm…
Aww thanks so much! I think it’s possible to bleach and then add purple but word of warning, sometimes purple goes grey. Are you thinking of using permanent stuff or the semi?x
I really like the look of your subtle ombre!
Xx
Thank you! I’ve dyed it red again so the last time you saw me it didn’t really have an ombre. Tempted to do it again but it’s hard work to maintain if you dye your hair already!
I love how this looks on you. I’ve been wanting to try this but I have reddish brown dyed ahir already, does this matter? Thanks!
Hi Kristie!
Aww thanks so much *blushes*
Hope this helps!x
My hair is naturally black & is dyed red so the ombre thing can be a bit tricky to keep consistant.
I’d make sure you’ve dyed your roots before proceeding with the ombre and just leave it on for around 15 mins before taking it off. You can always repeat it again if it’s too subtle
did you just bleach the bottom over natural hair color? ever do it over dyed hair? i typically see ombre on brunette shades, but i haven’t seen too many with dyed red hair.
Hi Genabelle
Thanks for leaving a comment! Both Charlie & I dye our hair first.
I’ve been dying my naturally black hair red for years so to achieve an ombre was slightly more difficult as my ends won’t easily go blonde!
Definitely recommend to dye your hair first before sorting out the ends. At first I thought I could just dye my hair a shade darker & leave the ends free of dye. Didn’t work & ended up a mess when it came to washing the dye out!
Hope this helps!
i really do prefer your version than your freind’s. it looks amaaaazing on you
aww thanks! Just dyed my hair and had it cut so don’t have much left of it *sniff* Sorely tempted to do it again now you’ve said that
x
Hi how did u do it like did you just cover the whole bottom with dye or how did I do it
You start from the bottom, apply the bleach there and lightly brush up…make sure that there is a higher concentration of bleach on the ends though and remember less is more! If its not as bright as you want the first time just apply the second batch of bleach to the very ends. Hope this helps!
Apologies for the late reply, been in Oz for the last 2 weeks. Just asked Charlie and she said it’s the Garnier one
Your hair looks perfect! I have similar reddish hair, what brand bleach and hair dye did you use on yourself?
Hi Cecily – I used the Boots highlighting kit
The hair dye I use is Naturtint and the shade is Copper Blonde…best home hair dye ever!
Hope this helps!
I have naturally dark brown Asian hair. I want to dye my hair light ash brown then ombre it using bleach + toner. Will that work? I’m afraid it might turn orange…I want it to be a nice golden blonde. Any advice?
Hi Emily,
Thanks for the comment!I think it’s going to be a bit tricky to go light ash blonde to be honest. Have you bleached your hair before? My hair is naturally dark dark brown/black (hasn’t been in years mind you!), and the process of getting dark hair lighter is really hard to get right by means of home hair dying.
Dark hair will go through an orange phase as it gets lighter as the bleach is literally stripping the pigment from your hair.
Do you know the bloggers Fashion Toast and Sincerely Jules? Both of them have naturally dark hair and both sport lovely ombres. Might be a better route to try.
Before you do anything I’d suggest cutting a small piece of your hair off and doing a strand test with bleach to see the effect it will have. It’s also worth noting that ends of your hair will take longer to lighten than your roots.
Super long reply but I hope this helps! You’ve reminded me of when I attempted to go Tokyo blonde…If I can dig up the images tonight I’ll post the pictures up for you
x
Thanks so much! ^_^ I’ll be sure to check those bloggers out.
My pleasure! I have huge hair envy every time I look at Sincerely Jules hair…wish my hair was as amazing has hers! Let me know how you get along
x
Hey, I did ombre, and now my hiair is ginger, if I put bleach on it in a couple of days will it go lighter still ??
Hi Kia,
Is your hair naturally black?Is so it will go through this phase. It will go lighter if you add more bleach but it will still have that orange tinge. You can try a toner to life the orange from it or alternatively you can read this tutorial which has some fab tips!
http://brittneecann.com/post/4503936132/click-to-enlarge-diy-ombre-hair-accoring-to
Hope this helps!
hey , i would like to do ombre but my hair is black, well it’s really dark brown but it almost looks black so i want to go gradient down to almost blonde but i don’t really know how would it look or work, help?
Hi Nicole,
Thanks for the comment! Have you tried bleaching your hair before? Would definitely recommend you do a strand test first to see how blonde your hair will go. If it goes brassy/orange then you will need a toner to eliminate the brassiness in your hair. Am going to update this blog post with a few more links to some great tutorials which I hope will help!
Hi, I want to do ombré in my hair!! I have dark brown/black Asian hair. I don’t want to go light blonde at the ends but light ash brown instead. what do you recommend? Do I still have to use bleach still and ten die my hair ash brown?
Thanks!!!
Hmmm I think the contrast is going to be a bit difficult to achieve. The problem with black/asian hair is that to get it light enough you have to bleach it several times to lift your natural colour. Unfortunately this can be really damaging to your hair.
I’d suggest following the tutorial I mentioned (link in post) and see how you go, but try a strand test first to be on the safe side!
Hope this helps!x
Girl, your hair is boss. The base color is perfect, and the ombre effect is great. Nice job!
Love your comment! Made me smile
Thanks so much Lew!
Hey! question! My hair has been dyed really red, then back to dark brown. I haven’t touched it with anything in about 4 months and the red is coming back through my dark brown. SOO. its like a reddish Brown color. I have never bleached my hair before. and I REALLY want the ends BLONDE. like bleach blond and it go up to a kinds blonde color. (Ombre look) but i really dont want it to be yellow. what should i do..
hi Leah!
Thanks for the question. I think given how much you ave dyed it the best thi to do would be a strand test first. The dark brown might be hard to shift so you will probably have to dye it a few times to get it light enough. It really depends on the condition of your hair & how dark it is so definitely do a strand test first so you can gage how it will turn out
Hope this helps!
I did it!(: It turned out really great actually. and its blondeish yellow right now. So im gonna try getting it lighter. But it looks really good. Thanks for the tips. They helped.<3
Hi Leah!
Apologies for the delay in replying! Been away in Greece for the last two weeks!
x
Thats great news, so glad it turned out well! Will have to share a pic
I dyed my hair like a month ago, and now I want an ombre. What will I do? Bleach first then dye from root to tip or I’ll just blech it without dying the roots? Thanks!
My hair was black and I dyed it copper red a month ago. So now, I want the end to be like golden blonde. What will I do? Do I have to dye it again after I bleach the ends? Or just bleach the ends without dying after?
Thanks for your comment! I think the best thing to do would be to dye your roots & then do the ombre. It’s the same problem I had & the maintenance can be tricky but worth it! I didn’t take the dye to the ends of my hair, no point if you’re going to ombre it! Hope this helps! x
hi my hair is ombred, but i want to get ill all back one colour (black) im afraid if i dye it it willl be 2 different shades of black , what is the easiest way to do this ?
thanks x
hello!
I don’t think there should be too much problem getting the ombre back to black as its a darker shade. Some black dye can look rather artificial though so I’d do a strand test first!
My hair is naturally black but I haven’t had black hair in years but when my mum dyes her hair she chooses a dark brown to keep it looking more natural.
Hope this helps! x
Can I just say I think you are gorgeous ^~^
Now to my question. I have black hair and really would love to have that “Asian ginger” colour seeming to becomes popular with K and J pop groups:any advice o sort of dye should I use for that?
*blushes* thank you!
Very good question…something I tried to get to the bottom of when I went to Tokyo a few years back! The brand “Palty” is hugely popular over there & works incredibly well. I used a very bright blonde a few yers back & the results were crazy. Need to dig out some photos from back then.
If you’re UK based I’d suggest trying the brand Naturtint which is what I use. The shade I have been sticking to lately is “Arizona Copper”. You can purchase it from Whole Foods & Holland & Barrett for about £10 a box. I love this stuff!
Hope this helps!
Do you have to bleach your hair for this ?
Am afraid usually you do, especially if you have dark hair
You need to TEASE the hair at the point you want the ombré to start. This makes sure there are no harsh lines.
And foil is the way to go. You have to also put a few foils through the top to blend .
Thanks for the tips! Much appreciated!