I had been envying women with bold hair colours for a while when I came across Lime Crime’s Unicorn Hair. I browsed the rainbow of unique hair colours and thought it might be fun to dye my decade+ naturally chestnut brown hair an exciting bright pink. That was almost a year ago. Since then, I have been working to get my long dark hair light enough to go pink while trying to damage it as little as possible.

Over the course of ten months, I went from natural chestnut, to sort of auburn, to “bronde”, to decidedly blonde, to pink. I started, regrettably, by trying to lighten my hair as much as possible, without bleach, by using a home dying kit. I got maybe one level lighter but not nearly light enough for the pink to show if I were to dye it then. I waited two months after that for my hair to grow, fade and recover. This time, knowing I would need to bleach, I made the right choice and booked an appointment at the salon for some dark blonde, warm/neutral balayage highlights. My stylist did a fantastic job working through and blending out the box dye. My hair still felt quite healthy after this but, nevertheless, I waited another six months to bleach again, all the while babying my hair with few washes, cool water, fancy shampoo and conditioner, and very little heat styling. At my next balayage appointment, we really went for it and took me up to a full blonde, deciding to leave lots of natural, healthy, new growth hair at the roots. After enjoying the fruits of my labour and living as a blonde (for the first time in my life!) for another two months, I went pink with a semi-permanent, deep conditioning dye that made me, and my hair, very happy.

After nearly a year of getting my hair to a point where I could play with colour, and being stuck at boring transition shades, I can’t wait to try out new looks as the seasons change.

Sweater ModCloth
Jeans Angry Rabbit
Glasses Warby Parker
Earrings ModCloth

Hair Lime Crime {an equal mix of “Strawberry Jam” & “Bubblegum Rose“}

All photos by Matt.