My Ombré Hair Care Routine

I have had ombré hair for over a year now, and during that time, I slowly developed a new hair routine! First of all, if you don't know what ombré hair is, it means that bleach has been applied to ends of hair so it appears to get gradually lighter. When you put bleach in your hair, you risk doing some serious damage, so you need to care for your hair differently than you would otherwise. My hair has always been on the oily side, so I didn't experience much damage, but I did notice it got drier on the ends because of the bleach. I also knew I had to switch up my shampoo and conditioner to prevent the colour from fading as quickly.

Shampoos and Conditioners

My ombré hair care routine starts in the shower. I use two different types of shampoo and conditioner. The first is my everyday shampoo/conditioner combo: Garnier Fructis Color Shield. They have a really creamy texture, so it feels luxurious using them in your hair. They also smell so good, and they have really done a great job at keeping my dyed hair from fading. Since my hair has gotten drier on the ends, I usually just lather up my roots and skip washing the ends most days, and then I apply conditioner liberally to the bottom half of my hair.

Every 4-5 days I use a different set of shampoo and conditioner: Lee Stafford Bleach Blondes. They are purple toning products that are designed to keep bleached hair from getting brassy. I was a little skeptical when I first tried them, because the shampoo is a very strange texture. It's very liquidy and almost looks like ink. I was actually a little nervous putting it in my hair at first, but I have really had great results from it! After using it a few times, the brassiness was stripped from my hair, and it was left looking more blonde. It's not good to use a toning shampoo on an everyday basis, so I just stick to using it once or twice a week along with the matching conditioner. I haven't seen Lee Stafford products in many stores, but they sell them at Ulta!

Styling Products

When hair is wet, it is much more susceptible to damage, so you need to be careful when brushing it. After getting my hair ombréd, I noticed it got much more tangled when wet, it took forever to brush, and it started breaking more easily. Then I decided to try out a different kind of brush I found at Target called a Tangle Teaser, and I have loved it! First of all, it detangles hair so much faster than a standard brush. And second, it is gentle on hair to prevent breakage. After using a Tangle Teaser, there's no way I could go back to using a regular brush!

Then it's time to dry and style my hair. I almost always blow dry my hair after showering. When you use any kind of heat tool, it's important to apply a heat protector to prevent damaging your hair, especially it's dyed or dry. The heat protector I use is Pantene Pro-V Stylers Heat Protection Spray. (In the photos, the spray is in a generic travel-size bottle because that's what I took with me to Europe a few months ago, and I'm still using that.) :) I just spray some onto my hands and then run it through my hair before using my hair dryer. Once my hair is dry, I like to apply product to the ends to keep them from looking dry. I have a couple of products that I like: Garnier Fructis Split End Bandage and Garnier Fructis Sleek and Shine Leave-In Conditioner. Both products work really well and smell amazing! I use the Split End Bandage on days I want my hair to have a little texture or wave to it and the Leave-In Conditioner on days I want my hair to look really sleek and shiny.

And that is my entire ombré hair care routine! I have loved having ombré hair because I feel like it adds so much more dimension and interest to my hair, and I'm planning to keep it like this for a while!

rocking my ombré hair at Platform 9 and 3/4 in London! (with a cute British guy behind me) ;)