Celebrity Hairspiration + How to: Lauren Conrad’s Dip-Dye Tips

Lauren Conrad, or LC as some us from may remember her from Laguna Beach, has grown into quite the beauty trendsetter in recent years. How many of us fell in love with (and still rock) the braided bangs hairstyle she popularized?

And she set a major beauty trend this season: At the beginning of this past summer, Lauren debuted her bright, multi-colored dip-dye locks and set off another craze.

And Lauren wasn’t alone in trying this look – everyone from Kate Bosworth and Nicki Minaj tried the dip-dye trend this summer. And just recently, Lauren herself gave the style another go with an orange-pink shade inspired by My Little Pony (right photo above).

Unlike Lauren, however, few of us can afford a celebrity stylist, nor can we commit to a permanent dye job… but that doesn’t mean we can’t try this trend! A few weeks ago, we found an effective yet temporary DIY technique to achieve the look. Erica Worzel discovered a great technique she calls “hair chalking” and shared it on her blog. So that’s the look we’re recreating today.

Continue reading to learn how to recreate Lauren Conrad’s dip-dye tresses at home in just 3 simple steps.

You Will Need:

• Rubber Gloves. Yes, this gets messy – gloves will keep your hands from looking like a Jackson Pollock painting.
• An old towel or t-shirt to wear during the process (for the same reason as above).
• A spray bottle of water
• Clips to section your hair
• Most importantly, soft chalk pastels (Rembrandt pastels work best.)

Note: I actually used another brand of pastels before switching to Rembrandt. I first tried using Cray-Pas pastels, however, the color didn’t transfer well at all.

Rembrandt is more expensive, but I was able to purchase some individually at my college’s local art store for a few dollars a piece, instead of purchasing an entire pack with colors I didn’t even want. Believe me when I say Rembrandt is well worth the money.

1. Section + Dampen

Product Information: Spray Bottles + Hair Clips both from Amazon

Separate the strands of hair you would like to color and use the spray bottle to slightly dampen the hair. If you don’t have a spray bottle on hand, simply running a comb under water will work just fine.

2. Color

Simply take a section of dampened hair, hold it tight and rub on your choice of the colored pastels in a downward direction until the color adheres. My boyfriend actually had the genius idea of laying my hair on scrap paper on a flat surface to rub the pastel on it. SO MUCH easier than just holding it in the air.

3. Style

Now that you’ve applied the desired amount of color to your hair, style it as usual. Colored strands would brighten up any braid and they also look adorable slightly curled, just how Lauren often wears this trend.

Here’s a close-up:

Click on the photo to enlarge.

What Do You Think?

Do you like the dip-dye trend or do you find it too over-the-top? Would you try the trend now that you have a non-permanent option? Or have you already tried this hairstyle trend? Tell us in a comment! Also, if you try this, be sure to leave a comment and share your results!