They are not all too flattering but I figured they would help to make my point.
So I start by sectioning my hair. These days I only have a bang section, but I have had multiple streaks and big chunks in the past. Although this is easy to section out it is still far easier to clip everything else out of the way before the color comes into play.
Now for the color. I use the live color xxl from Schwarzkopf and I mix the two red shades, so it often looks a little different each time. I start spreading the hair color on my roots, and as the bottom left picture shows they had gotten quite long. Then I work the rest of the color to the tips because the color does dull quite a bit and this makes it vibrant from root to tip. To this I would say that I put a lot of effort into not frying my hair with chemicals and I am working with a very short section. Please be careful with your own hair, especially longer hair, mine has proven to be quite resilient but this is not quite as stated int he instructions so better stick to those than the experiences I have made with my own hair.
On a side note: I used to use Splat and Manic Panic hair color when I still lived in the states, and can recommend them, but is it a different process since they are semipermanent dies that require bleaching for the full brightness. These dies are mixed directly with a developer they will lighten hair as they die it. This makes for one less step in the long run, but also provides a color that will fade differently.
After dying my hair I wash it with a clarifying shampoo and rinse it with cold water so that it won't color all my towels. Then I use a nice deep conditioner to apologize for the damage done. I like Dumb Blond from Bed Head, it's a protein conditioner in the middle of the price spectrum and I have always seen good results.
Following the shower I then take to rinse out the contitioner and shower the rest of me, I cut my hair. Now I really don't know how to describe this process, but I will give it a shot. I start at one side and work my way across the back. Sometimes I clip the top section away while I do this, and sometimes I leave it. But once I feel like the back is nice and short and relatively even I go on to the top sections. I think this is where things get interesting becuase I really do change things every time. The first time I trimmed the top I cut quite a bit off because I had left it pretty long, now I sometimes cut just a little if I'm feeling the longer hair, and some times it gets a little drastic and I will cut of some 2-3 cm. I know that doesn't seem like a lot but it's proportional. I do most of this with a straight razor that I bought from Sally's Beauty Supply a few years ago, but you can find them at most Salon Supply stores, and then I have a pair of scissors for the few bits that won't cooperate. The razor takes practice, especially when it's your own head because finding the right angle it a challenge in its self, but once I got the hang of it I really like the results.
Then to style I have been useing a creme gel from L'oreal I believe it would be called traceless in English but I have German packaging since I bought it here. I do really like it, I find it easy to work with and it gives me the effect I want most of the time.
This whole process usually takes about half an hour, this last time was about a week ago I preparation for my trip so that I would not have to worry about cutting or dying my hair while I'm abroad. And becuase I was trying to document the process and discovering just how awfully unflattering the light in my bathroom is, it did take a little bit longer. But I am usually able to make good use of the time waiting in between steps.
That's it. If anyone is interested in some more details about styling my hair or anything else let me know and I will see what I can do. Bye!
