Alyson Peach

Oh so Pretty

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And just like that, it’s one of my favourite times of the year again: Toronto Pride is around the corner! In all honestly things feel a bit different this year for all sorts of reasons- I’m dating a cisgender man for the first time in a long long time, my best friend Sarah is coming to spend with weekend with me from Vancouver, and most importantly, I’m still reeling from the mass shooting in Orlando. The more I read about this horrible tragedy, and the more I think of how easily it could’ve been so many of my nearest and dearest in that club… it’s almost unfathomable, but it’s reality for those victims and their families.

With that in mind, the common consensus in the community and beyond is that we need to band together, become stronger than ever before, and most importantly, spread love over spreading hate. Pride has always been a celebration of love, friendship, community, and strength for me, and I think this year more than ever it remains important to sparkle on in full capacity. Rumour has it you might even catch a glimpse of my rainbow hair in this year’s parade if you look closely enough…

Anyway, on to the hair!

I almost always have some sort of unicorn-type thing happening on my head for Pride, and there’s no one better at swirling blended rainbow hair goodness then Amanda Quarshie at Blyss salon. I was introduced to the Blyss team through my PR contact at Davines (aka my go-to hair brand), and we’ve been pretty much unstoppable when it comes to amazing colour creations ever since. This year she used 6 different colours on my locks (including peach and lavender) to get the dreamiest pastel mane possible, all blended at different strengths so certain shades showed up more obviously.

Using Davines “A New Colour” in a warm beige blonde to create a base, and Davines Pure Colour for the actual rainbow, the end result was a subtle yet beautiful opalescent masterpiece, and I’d be lying if I said I haven’t been terrified to wash my hair and lose the effect!

Stay tuned for more glimpses of my rainbow hair at the #RAOPrainbowparty post, coming early next week!

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Hair colour by Amanda Quarshie, hair cut by Alyson Peach, both at Blyss Salon. Dress from Aritzia!

Oh so Pretty

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When planning my trip to California this week there wasn’t much to worry about (thanks Expedia.ca!), but of course I had a few crucial decisions to make. Packing, nail art, and shoot locations all came into play, but as per usual my biggest conundrum concerned my hair colour.

Thanks to all of my crazy experimentation over the years, coming up with new hair colour looks had started to become a bit of a challenge. Luckily Blyss Salon in Yorkville has taken me under their wing, and more often than not they’re the ones behind my hair these days. When I told my colourist Amanda I was headed down to Cali there was talk of “the perfect California Girl blonde” and mermaid-inspired streaks, but in the end she came up with an even better idea: why not make my hair look like a sparkling pastel California sunset?

To read all about the process, what products was used, and the team’s techniques, head over to XOvain!

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Oh so Pretty

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The holidays are here, and as per usual the biggest question on my mind is “what do I do with my hair!?”

Just kidding- I’m much more concerned with my glittery wishlist and holiday shopping, but hair is up there too! Pastel and Christmas don’t really naturally fit together, though I’ve been known to trade red and green for pink and mint when it comes to home decor. I always struggle with what to do with my look this time of year, and in general I settle on the same answer every year: silver, gold, and sparkle.

Unfortunately no one has created a way to permanently dye hair gold foil or sparkle silver yet, so I decided to get creative with my dream hair team and do an interpretation of my new favourite metallic- rose gold. I mean, it’s on my fingers, it’s on my bar cart… why shouldn’t it be on my hair too? I headed up to Blyss Salon here in Toronto and handed my locks over to Amanda and Alyson to be spun into rose gold Christmas magic.

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After a root bleach out and toner application in a slightly warmer shade of platinum than usual, Amanda started to apply the colour- three different shades of peachy pink Davines Pure Colour concoctions to be specific. Once the colours were carefully applied and blended together slightly with her fingers, Amanda added a touch of yellow to the tips to really create a golden glow at the end of the ombre. We rinsed, Alyson gave my cut a quick refresh, and voila! I also got to try out a super special new Davines product that won’t be on shelves until Spring called “Dry Texturizer”and it gave my mane amazing full body almost instantly (note: get excited.)

The end result was a bit less peachy than what we were aiming for thanks to residual blue tones left in my locks from opal hair, but it’s still as good as gold in my books.

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Photos by Josh Mitchinson
Originally published on XO Vain

Oh so Pretty

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I emailed Amanda, my hair colour expert at Blyss Salon, a few weeks ago asking if she’d be into doing something special with my locks for my upcoming Mexico trip, and oh my did she ever deliver!

Using Davines colour and flambouyage strips, she created a pink and purple mermaid masterpiece, perfectly finished with a cut and styling by Alyson Peach. We all went back and forth on what to call it as the appointment wrapped up and we snapped photos, and we came up with everything from “It’s like a pearl” to “Omg it’s SO Barbie Dream House!” In the end we decided there wasn’t really an official name, but I like to call it simply my best pastel hair yet!

Want to know more? Check out the details on XO Vain!

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Colour by Amanda Quarshie, Cut by Alyson Peach, both at Blyss Salon!