Purple Haze - From Ombre to Purple with Elegance by TLC Salon, Bedford.

So I had a bit of a hair change recently.

Purple. Yes, purple. 

As much as I loved my ombre and how it was matching the Autumnal leaves and winter vibe, I've been craving a change for ages. 

I'd been a redhead for almost 5 years, and going down the 'unnatural' colour route is something I've always wanted to do. I'd spent all Summer jealous of the pastel haired beauties that filled my Instagram feed, and decided that when the Winter months arrived, I'd set about my mission. 

Now I'd been considering this transformation for months, and embarked on many a Pinterest inspiration spree. The first thing I'd say to anyone thinking of making such a drastic transformation is do your research. Really consider your skin tone and what colours will work well with it, and how it will work with your everyday style. 

As you may have seen from other hair posts, there's only one person that I'd trust to touch my hair and that is the lovely Natalie, responsible for my barnet's appearance since 2008. 

Currently working at the Elegance by TLC salon in Bedford, I placed myself and my three tubs of Directions 'Plum' dye in her trustworthy hands. 

Obviously first things first: bleaching. Due to my dip-dye this was a complicated process, with two sets of  bleach being used: On the mid-lengths where the red dye was Nat used bleach and 40 Vol peroxide, leaving it for 60 minutes, whilst on my roots she used bleach and 20 Vol peroxide and left it for 20 minutes. You have to be really on top of your timings here. Nat noted at what time she started putting the bleach on the back sections of the mid-lengths, as they would have to be washed off earlier than the front sections. 

As you can see, the bleach took to my roots pretty well (I discovered on this day that I would NOT make a good blonde).

Once the bleach was washed off, on went the dye. Three pots later and I was well and truly coated. The processing time for Directions is between 15-30 minutes. We left it on for 30 minutes, to ensure that my hair would soak it up. 

A wash, lots of conditioner and a blow dry later...TA DA! 

Directions is pretty easy to use. My main  reason for doing this post was to help those who are confused with the bleaching process. There's no way I would have been confident enough to bleach my hair myself. I know some salon's can be expensive, but if you're unsure about bleaching and you get it wrong, you'll have to pay twice as much to fix it than if you'd gone to a salon in the first place. 

I must admit, considering this is my first 'drastic' transformation, it was a bit of a shock at first, and I'm still getting used to it, but I do love it. 

I hope this post has been of some help to anyone considering a doing something similar. If you have any questions, just leave a little comment below : )