DIY Ombré Hair

Don’t call it a comeback! I LOVE Ombré and I was so sad to see it fade (lol) last fall. Imagine my pleasant surprise to see ombré hair cycling right back into fashion this Spring. And everyone should be excited about it because now you can FINALLY try it out (you KNOW you want to!)

How to Ombre Your Hair At Home:

Bleaching:

Ombre is actually really simple. What’s difficult is determining how light you want to go and where to start the fade. Assess your ends, obviousness we’d all love to go full Drew Barrymore brunette-to-ash blonde, but if your ends are weak a more subtle gradient is the healthiest choice for your hair. Some DIYers prefer the 2-step process but I personally think the one-step is better for your hair. There are limits to how light your hair can go with just one bleaching so if you REALLY want light blonde at the ends, go for the two-step tutorial found here on ZOELLA’s Beauty Blog.

Steps:

1.) Combine 40vol Developer and Powder bleach. Use your own hands (with gloves of course) and just work it into the ends. This will be the lightest part of your ombre so you want to bleach about 3-4 inches (lengthwise) or more, depending on your hair length. Wrap the bleached ends with foil and let that process for about 30-45mins (trust me your hair is lighter than it looks at this point).

2.) After you un-foil, repeat the same step, comb the bleach into your hair with your fingers from the starting point and over your already bleached ends (Don’t forget the back!). Foil and process for another 20-30mins. Try to leave some bleached hair outside the foil at the top for a better gradient.

Tip: A good starting point for ombre is your cheeks. The messier and more uneven the you are with applying the bleach the better. You don’t want your ombre to look like a color block. Messy= Natural, right!

TONER TIME: If you’re using an ash-blonde box color kit or highlighting kit for Ombre, then there’s probably toner in  the mix to keep your hair from going YELLOW or BRASS. Brassy blonde is perfectly normal after bleaching dark toned hair. Toner helps to eliminate the yellow and brassy tones. I went with an ASH toner “Wella Color Charm T14“.  Rinse and towel dry your hair. Combine Wella toner with 20vol developer and let that stay in your hair for 30 mins. Rinse (No Shampoo) & Condition.

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Three Easy Ways to Get Pink Hair

Why should Easter eggs have all the fun? There should be PASTEL for EVERYONE!

While I may have disregarded the pink trend last year, thinking pink hair went out of style along with bands like Simple Plan, the thought of wearing a dainty Easter frock with a candy pink french braid this spring is just too tempting to resist. And so…

Three Simply Ways to Go Pink:

1. Chalk it up!

Lauren Conrad probably sent a wave of women running to the school supply isle to buy chalk last winter, and for good reason; chalk makes a great temporary color! Chalk with water and heat create a temporary tint to the hair that’s  excellent for vibrant color streaks and highlights.

For all-over, ombre, and dip dyeing, Color Bug uses the same concept of the chalk without the damaging heat. It’s a staining powder  that, more importantly, comes in lavender and bright pink for your dip-dying pleasure! Plus, putting it on will make you feel daintier than Marie Antoinette.

Sadly Color Bug isn’t in stores here in the states…yet, but you can definitely find it online. Here’s a tutorial showing how it works.

2. Clip it in

Say you’re not a blonde. Or you don’t feel like powdering your hair like an 18th century courtesan. You can actually clip extensions in to get this multicolored look. Use color for highlights that pop or combine several colors and taste the rainbow! Easilites are my choice for cheap but easy clip-ins made with human hair so you can curl and style as you wish.

3. Commit to it!

If you’re just cool like that or your boss at your job is cool like that, then you should try a semi-permanent pink. Manic Panic in Hot Pink and Raw Color’s Candy are two bright and fluffy pink dyes you’ll find in your neighborhood Hot Topic. The bottles say they last up to 6 weeks. Don’t pay attention to that. It actually lasts up to 3 weeks before it starts to pale. Of course, limiting your number of weekly washes will help.

I bet you didn’t know that pink hair was so easy to do. What do you think? Are you going pink this spring?

Lauren Conrad goes Peach, Katie Holmes on the Cover of Marie Claire

Need the latest headlines in hair trend news? Come back every Monday for the The Frizz Report for the top styles, hair transformation, and runway trends of the previous week.

Lauren Conrad has done it again! After creating a global hair color craze as thousands of girls attempted to reacreate her rainbow hair tips, LC and her best friend colorist Kristin Ess decided to go with Ombre highlights of yet another color – Peach!

I think the tips look dreamily good (and also make me crave some serious Orange Dreamsicle – just me?), but I wonder how long this color will last. Some speculate that her first tye-dye color job was not even real hair color – or not even her in the pictures! What do you think? Should she stick with the color? Would you wear it? [Read more from Allure]

Call me crazy, but I haven’t seen Katie Holmes in the spotlight of much of anything minus tabloids since she married Tom Cruise and became a mom. However, a refreshingly real interview with the actress about daughter Suri and her future plans for a fashion label will accompany her appearance on the cover of Marie Claire’s November 2011 issue.

I never noticed it before, but how much to Katie and the newest member of the royal family Kate Middleton look alike? They could be twins! Especially in one of the shots of Katie in Marie Claire’s spread where she has her hair styled in a soft blowout – all I could think of was Princess Kate. All in all, I’d call her cover appearance and interview in Marie Claire a win. [See more shots of Katie in Marie Claire]