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I have been bleaching and killing my hair for quite a number of years now. In the last twelve months I've switched from highlighting with foils to a straight bleach & tone. I get many comments on my hair and people ask me about what they do at the salon to make it the way it is.
So here is a look behind one of those secret girl things women do.
My colourist, Lex at Gene Juarez Redmond, is really the star of the whole thing. She really knows her stuff, is super nice & friendly and has the ability to make my hair sparkle. If you are in the Seattle/Redmond area then go make an appointment and tell her that I sent you. You won't regret it.
So basically what happens is this;
I turn up,
usually running ten minutes late because it seems no matter how early I leave for things I'm always ten minutes late. I "check-in" with the lovely receptionist, who gives me a gown to get changed into so I don't destroy my clothes with the bleach. Which I have done, to my gorgeous purple & silver plaid sweater {or my nana sweater as my younger sister likes to tell me}.
Then Lex will greet me and we'll head over to her little work station. I sit down and we take a look at how the blonde is fairing. Whether it is getting too bronzey or looking faded, that sort of thing.
I usually say I want it one shade lighter, I keep pushing how blonde I can get away with.
I think this is my limit.
Lex will then hand me some magazines, which I love because I don't buy magazines, and she will go off and mix up her magic potion. This takes about 5-10 minutes, so I'm assuming she has to sing a special hair chant or something to activate it.
Either that or there is a whole bunch of science going on.
She'll head back and start applying the mixture the base of my head to cover all of my yucky dark regrowth. She uses a brush similar to a pastry brush and does the whole base of my head, leaving the length of my hair as is {see picture}. Then I get to sit under the hair heater machine to activate the bleach.
I love sitting here because I'm usually always cold, and this thing is like heaven. I sit here for about fifteen minutes flicking through magazines or fb'ing with my Windows Phone 7.
Then Lex will come and check that my hair hasn't fallen out of my head and we head over to the sinks and I sit/lay down.
She'll get the bleach off before I get scalded from the it, I'm serious I had one lady about a year ago leave my head covered in blisters from bleach. Ouch.
I then get some toner applied to cool the blonde colour down {and I also finds it soothes my head from the bleach heat} and I'm sure there is more science to it I just don't know nor want to know what it is.
I like I have no idea how it all works. Then I get that rinsed out after about ten minutes.
Then my favourite part. Deep conditioning treatment. I get a head massage when the deep conditioning treatment goes in and it is SOOOO good.
I have trouble sometimes to not fall asleep. Wake up Leila, time to get dried off.
Back to the chair and Lex softly dries my hair on the low setting of the hair dryer and sends me on my way with a spring in my step. {see picture}. This usually takes a total of 1.5-2 hours. I have do this every four to five weeks before the regrowth looks real bad.
I'm not sure how much longer I'll keep doing it but for now I'm enjoying being a blonde.
Do you spend a lot of time at the salon or are you a once-every-six-months type of gal?
What is your hair styling maintenance like?
