Going from Brunette to Blonde (The Right Way)

Ah! I can't believe it! I'm officially a blondie!

I feel like a whole new person! As the girl who has always had long dark hair her entire life, I can hardly even recognize myself anymore. Haha! But change is a good thing and I am so excited about it!

I went from this,

to THIS!

I've been wanting to change my hair up for a long time now, but making such a big change can be so scary! I would say that the most important thing about making a dramatic change is to do your research! Seriously, I cannot say it enough! First, figure out exactly what you want. Look at inspiration photos and narrow down exactly what your end hair goal is. It's also important to learn the correct terms and techniques that you like so that you can accurately communicate what you want to your specialist. And last but not least, finding the best specialist! This one is HUGE! And I completely understand that not everyone has the budget to go to the number one salon in the city, but in most cases, you get what you pay for when it comes to beauty. And if you want to make a serious transition like going from brunette to blonde, you want to know that your stylist has experience and knowledge on how to handle your hair. But on top of that, you also need to educate yourself! Talking to your stylist about your goals is the best way to do that, but you also need to listen to them. There are so many factors that go into how to correctly treat your hair. This is dependent on the texture, length, thickness, previous treatment, and overall health of your hair. No one's hair is a one technique fits all scenario. In most cases, it's going to take more than one visit to the salon to get your dream hair and to keep it healthy in the process.

I was lucky enough to find one of the most talented, and sweetest girls in Milwaukee, @colorbylindseymay! Yes, her name is Lindsey too ;)

Lindsey has been a stylist for 5 years and has a chair at Hair Solutions Salon and Spa in New Berlin, WI. I found her on instagram back in summer when I first thought of changing up my look and I am so glad I did! Not only is she incredibly talented, but visiting her is always so much fun and we have built a friendship along the way.

I started my transition back in August this year. My hair has been through a few different phases before my big transition to blonde. My natural hair is very dark, so the number one priority for me was to keep it healthy throughout the transition, and that meant taking it slow! I actually had 4 previous lightening appointments prior to this one. So all in all, I took 8 months to go fully blonde!

My first part of my transition was to chop it all off - eek! I decided this would be best for me since I am lightening it and will need to trim it more often to keep it healthy, and short hair just made more sense for me. My hair is also very fine, and Lindsey suggested giving it a shorter, more blunt cut to give it the thicker, more voluminous look I wanted. After I took the leap, I decided that short hair is so much more me! I feel that I look much more mature and it suits me better. Plus, keeping it shorter has been much better for the lightning process.

Throughout the rest of the 8 months, I continued to balayage, going lighter each time. Except my biggest problem was that I kept wanting to go shorter with my hair (I just love short hair haha!) which kept cutting majority of the blonde off. Eventually I just decided that I wanted to do my full head instead of just balayage. Lindsey did an awesome technique that combined foils (babylights) and balayage to get just the right amount of dimension and lightening!

Isn't she a cutie!? ;)

And now the most important part of the lightening process, toner! I really never knew the power of toner until Lindsey explained it to me. Especially being a natural brunette, it is not uncommon for orange or yellow tones to be exposed when lightening, which create that brassy color we all know and hate. Toner is essentially a color corrector that creates those beautiful blonde tones. Even if you have a balayage style and want to let your hair grow out so you don't have to visit the salon as often, you won't get away with not keeping up with toning it! After time, those orange tones will show again and you will have to get your color toned.

Lindsey also suggested a protein treatment along with my cut and color. This is super helpful since lightening is so harsh on your hair! She also suggests getting a protein shampoo and conditioner to continue to the strengthening while you're at home. I personally use and love the Redken Extreme shampoo & conditioner.

Now, for the reveal! It is such a weird feeling seeing myself as a blonde now! My color has a lot of dimension since there are so many highlights, which I love! I have so much fun changing up my style, so I will probably want to go even lighter next time, which will be much easier now that my whole head is lightened and the color will lift easily.

Overall, I am so happy with my experience! Lindsey has made this transition so easy and fun. Like I said, it can be scary to make a big change in your hair, but trust your stylist, don't try to rush the process, and be sure to ask your stylist about what is a realistic possibility for your hair!

If you don't follow her already (@colorbylindseymay), do it now! Lindsey has such a fun page not only showcasing her gorgeous work but also sharing behind the scenes and, the best part, she just started a hair blog sharing everything you want to know about hair!

I hope you enjoyed this post! I had so much fun working with Lindsey on putting it together! If you want to see more posts like this one or have any questions for me or Lindsey, leave a comment down below or feel free to send a message!

As always, thanks for reading and be sure to subscribe to keep up!

xo