Ever thought about dying your hair, but feel like you don’t know where to begin? Yes, you could opt to go to the salon, but all that money you just spent could have had you salon-quality hair at home without the cost.
Going blonde and using color are two different monsters that can go hand in hand. Bleaching your hair is lifting color. Color isn’t lifting. It’s only depositing. If you want to change your hair to a different color that is lighter than your current hair, you need
to bleach it first.
When you use powder bleach, you need a developer. There are tons of different volumes of developers out there. The most common ones you’ll see are 10, 20, 30, and 40. So what does this mean? Well, 10 volume developers will not lift any color out of your hair. It’s strictly for depositing color. 20 volume developers only lift 1-2 levels and are more for people with grey hair who want to get rid of their shiny grays and put on color. 30 volume is a high lift developer! This is what you want to use if you’re bleaching your hair on virgin or previously dyed hair. 40 volume developer is an extremely high lighting developer. This is where I would stop. It pulls color quickly, but I wouldn’t recommend it unless you are an expert at bleaching your hair. It also should only be used on virgin hair because of the high chances of damage.
To begin bleaching your hair, you first need to gather all your materials.
You’re going to need:
Foils
Gloves
Clips
A bowl
A spray bottle
A mixing tool (please don’t use metal)
Application brush
Shower cap
Bleach (I recommend Quick Blue Bleach)
Developer (I recommend 30 volume by Clairol Professional)
Toner
Okay, now that you have everything, we can start. Let me just start by saying, make sure your hair is dry, and please do not lather. Bleach does not lather, it’s not shampoo, and all you’re doing is opening way to more damage and spotting. We don’t want splotches of bleached and dark hair. It’s just not cute unless that’s what you like, of course.
Make sure to stick to recommended ratios listed on the bleach you are using. Combine the bleach and developer in the bowl and mix until you get a yogurt consistency.
Part your hair in sections using clips. I recommend making 4 different sections, but I usually section my hair in 8 to be on the safe side. The smaller the sections, the better turn out.
Always start at the bottom of your head and work your way up. It could be tempting to start at the top but trust me when I say it’s easier and there will be less mess and confusion. Keep in mind that the hair closer to your scalp lightens quicker than the middle and ends because of the heat radiating off your head. With that in mind, put on your gloves and begin applying bleach to the middle and end of your hair. Make sure to fully saturate it and then wrap it in foils to create even lightening. Leave it on the recommended amount, usually 30-45 minutes, and routinely check the processing. After about 20 minutes, take the foils out and apply bleach to your roots for the rest of the time. You can put on a shower cap and sprits a little bit of water inside to keep all the bleach moist.
When bleach gets dry, it’s not doing its job anymore.
Once the time is up, hit the shower to shampoo and conditioner your hair. I leave my conditioner in for 5 minutes to keep my hair silky and smooth. Towel dry your hair and gently comb your hair with a wide-toothed comb.
Guess what? Your hair is beautifully lightened, and now it’s onto toning. Toning does lather!
Toner helps eliminate unwanted tones that bleaching may leave in your hair. There are so many kinds of toner that help give different outcomes. If you’re clueless on what toner you should use, you need to keep in mind what your desired look is that you want to achieve. Toner choices are based on the color wheel.
If your bleached hair has a slight orange tone, you need to use a blue-based toner. Likewise, if you have yellow tones, you should use a purple violet based toner. If your hair has more red tones, you will need another round of bleach if your desired outcome is platinum or silver. When using a toner, make sure to use a 10 volume developer. Toner is not a substitute for depositing color. It is only correcting the color you already have. Essentially it is setting your hair up as the perfect canvas for color or the next bleaching process. It also could just be the finishing polish to your new look.
Take your time with the bleaching application. It could be tempting to speed everything up because you’re worried about hurting your hair, but that could cause a sloppy outcome. We need to get rid of that common misconception that bleaching your hair will always result in it falling out. The videos you’ve seen of people having hair bleaching fails didn’t know what they were doing and took the wrong steps in the process. I’m here to give guidance with that. Some people go into doing their hair without a plan. If you have the right materials and plan in mind, your outcome will look amazing.
After the bleach rinse, I put a little bit of oil in my hair after I towel dry. I always follow up with a hair mask two days later.
Your hair is fragile after bleaching, so now is a time to give it back some of those nutrients it lost. Don’t overdo it though, because putting too much oil and hair masks could end up damaging your hair more. When you bleach your hair, it opens the hair follicles to release color, so if you fill it with too many nutrients, it could cause it to snap.
Know your hair limits and texture. If you feel your hair is still super healthy after the first bleach, you can do another, but don’t do more than two in one day. Give your hair at least a week's break. Sometimes you have to work with what you got to reach the goal you want.
Hair is a great way to express yourself. Have fun with it and post your finishing look.