Dye 2DyeFor.

A couple of posts ago you'll remember me wittering on about how much I adore Jessica Alba. I came to the distressing conclusion that I'll never actually be her some time ago so decided to use her as sartorial inspiration instead. It was all going very well until last week I saw some pap shots of her which left me with a totally new thing to lust over...her hair.

I have, for a while, looked at the ombre (dip-dye) trend with jealous admiration; never having the guts to change my own hair so drastically but over the weekend, after spending time with a friend and her newly 'blonded' tips I caught the fever and couldn't think of anything other than getting to my local Boots to get a home-dye kit. After some research it seemed the most easy to use for first timers like myself was L'Oreal Preference - Wild Ombres which has kits according to original hair colour. Being a very dark brown haired gal I was keen not to use a dye designed for lighter hair that would leave me looking as if I'd attacked myself with a bottle of spray bleach.

Next on my 'to do' list before taking the plunge was to look up celebrities and bloggers who'd inflicted the same style upon their own poor hairs. And it wasn't difficult. A single search of Google and I was inundated with images of women with bleached tips. While the idea of subjecting my hair to such damage scared me the results I was seeing on other people's heads were doing little to dissuade me from going for it too.

Alexa Chung, Drew Barrymore and Billie Piper

Bloggers who've home dyed too

So Monday night, glass of wine in hand and housemate looking at me as if I'd had some sort of brain malfunction (this is generally a sign I'm doing something right) I trundled into my bathroom, L'Oreal in my clutches, and set to work. Here's what happened next:

Oh, just look at the optimism!

Here's when I realised what I was actually doing...

First attempt at styling it

Blonde tips

First style before applying toner - I told you, I'm a newby at this!

That was how it looked on Monday night and the tone alarmed me a little. I'd been looking for a duskier blonde, not a strawberry blonde! After consulting some friends whilst trying to keep a cold sweat at bay someone used the word 'toner'. I was in a blur so I can't remember who but what I can remember is getting up 30 minutes early yesterday to get to Boots and buy the relevant products to try and salvage the image in my head.

So last night off I went again, back into the bathroom and here's how it's looking today.

After finally getting the guts to tell my mum (yes, I'm aware I sound 16, not 26 but she loves my hair so I felt bad) it's safe to say she had a mild meltdown. And then by chance, while still on the phone to me and simultaneously flicking through the television channels she happened upon a girl entering the Jeremy Kyle stage with the same hair...Eurgh.
My mum is someone whose opinion really matters to me so the fact she really dislikes it has made me think twice about what on earth I thought I was doing.

After the JK relevation

Now I want to dye it back. What do you think I should do? I need mass opinions and fast!