Time for a Change: Dyeing My Hair Blue

It’s been a while since I dyed my hair a crazy color, so I felt like it was time. In case you weren’t aware, my hair has been pink, orange, teal, red, and pink again. So what is missing out of that combo? Blue and purple, of course!

Because I didn’t feel like bleaching my entire head, I decided to do a kind of ombre look by instead bleaching only the bottom half of my hair. Luckily, I was able I to find a hair color kit that included bleach as well as TWO COLOR DYES at Walmart!

I remember back in the day when it was so hard to find funky color hair dye. I had to order quality stuff off of random websites because it just wasn’t sold in many stores, let alone Walmart. Anyway, thank goodness for funky hair color equality.

The Splat Ombre Dream kit includes bleach and blue and purple hair dye.

The kit is made by Splat, and is called OMBRE Dream. It’s actually intended for exactly what I wanted to do, which is awesome. It came with everything I needed and was only $10.

I didn’t waste any time getting started with the process. I’ve experimented a lot with dyeing my own hair over the years, usually with dismal results. However, I have gotten a little better at it, so I tried to channel those skills when working with the bleach.

The supplies: bleach in the bowl (yes, it’s blue) and foil (lots of foil).

Step one for bleaching hair is mixing up the developer and the powder. It’s not that hard, but you have to be sure not to use metal or anything else that could be bleached. I used a plastic bowl and an old toothbrush to mix it all up. Then, I separated my hair into sections and generously applied the beach. As the internet suggested, I kind of teased my hair so that the bleach would fade in and I wouldn’t have a line going straight around my head.

Then… the waiting. I left it on for about an hour, which was probably too long. I already have lighter hair, so the bleach works faster. However, I just wanted to make sure everything had time to develop. Finally, I unraveled the foil and washed my hair.

The bleach results: before, during, and after.

I actually really liked the way the ombre bleaching turned out! I think it’s the first time I bleached my hair that didn’t end in disaster. Anyway, since it looked ok, I decided to just leave it like that for a few days in order to give my hair time to get dirty again. Dye takes better on dirty hair, and I wanted this blue to look as awesome as possible.

Speeding ahead a few days and moving to a different bathroom, it was time for dyeing my hair blue. I used pretty much the same process – section off my hair and apply the dye. Because I wanted to do an ombre with the blue color on the top and the purple color at the bottom, I started with the blue color and gently worked it onto the bleached areas. I also overlapped a bit into the non-bleached areas to try and blend it into my hair color. When that all looked alright, I applied the purple dye on the tips of my hair, also blending that with the blue.

The box said to leave the dye on for at least an hour for the most vibrant color, so of course I did that. After an hour, I unwrapped my hair and rinsed it out in lukewarm water. I had forgotten how long this process takes. I thought it would be a quick five minute rinse – oh no. It took at least 20 minutes of standing under the faucet before the water could even run clear for a few seconds. Needless to say, I made quite the mess in the bathroom.

But… the results were great! I quickly dried my hair so I could discover if I loved it or hated it… and I loved it! I did make a few mistakes where I didn’t apply enough dye, but thankfully Drew helped me to fix that a few days later. Finally, what you’ve been waiting for… here’s my blue hair!

Before and after dyeing my hair blue… it was quite the change!

A nice look at it from all angles… back, front, and side! I’m not going to lie – the colors don’t exactly match what’s on the box. The bottom is kind of a royal blue, while the blue is pretty teal. However, I’m not complaining.

So that’s my blue hair dye ombre adventure. I have a lot of purple dye left because I only used it on the tips, so I’ll definitely add that in once the blue starts to fade. Hopefully that takes a long time though!