Lavender Ash Locks
lavender ash
Once upon a time, I had ebony black hair. Once upon a time.
As much wonderful years I’ve shared with the locks I was born with, I yearned for my hair to be bathed in purple heaven for the longest time. Maybe it’s part of my princess complex? who knows. All I thought of was I was a mermaid out of water. At 14, I’ve finally saved up enough money to buy in the internet world for the first time. What did I buy? You may have guessed it right, a pastel purple wig. an Lavender Ash wig.
The biggest inspiration that really strived me to get the hair that I wanted were these two Harajuku idols back in the days: AMO and Julia.
Japanese model AMO and Harajuku trendsetter Juria Nakagawa were two of my greatest fashion icons back then. They’ve already moved on to different styles, but they will always live close in my heart 💕
As for me, I just continued on dreaming. I expressed my creativity as much as I could but couldn’t wait for the day I could finally have my mermaid hair. Studying in a conservative international school and living in a conservative country most of my life…. I was very, very limited. But that didn’t stop me! That only motivated me more. That’s what made me more creative. I bought a purple wig and wore it so much, okay! It was an authentic wig made for everyday use from Korea. Yes, I was that desperate. I was so excited to graduate High School so I could dye my hair.
And it finally happened ヽ(*・ω・)ﾉ
It was a phase of trial and error for me. I was still heavily limited. It was still quite rare to find people with dyed “wild” hair dyes in my country back then. Really, really rare. Not only that, finding the right stylist that could get it right was terribly difficult as well.
I only got to find out how to dye my hair properly when I had to re-dye them in Japan. A quiet salon in Koenji was the first one I went to. Sadly, I didn’t get to catch the name anymore since it closed down, but they did amazingly. They knew what I was going for right away!
「アモをしってる？（ ´∀｀）」
“Do you know Amo? （ ´∀｀）”
YES!!! I do!!(*´д｀*)
And so, my dream hair was achieved. At around ¥8,000 which wasn’t as bad as I feared since Tokyo Salons are godly pricey.
So that’s my hair’s origin story. In the rest of the post, I’ll be sharing you guys some secrets, tips and recommendations in achieving and maintaining my hair colour based on experience.
Hair Salons
A post shared by Naomi Nikola💘 (@naomeoww) on Jun 5, 2017 at 5:15am PDT
My go-to Salon in Tokyo now is Shachu in Shibuya. I love this salon because not only have they always gotten my hair amazingly, they’re quite funny and friendly too! They have wonderful set prices and coupons for students.
Other salons I love:
Shima in Daikanyama, Bettie Tokyo in Harajuku and Viva Cute Candy (Candye Syrup) in Shimokitazawa.
These stunning hair salons are known to have renowned hair wizards that have styled famous Japanese magazine models. Some examples would be NYLON, Seventeen, Popteen and Larme. Amo goes to Bettie Tokyo a lot too! Sadly, I don’t frequent these salons too often as they are quite pricey (ノдヽ)
Weekly Routine
The sad part about my dream colour is that it only lasts for quite a short time💦 I had to learn to maintain it on my own so I don’t have to go to the salon every few days.
In retrospect, because of this routine I’m able to only visit the salon every few months!
Using a coloured hair treatment weekly during bath time.
I’m glad I found these babies in Tokyo. They’re quite affordable too. Yup, one sachet is all I need. A devil’s trick indeed. Not only does it maintain my hair for a bit, but it treats my hair as well(｡´∀｀)ﾉ
I only half follow the instructions as I believe you’re supposed to put it on after washing your hair. What I do however, even with normal conditioners, is a bit different. After washing my hair with shampoo, I dry my hair a bit with a towel. Per partition of my hair, I lather and comb these babies on using my hands. I roll and tie them up with a clip, sink in the hot bath and relax for 15 or so minutes.
I then rinse everything off, proceed with cleaning the rest of my body then I’m good for the week!
Other Alternatives: oVertone Vibrant Silver Weekly treatment + a bit of oVertone Extreme purple Daily Conditioner
Using the same method above but replacing the treatment with oVertone products.
If you live in the US, this can be copped in any Urban Outfitters store.
Note: This routine isn’t foolproof. This is not a replacement for going to the salon as it only helps keep the colour last a little longer. Your hair colour still fades and roots are still inevitable. Dyeing your hair at a salon or on your own is still needed once in a while to bring back the original dream colour.
Which brings me to…
Hair Dyes (Self-Dyeing)
Smokey Purple by Lunar Tides Hair ($11.99)
I was sponsored these beauties a few months back and I must say they are the closest I can get to my Ashy Lavender (Lavender Ash) hair on my own without having to combine anything else. It’s Cruelty Free too!
Other alternatives: A box of any hair dye brand of Ash Grey/Brown + topping it with Manic Panic Purple Haze (do not mix, dye it one after the other)
And so that’s my hair journey so far. If you have any questions or something you’d like to share, I’m happy to see and answer them below（＾ ＾）
Good luck dolls! x
