Okay, so I finally got tired of staring at my boring old hair color last weekend. Saw this gorgeous chocolate brown with caramel streaks on Pinterest and thought – yeah, let’s wreck my bathroom trying this. Grabbed my keys and headed straight to the drugstore like a woman possessed.
The Shopping Mess
Stood in the aisle for like 20 minutes sweating over box dyes. Picked up:
- Some medium brown crap labeled “chocolate” (looked like mud in the box)
- Caramel highlighting kit with that little plastic cap and hook thing
- Cheap bowl and brush set that felt like it’d dissolve in my hands
Checked out feeling like a legit hairstylist. Spoiler: I was not.
Phase One – Base Color Disaster
Mixed that brown gunk in my new plastic bowl. Smelled like a chemical plant exploded. Slapped it all over my head like I was frosting a cake, missed like three patches near my neck. Sat there for 30 minutes watching dye drip on my good towels. Washed it out – surprise! My roots looked like actual chocolate, ends turned out kinda reddish. Whatever, kept going.
Phase Two – Highlight Nightmare
This is where things went sideways. Put that damn plastic cap on my head so tight I got an instant headache. Started poking holes with the hook like the instructions said. Hurt like hell every time I pulled hair through. Halfway through I realized I was just randomly stabbing my scalp.
Mixed the caramel lightener – consistency of pancake batter. Slathered it on the pulled-through bits. The cap made my head look like a weird sea urchin. Timer set for 45 minutes but panicked at 25 when I saw smoke coming from my head (just steam, relax).
The Big Reveal
Rinsed everything out praying I didn’t bleach my hair off. Towel dried and stood there staring in the mirror. The brown base actually looked decent – sorta rich and chocolatey if you squint. But the highlights? Oh man. Got these random orange streaks right above my left ear where I over-bleached, but the rest had nice honey-colored bits where it worked. Wouldn’t call it pro-level but hey, looks intentional if I part my hair funny.
So yeah, took 4 hours and my bathroom looks like a crime scene. But got that expensive-looking color for $15 and some existential dread. Pro tip? Buy extra towels and maybe don’t attempt this before important events.
