How To: Pastel Hair to Brown Hair

I’m sharing #MyOliaStory as part of a Garnier sponsored series for Socialstars™

I’ve always looked at my hair as an accessory, I’ve been changing it up since I was 16 years old, much in the same way that you would change out a purse. It’s always been fun for me and it’s most always an adventure, I always go into not really knowing where I’ll end up. I’m naturally blonde, and I remember the first time I used hair dye, I went with a black cherry shade and no one could understand why I would change what they considered to be this “beautiful blonde” shade of natural hair. Bur I loved it.  It made me so happy to do something different and from that moment, I was hooked. Changing up my hair is always an adventure and it just makes my soul happy.

I have been almost every color imaginable and about two years ago I started playing with creative color, I’ve had pastels and brights and everything in between from an ombre pink to peach to most recently a pastel blue with natural roots. And while it’s been fun, I was getting kind of bored and I knew that I wanted to go back to a more natural shade, one of my very best friends is getting married in November, and while she would never ask, I knew it was time to get back to something that would be wedding photo appropriate.  So while we have a moment of silence for the unicorn hair I thought it would be fun to show you the process. There are so many how-to posts and videos on how to get pastel hair but nobody tells you what to do once you get there, what to do when your hair is processed and bleached and has no pigment to it, you can’t just pick up any box dye and call it a day. It’s a process. An adventure, if you will. Enter Garnier Olia®, keep reading and I hope you enjoy #MyOliaStory.

When you have creative color and you’re ready to go back to a natural shade, the first thing you need to do is let the color fade out as much as you can. The bright purple photo is from the end of January and this one right above is about the end of March. So for about 8 weeks I let the color fade, washing my hair every other day, which was way more than normal and using a clarifying shampoo each time. I was left with quite a bit of new growth and this lavender, blue, silver shade. I didn’t want to wait much longer and I felt like I was at a point where we were good to go to get the process started. From experience and after confirming with the lovely folks at Garnier, I knew that I would need a “filler”. Since my hair had no pigment, bleaching lifts all of the color from your hair so if I just put a brown dye over this it would likely turn to a green, muddy shade that wouldn’t look at all appealing. So we decided to go in with a light auburn, something that would attach to the hair and bring some pigment back and then go from there. Choosing an auburn shade, something in the red family, is perfect for covering up the pastel that’s left and also acting as a protein filler and adding that much needed pigment.

I started with Garnier Olia® in the shade Light Natural Auburn 6.43. I got really excited about this brand because it has no ammonia and is powered by 60% oil, something that I felt would also help my hair to appear a little healthier and shinier after all the bleaching that had been done. 

You get radiant, long-lasting color for hair that’s hydrated, silky and 3x shiner. And within each box you get easy to follow instructions, gloves, developer, colorant, a bottle for mixing and the ever popular after color conditioner. I started by applying the color directly to my roots which was all new growth first, then I went ahead and pulled it through to my ends. Waited the recommended 30 minutes and rinsed. 

I let my hair air dry and above is what we were left with. I was super impressed the Garnier Olia® did a great job of covering the pastel up for the most part, way better than I had expected. You can still see some of the lighter sections peeking through and some hard to cover blue/silver strands but we were in a good place. I knew that I wanted to go brown, that was the end game for me. The Light Natural Auburn was acting as a filler to get me ready. 

To best get the color that I was interested in, we decided to go with Garnier Olia® in Light Brown 6.0. After my hair air dried, I went right in with this Light Brown, followed the same directions, applying the color all over, waited the 30 minutes and rinsed. 

To say that I was impressed would be an understatement. The color came out absolutely gorgeous. At first, I think I was in a little bit of shock, going from such a light pastel color to being a brunette in under two hours was definitely an adventure. I maybe shed a tear or two, not because I didn’t love the it but sometimes change is scary.  I immediately sent the above selfie to all of my close friends and my husband for opinions. They all loved it. I probably stared in the mirror for about an hour, trying to get used to this new version of myself, something I do every time I color my hair, it seems. Was I a brunette? Was this fabulous? Could I rock this color?

Once I styled it, I knew, it was fabulous. I had successfully achieved Pastel Hair to Brown Hair with Garnier Olia® and I could not be more excited for what life as a brunette has in store for me. And at least I won’t match the dresses in the wedding! 

I really love that with Garnier Olia® I got this radiant color, my hair was shiny and it still had dimension to it. I was worried that going through this process may leave my color dull and flat, I know that I picked the right brand, Garnier Olia® was right for the job to get me from pastel hair to brown hair and leave it looking fab! You can check out the Shade Selector here to find what will work for you!