TIPS FOR GOING BLONDE

Recently, I decided to dye my hair blonde.  I have always dreamed of having long luscious silver locks.  The thought of being a seventy year old with long white hair delights me to the core.  Due to time and money constraints, I must admit that I am a box-job dyer.  I love the ease of going to the store and picking out a colour.  There are also those times when I get in a mama rut and the thought of changing up my look inspires me to make more positive changes in my life.  

With that being said, here is my little tutorial for going blonde at home from dyed dark brown.  Firstly, remember PATIENCE.  You will be removing colour from your hair.  In my case, I was removing all of the colour plus hoping to strip the natural colour as well.  This presents many problems if using a box bleach.  The hair is already damaged from colour dye.  Bleaching is very harsh.  The box dye also doesn't contain the bleach volume that is needed to whiten your hair in one go.  This essentially means you must strip the hair several times before achieving the look you want.  My natural colour also has reddish and brown undertones.  Achieving a silver, white look is nearly impossible (or so I've been told).

Knowing all these things...let's begin

Choose your hair bleach.  It has been suggested to me that you use the same brand.  This could be because the formulas they use to produce the product is created and tested in the same lab.  I chose Feria by L'Oreal (Note:  this is not a vegan product by any means.  There may be vegan bleaches, I just don't know of any.  So please, if you do know some, pass along the names.)

Prep your hair.  Do not wash your hair for a week or longer.  This is not a problem for me as I rarely add soap to my hair.  I'm a non-pooer really.  Allow the oils in your hair to naturally produce themselves.  Some friends have suggested melting coconut oil, allowing it to cool and then placing it on the hair, generously.  I skipped this step.

Leave your roots last.  I cannot emphasize this enough.  When I did my first bleach, I didn't read the box and did all of my hair.  It left me looking like a skunk.  The roots were bleach white and the rest of my hair an orange.  I had to wear a hat for 3 weeks.  

Saturate the hair with bleach.  I started from my roots down.  The tips are split and damaged from wear and dyeing.  Once saturated leave on for a generous amount of time.  Check OFTEN!  I looked every 5 minutes. Do not leave on longer than 40 minutes.  This is a process and you will do it again.  You will not get the desired result immediately so please do not fry your hair and end up with no hair.  YIKES!!!

Once at the desired lightness, WASH EVERYTHING OUT IMMEDIATELY AND THOROUGHLY.  After one of my bleaching treatments I woke up to find myself at three in the morning with the most dry, dead hair.  I forgot to get it all.  I raced downstairs to the sink and just worked at it until it was gone.

Condition and Toner.  A must!  Don't skip.

Wait 4-8 weeks between treatments, cutting the ends each time.  This entire process took me over two months.  In between bleaches I did not wash my hair at all, avoided heat and conditioned with a macadamia nut oil.  Coconut oil is the best!!!

And voila!!!

Stay tuned for my next hair post about adding vibrant colour!  If you want it you must achieve this look first or even blonder!  Hope it helped and please if you have any tips or vegan sources, I'm all ears.  Comment below.