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    No-Mi SkyeJia Tolentino
    6/14/16 2:46pm

    You are hella cute. Don’t know if you’re a fan of the descriptor, but black hair or blonde, you’re what I imagine pixies look like.

    I’ve been wanting to dye my natural hair for the longest, but I’m black with a fro, so this process is not simple. First I’d have to find a salon willing to risk it. Many will not. (I was once asked to sign a waiver just for streaks) Then I have to make sure they actually know what they’re doing. Then I have to decide on the color. Let’s not even consider the cost.

    I’m in love with some amazing looks, but I don’t know if I’d dare them with my job. These three looks make me crave:

    This one I could never do with work, but what if I could? What if I did gotdamn? I would rock this so hard.

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      JILLYOUNEEDAHOBBYNo-Mi Skye
      6/14/16 3:06pm

      Gorgeous as fuck.

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      BabyFireflyNo-Mi Skye
      6/14/16 3:08pm

      Where do you live? If you have a hippish part of town, I feel like you’re more likely to find a highly experienced colorist there that could help figure out your specific hair needs. I get it, but I think it’s dumb we have to think about work when planning our aesthetics. Also, there is something about that magenta picture that is striking as hell!

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    dalilaJia Tolentino
    6/14/16 2:57pm

    This article speaks to my soul.

    As my hair becomes progressively more gray, I keep thinking that maybe a good way to deal with all of my “silver” hair would be to go blonde? Like I’d still have to touch up my roots but for some reason blonde with dark roots seems a lot more tolerable than dark hair with gray roots. My natural hair is dark brown (ok at this point it’s largely dark gray and silver, but not nearly as pretty as that sounds on paper) and my skin is... pale olivey? I don’t know if blonde would suit me at all. Sometimes I get irrationally upset that the only hair color that will ever look ok on me is dark brown. But I’m afraid to experiment because what if it looks worse! Help me.

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      Blueberry Jonesdalila
      6/14/16 3:15pm

      I’m the same! I have very mousey (like no red or golden tones) medium/dark brown hair and I’m going very gray (at 31... ugh). It’s at the point now where my roots look pretty fuckin’ gray against my dark hair. I took my hair an ash blonde color. I have pale skin with yellow undertones.

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      dalilaBlueberry Jones
      6/14/16 3:20pm

      I’m 32. I hear you. :( I wouldn’t mind being totally gray (I think) but the transitioning process is horrible. I feel like I just look... unkempt and witchy.

      Do you like how your hair looks now? Ash blonde is along the lines of what I’ve been considering!

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    DieselDamselJia Tolentino
    6/14/16 2:29pm

    Things sure have changed from the one time in the 90s that I tried to go from natural blonde with two years of dyed black hair to bleach blonde in a day. I had a 9 am appointment with a hairdresser who was a social acquaintance. We were at her salon until 11 at night. She cried by lunchtime, then cried again a few more times. I did not cry, but did lose about 6 inches of hair all around and went through two packs of Marlboro Lights. In the end, my hair was tiger-striped with orange being the most prominent color. It was more porous than SpongeBob Squarepants. And it took from June to December to actually look like something other than a bad wig.

    Figures that this Olaplex shit would come out just as I have thrown in the (stained) hair-coloring towel and conceded to live and let live with my dark blonde natural hair.

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      Jia TolentinoDieselDamsel
      6/14/16 2:39pm

      it’s never too late my dawg

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      zombiebarbieDieselDamsel
      6/14/16 2:45pm

      Fuck black hair dye. I’m usually platinum, but wanted some black on the underneath of my hair (what can I say, I was going through a phase). My colorist friend begged me not to do it, but I went through with it anyway and it took A YEAR AND A HALF of bleaching to finally get it out. It went from orange to copper to salmon and then finally lifted. Thank god it was the bottom of my hair.

      Olaplaex is fucking awesome. My natural hair is dirty blonde and they usually don’t have to do a lot of toning to get it platinum after because it deposits blue tones as it lifts.

      ETA: If you do bleach your hair, not washing frequently is very important, as Jia noted with her switch to just twice a week. I’ve gone up to two weeks before when my hair was super platinum, and usually washing it was intended to get the product out, not because my hair was greasy.

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    notenoughcoffeeintheworldJia Tolentino
    6/14/16 2:36pm

    I have chestnut brown hair, and next week, I’m going all platinum, possibly almost silver. I’m terrified and excited! Thanks for the tips!

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      IrisJnotenoughcoffeeintheworld
      6/14/16 2:41pm

      Man. All you people with gorgeous naturally colored hair coloring it before you have to. Believe me, once you start going gray and have to chase those silvers on an almost daily basis, you will look back and feel very nostalgic about the time you still had natural color in those strands.

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      DR honkhonkhonk, tyvmnotenoughcoffeeintheworld
      6/14/16 2:54pm

      I call this the full Targaryen whenever I discuss it wistfully with stylists. I’m still scared to do it though - sometimes it sounds fucking fantastic and sometimes I’m like, oh hell no.

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    sybannJia Tolentino
    6/14/16 3:36pm

    I am now rockin’ what I call GOD’S PLATINUM. And the front of my head now looks similar to Madonna’s on the cover of the Rolling Stone in the ‘80's. My stylist in the 80-90's refused to bleach my hair as it is fine and delicate (and he didn’t want to listen to me cry during and after it all fell out).

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      sybannsybann
      6/14/16 3:37pm

      Holy fuck that’s big. Sorry.

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      MissPooslie7sybann
      6/14/16 3:41pm

      i can’t WAIT until i inherit the family’s gray/white hair. CAN.NOT.WAIT. i am gonna manic panic the hell out of it. i hate my “beige” hair (thats what i call my natrual color because it is so boring—light tan/brown with a greyish overtone. probably actually mouse brown or dishwater blonde). HATE IT

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    BlusteryBluthJia Tolentino
    6/14/16 2:21pm

    I went from dark brown, to white, to fiery crimson at home for maybe $50. My hair was mid-back length. I just cannot fathom paying $700 for anything that isn’t a vacation.

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      honestlythoughreallyBlusteryBluth
      6/14/16 2:31pm

      Your hair is likely in much worse condition than hers, and also, since you were bleaching with the intent to go red, it was a lot less involved of a process since you didnt have to get any of the red tones. Talk to us when you’re tired of the red and want to do something else!

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      KK4Bamahonestlythoughreally
      6/14/16 2:35pm

      I think going from red to anything else is the worst. I used to dye my hair red and it took a lot more time and money to maintain so now I just go dark brown.

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    Anna MerlanJia Tolentino
    6/14/16 4:14pm

    The hair-dyeing process is so extremely glam and dignified-looking

    Also this is my plug for unrefined coconut oil, the only think that brings color-treated hair even sort of back to life

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      ItshardbeingagirlJia Tolentino
      6/14/16 6:20pm

      I’m a natural blonde, but have always wanted to be a redhead. Your article has almost inspired me to take the plunge. Except for that scalp on fire thing. I’ve had some burning before just from highlights...I can’t imagine the pain of all-day, all-over bleach. Your hair looks amazing, BTW.

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        DontBeSuchaBoobPunchTinaItshardbeingagirl
        6/14/16 8:05pm

        If your hair is a pale blonde, you don’t even need to use permanent color! The first several years that Sophie Turner was on Game of Thrones, they used a temporary vegetable toner on her - no one wanted to put a lot of chemicals on a child. I think that’s what Deborah Ann Woll does, too. It only lasts about ten days but it’s easy - and painless.

        If it’s a darker blonde, yeah you’ll hafta do the permanent-color thing. It won’t be as extreme as this process was though. Just a lot of upkeep.

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        The Real JanelleItshardbeingagirl
        6/14/16 11:05pm

        You could try Manic Panic or stuff like that - they will not do anything to your scalp and in my experience the color builds up, so even if it fades you'll be somewhat ginger still. No need to bleach anything if you're already blonde! :)

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      catpooJia Tolentino
      6/14/16 2:29pm

      I’ve always wanted to do this but really don’t like the idea of bleach and other chemicals soaking into my head. SIGH

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        freshpickedcatpoo
        6/14/16 3:02pm

        Me too...I want blonde hair so bad, but SO MANY CHEMICALS...UGH!

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        Chumtheburnercatpoo
        6/14/16 3:20pm

        I think it must depend on the person because I have my hair bleached on the reg and it only burns if I’m PMSing.

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      Ms.ChanandlerBongJia Tolentino
      6/14/16 3:12pm

      Why does changing your hair into something cool take soooooooo long? Last year I did this and it took two sessions, about 3 hours each. (Natural hair is almost black). Now I’m just growing it out because I cannot sit there for that long that often.

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        wishtMs.ChanandlerBong
        6/14/16 3:17pm

        Ooh, that is a very pretty colour and cut! My mum used to get her hair dyed after she picked us up from school and I hope that hair chemicals have a preservative quality because I aged about 400 years sat in that salon. I’d like to start dying my hair jet black again (it’s naturally dark brown) but I’m too incompetent to do it myself and too lazy to get it done at a salon with any regularity. I haven’t had a hair cut in a year because I’m just too uncoordinated to get an appointment organised #cousinittlife

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        Ms.ChanandlerBongwisht
        6/14/16 3:32pm

        Haha. Sitting at the salon waiting for someone is even worse! I would go with my grandma sometimes when it was time for her perm. Good grief!!!!!!!!!!!! Also, I used to rock Cousin It hair in college. It was just one big mass of blackness.

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