hair

HOW TO: LAUREN’S DIP DYED PONY

photos: Kristin Ess + Lauren Conrad, post designed by Eunice Chun

Did everyone catch a glimpse of Lauren’s pink dip dyed ponytail on her Instagram last night? It was taken just before she arrived at her last stop on the Fame Game book tour at Barnes & Noble in LA. This is a really fun idea for anyone planning to wear ponytails and fishtail braids this summer because it really adds a lil pop to the mundane mane. And though it stays longer than hair chalk, it’s still only temporary! Here are the steps we took to get the look (we literally “dip dyed” it this time):

1. Put your hair in a ponytail.
2. We wanted a subtle gradation with the fuchsia so there was no hard line where the blonde ends and the pink begins. Using a semi-permanent pink color + warm water we created 3 different strength pinks in 3 different bowls. (We used Special FX color in Atomic Pink. Put 2 quarter sized dabs of color in each bowl. Add 1/2 a cup of warm water to one bowl, 1 cup of warm water to the second bowl and 1 1/2 cups of warm water to the third bowl.)
3. We dipped 6″ of Lauren’s ponytail into the lightest pink and squeezed it out over the sink.
4. Next we went 2 inches lower and dipped the bottom 4 inches in the medium pink, then squeezed it out over the sink.
5. Last we went 2 more inches below that, dipping the last 2 inches in the darkest pink color and squeezed it out over the sink.

After we finished coloring the hair we shampooed and conditioned the whole head. Beware that this color is not permanent but will definitely stay in light hair for a long time, brunettes for less time. The lighter your hair, the more vibrant. If you’re a brunette or redhead, you would have to have your hairstylist lighten the tips prior to dip dying your ponytail. Otherwise, chalking is another great temporary option.