Use Your Dark Roots For Ombré

I have dealt with years of the unfun routine of bleaching and dying my roots monthly. This is how I got from black hair to an ombré over time. (This is for people with naturally black hair - it's a different process for those with naturally lighter hair, I'm sure!) I'm sure you could also just start out by dying your roots a darker color, but I didn't want to end up with super uneven tones, and didn't even think for opting for ombré until I got a job where I needed my hair to look more natural (read: no roots). This is a good way to transition out of bleached hair to letting your natural hair grow without dying it all dark, or chopping all of it off. I've wanted to do that many a time, believe me.

Step 1: Lighten your hair.
I have had this step down since... a long time ago. Bleach your hair and dye it whatever color you want. It will eventually fade, which will help later. Enjoy your one-toned mane while it lasts.

Step 2: Let your roots grow out.
This takes the most time, and if this is the step you're at, perfect. Wait a few more months until they're a few inches. Yeah, ew. You can keep redyeing your hair in the meantime to make the color difference between the bleached hair and your roots less stark, if you want. Eventually, the bleached and natural hair will look more blended once long enough.

Step 3: Dye the hair to blend.
Once your roots have grown to be looking blended with the bleached hair, go ahead and pick a hair dye that's between your natural color and the bleached/dyed hair. For me, this was the same color I've been dying my hair from the beginning. (That's why the fading of the initial color of the dyed hair is fine.) Apply this from the roots to the middle of the length of your hair.

Step 4: Ombré!
You can deal with not dying your hair every 4-6 weeks now, because you can let your roots grow and not look disgusting! Hoorah!

It's hard to find pics with my hair not tied, but here's my hair a few months ago,

I haven't bleached/dyed my hair in half a year or more, and people still ask if I just dyed my hair. It's wonderful not to have to go to Sally's all the time.

The only thing I dislike about ombréd hair is that it looks best when curled/wavy. I am not about to curl my hair everyday (again), so what I do is twist it leave it in a bun overnight, and in the morning, I have curled, heat-free, ombré tresses!