OV Hair

Sometimes the best plan is the one you didn’t plan. 😁❤️

The goal at the consultation was clear — to grow out the natural grey and soften the line between the beautiful silver regrowth and the previously coloured darker lengths.

We started with a strand test.

And the hair gave us a very clear answer: no. 😅

The dark artificial colour wouldn’t lift light enough without staying warm — and warm was exactly what we didn’t want.

So we changed the plan: no more lightening. Just cool everything down, gently tone the natural grey and soften the darker lengths to make the transition less obvious.

The only problem is… when I know there must be a way to make something look better, my brain refuses to leave it alone. 😂

And just before the appointment, I had an idea.

Hidden amongst the darker hair were a few extremely fine, previously highlighted pieces. Warm, yellow and not many of them…

but they were there. 😁

So instead of fighting the dark colour, I carefully picked out those tiny lighter pieces and lifted them again, along with the lighter sections around the face.

Then we brought everything together — cooling the darker base, toning the lighter pieces into beautiful silver tones and gently softening the natural white regrowth without covering it.

What started as a plan to simply make the transition easier turned into a soft, dimensional grey blend — and a result I honestly didn’t expect when we first did that strand test. ❤️

And I have to say — I’m absolutely in love with the result. 😁❤️

With love, Oxana ❤️
OV Hair | Pukekohe

There’s blonde… and then there’s BLONDE. 😁❤️

The starting point was already blonde — but the goal was brighter, cleaner and much lighter.

And the inspiration?
One of my own previous blondes. 😁❤️
Well… at least I know the stylist. 😂

A lot of the hair was already very light from previous highlights, so this wasn’t about simply adding more bleach.

The real work was carefully separating the darker pieces from the already-lightened ones — brightening only what needed to be brighter while protecting the blonde that was already there.

On hair this long, that meant a lot of tiny sections, a lot of patience… and 5½ hours in the chair.

The inspiration. The starting point. The result. ✨

I think we understood the assignment. 😁❤️

And from the very first consultation, there was something I really appreciated — trust. The kind of trust that makes you want to give your absolute best. ❤️

Some clients just feel like you’ve known them for years. I’m so happy we met, and I really hope this is the beginning of many years of beautiful hair together. 🥰

With love, Oxana ❤️
OV Hair | Pukekohe

“Can you take me out of black?”

Yes.
But the hair gets the final say. 😁❤️

Several layers of black box dye, red and orange areas, previous home lightening and natural regrowth — all on one head.

The strand test showed us straight away that very light blonde wasn’t going to happen in one appointment. So the goal wasn’t “as light as possible” — it was to get as close as we safely could to her natural colour while protecting the hair.

And with a colour history like this, one strand can only tell you so much. Different areas had different pigment, condition and previous lightening, so every section needed to be treated individually.

Very fine highlights, constant checking, and some sections were rinsed earlier than others when the hair told me it had had enough. 🫣

Six hours later — our first big step out of black. ❤️

Not the final destination.
But a huge change from where we started.

And I really wanted this one to work for her. ❤️

She had wanted to move away from the dark colour for so long, and I could see how much this change meant to her — and to her dad, who simply wanted to see his daughter happy.

Work like this is always emotional for me because I genuinely care about every head of hair in my chair — the result, the condition of the hair, and the person who is trusting me with it. ❤️

So when I saw her smile at the end, that was the best part. ❤️

She was happy. Her dad was happy. And I was happy too.

Even if this one added a few more grey hairs to my own head along the way. 😂

Because making someone happy through my work is still one of the best parts of what I do. ❤️

With love, Oxana ❤️
OV Hair | Pukekohe

“Can you make it cooler… without making it blonder?” 😁

Absolutely. ❤️

She’s growing her hair and didn’t want any more lightening — she just didn’t feel like herself with the warmer tones.

So this time, the bleach stayed on the shelf. 😅

I carefully separated the existing lighter and darker pieces, cooled down the deeper tones and gave the lighter pieces a softer, cooler finish.

No extra lightening. No chasing more blonde.
Just working with what was already there. ✨

Sometimes you don’t need more blonde.
You just need the right blonde. ❤️

And somewhere between all the colour mixing and toning,
I also got to meet another lovely person. ❤️

With love, Oxana ❤️
OV Hair | Pukekohe

Finally… I got around to doing my own hair. 😁❤️

Being a hairdresser means everyone else’s hair somehow gets done before your own. 😁

This time, the client was me, the hairdresser was me… and apparently I’m quite a demanding client. 😂

But looking at the result, I think we both did pretty well. 😁✨
And the timing couldn’t have been better…

Happy birthday to me! 🎂🥳❤️

With love, Oxana ❤️
OV Hair | Pukekohe

SOMETIMES, CONTRAST CHANGES EVERYTHING. ❤️

I absolutely love transformations like this — when it’s not just about changing the colour, but changing the whole feeling of the hair. ❤️

We added more contrast, brighter blonde pieces and deeper tones underneath, then made changes to the shape and style of the haircut.

And somehow, all those changes together made such a big difference. ✨

The blonde looks brighter.
The shape feels stronger.
The movement is more noticeable.

And the whole look has a completely different character. 😍

I think this is such a beautiful example of how colour and haircut can work together. Sometimes you don’t need to change everything — you just need to change the right things.

Beautiful hair, a beautiful transformation, and one of the loveliest parts of my job — getting to meet another wonderful person. ❤️

I’d say that’s a pretty good day at work. 🥰

With love, Oxana ❤️
OV Hair | Pukekohe

SOMETIMES I REALLY SHOULD JUST LET THE HAIR
SPEAK FOR ITSELF. ❤️

Beautiful hair.
The loveliest client.
And this absolutely gorgeous creamy blonde. 😍

Soft, bright, beautifully blended and just the right amount of creamy — without losing that clean blonde feel. ✨

And yes… we completely forgot to take a before photo. 🙈

Apparently, we were too busy talking and making plans. 😄

So you’ll just have to take my word for it when I say — this one definitely made me work for it. 😂

But honestly, what we created exceeded both of our expectations. ❤️

It turned out even more beautiful than we imagined, and we were both absolutely thrilled with the result. 😍

With love, Oxana ❤️
OV Hair | Pukekohe

THE HAIR HAS ITS OWN OPINION… 🤷🏼‍♀️
“LOVELY IDEA. BUT SORRY, NO.”

We had a plan.

Grey blending. ❤️

But when you’re working with hair that has previously been coloured very dark, you can’t just make a plan and hope for the best.

First, you have to enter into negotiations with the hair. 😂

So we started with a test strand.

And let’s just say… the negotiations didn’t exactly go in
my favour. 🙈

The test strand basically said to me:

“Grey blending? Just not this time.” 😂

Alright then. Plan B. 😄❤️

The test strand showed us that getting the hair light and clean enough for beautiful grey blending in one appointment simply wasn’t something the hair was ready to give us.

So instead of fighting the hair, we decided to work with it.

We removed as much of the dark artificial pigment as the hair would safely allow, evened out the colour, and arrived at this beautiful mocha brunette. 🤎

And you know what?

For the first stage of coming out of such a dark colour, I think this result is absolutely amazing. 😍

Of course, my inner perfectionist would have loved
it lighter.

Even more even.

Even cleaner.

And preferably all of that in one go. 😂🙈

But coming out of very dark colour simply doesn’t work that way.

And just look at how much the whole colour has changed — from a heavy, very dark canvas to a soft, rich, dimensional shade with so much more light and a completely different feel. 😍

This is only the first stage of our grey blending journey.

So yes… this story is definitely to be continued. 😉❤️

And this post is also for anyone looking at their own dark-coloured hair and wondering if there’s any way out.

Yes, it’s not easy. But difficult doesn’t mean impossible. ❤️

Sometimes it just takes time, patience, the right plan… and
a little negotiation. 😉

And if your hair is ready to talk — I’m always happy to come
to the negotiating table. 😂❤️

With love, Oxana ❤️
OV Hair | Pukekohe

I HAVE A CONFESSION TO MAKE…

I was sitting here looking at these photos and thinking… should I show you the inspiration photo my client brought with her or not?

And then I thought — why not?

So here it is. ❤️

And while we’re being honest… I’m not AI. 😂

The inspiration photo is.

Everything you see on my page is real — real clients, real hair and real transformations.

And I actually think this is a perfect example of the difference between inspiration and reality.

We loved those beautiful bright blonde ribbons against the much deeper colour in the reference. But my client had one very clear request:

No warm tones.

To copy the picture more literally, I would have needed to make the colour between the blonde pieces considerably darker.

It would have given us much stronger contrast, but as darker colour fades, it can start revealing warmth — and that was exactly what my client didn’t want.

So we made a choice.

We didn’t copy it. We adapted it. ❤️

I kept the depth softer, cooler and closer to her natural colour, while recreating those beautiful bright blonde ribbons that we loved in the inspiration.

Is the final result identical to the AI image?

No.

But it was never about creating a photocopy.

It was about taking an idea and making it work for the real hair and the real person sitting in my chair. ❤️

And the most important part?

My client and I were both absolutely thrilled with the
final result. ❤️

It may not be an exact copy of the inspiration — but it turned into something beautiful that was right for her.

And really, that’s what matters most. ✨

Sometimes an inspiration photo gives you the direction, not the exact destination.

And I think real hair is much more interesting anyway. 😉❤️

With love, Oxana ❤️
OV Hair | Pukekohe