Curly Correction...

I have a fun one yesterday! Curley hair, which I LOVE and I got to make it beautiful again. Amy had gone to a salon in South Seattle and had a guy bleach the hell out of her hair using some sort of balayage method that left her hair quite damaged and also very yellow. When it was first done it was red and bleach applied straight to the hair in big sections with no foil or cotton or anything (sounds weird to me). The red faded out entirely and left her with an all over yellow color that was a stark contrast from her natural color and showed extreme grow-out. Overall it just looked sort of harsh and damaged.

I foiled in back to back highlights of two shades of high-lift blonde (ash and violet). I did this because we needed to lift through whatever color was left in there and also needed to lift the grow-out. I also added in a regular blonde (8/9 natural). In between all the foils I used a color gloss to add shine and to cover the bleached out yellow with a nice medium blonde tone. This left the hair much more shiny overall and it felt better after coloring rather than more damaged.

I like the neutral tones with her skin tone. I only wish I had taken more close ups of the color, but it's still a fun "before and after"



Notes about curly hair:
Curly hair is much drier and more fragile than straight hair and because of that, shampooing every day can be very drying/damaging. Signs of over-shampooing are dry, frizzy, unmanageable hair. On top of the damage from the bleach used on her hair, Amy was using shampoo every time she washed her hair (about every other day). I suggested she ween off of using shampoo all together and start only washing her hair with conditioner. This is an excellent suggestion for anyone with moderate to very curly hair as the extra moisture keeps the hair weighted down and prevents frizz. Conditioner will clean your scalp when used like a shampoo, simply apply it to the scalp and work it in like you are lathering up shampoo - of course the conditioner won't lather, but it's working just the same. The hard part is really just mentally adjusting to not using shampoo any more. Some people freak out that their hair is not getting "clean enough." I know it won't help if I just tell you that it is so if this is a concern for you, I suggest you start slowly. Transition gradually into washing with conditioner only: shampoo with shampoo the first day, condiditoner the second - continue like this every other day for a few cycles and then start going every two days (shampoo, conditioner, conditioner, shampoo, conditioner, conditioner etc.) and so on and so on. Trust me. Your hair will be clean and MUCH more manageable with less breakage and feel softer to the touch.

A great resource for anyone who wants to learn more about the special needs and other tips and tricks for curly hair check out THIS BOOK you can buy it used for under $5 and it's an invaluable resource!