I was planning on having my hair colored again (because curls just look so much better with lighter hair), though I haven’t had time enough for it.  The good thing about having wavy-curly hair is that the regrowth doesn’t look as obvious as it does on straight hair, so it makes one lazy.  But one day, Kira asked me if I wanted to go ombre on my hair.  Well, I was planning on coloring it anyway, why not go for something different from my usual?  I have a different hair cut now, as you know, with the left side of my head shaved, and I thought it would be interesting to see the results of ombre with it.

Ombre, by the way, is a method of coloring hair by giving it a two-toned dimension (am I saying that right? Or am I just being a hair stylist wannabe? Well, you get what I mean).  Typically, ombre goes from dark to light, like a gradient.  At quick glance, it looks like your roots are showing from an old hair coloring.  But when ombre is done the right way, they look like really sexy highlights from a luxurious romp at the beach.  Or simply, a really cool and edgy gradient hair (for those going extremely dark to extremely light).  I first heard about it around two years ago, I think, with Drew Barrymore one of the Hollywood celebs taking the lead on the trend.  Locally, the trend is gaining popularity because apart from looking updated, it is kinda low maintenance.

Azta salon in Tomas Morato handled my ombre, and they immediately put me at ease at how professional they were.  They explained a bit about the process of ombre, what color would look good on me and what was to be done.  Upon seeing my hair, they were really enthusiastic about working with this cut and style, and their enthusiasm rubbed off on me.  I gamely listened to their suggestions and let them have their way with it, like their guinea pig for the day.  My only other request was to get my base color a shade lighter from my original brown-black hair–though initially they wanted to leave it alone so that the shading would be more evident (perhaps I should have listened).

Writings on the mirror were the steps they had to do with ombre

One thing that endeared Azta to me is their service.  Mody and Anton were the senior stylists who worked on me, and they would confer and discuss the process, even noting down the necessary steps on the mirror before us.  They were patient with my questions and they assessed my hair thoroughly before working on it and during the coloring.

Erich was the junior stylist who shampooed and blow-dried (blew? blown?) my hair.  A really good stylist once told me that you can easily spot an amateur by the way they comb and blow-dry through your hair, because your head should not be moving at all while they work on it.  He even showed me how it was done, and since then, I’ve always noted that among hair stylists.  I liked that Erich didn’t plow through my hair or didn’t strain my neck with her brushing.

Sectioning my hair

Starting from the top (they also colored the shaved part)

In the photo above, Mody was telling me where the lighter color would be more visible.  In my case, because I have a small, angular face with pronounced cheekbones and a jawline, I can get the lighter color higher.  With people who have rounder faces or cheeks, its’ more flattering to get the color at a lower portion (like chin-length or lower).

The styling team checks the color of my locks. I was so excited!

How it looked like right after

After getting my ombre, I was advised to refrain from washing it for the next 48 hours.  Luckily, I had a keratin hair treatment scheduled at Benefits salon in Eastwood.  So these were taken two days after:

After the Keratin treatment:

Look at how gorgeous the colors are, especially at the tips!  I don’t know about you, but I haven’t seen that much dimension on DIY ombre.  I highly recommend going to an expert salon instead of attempting ombre on your own!

Robina Ko, owner of Azta Tomas-Morato, suggested that maybe next time I ought to have other colors put in, like purple or lavender like this.  Now, I don’t want to do anything drastic (well, more drastic than what I already have, anyway) because I’m maid-of-honor to my cousin Rae this year and she might not appreciate weirder.  But I just remembered she does have an affinity for the color purple, so who knows? Haha! We’ll see in a few months.

So if you’re thinking of going ombre for Azta as well, here’s the pricing:

Do you want ombre hair by Azta, too?  Then join Elegantly Wasted’s giveaway and get your ombre FREE!

Azta is located at 282 Tomas Morato Ave. Sacred Heart, Quezon City beside Dulcinea and across Johnny Rockets.

Thanks to Kira and Aliza who took care of the photos!

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