Bleaching your hair can be fun and exciting…but it can also ruin your hair (if you don’t do it carefully). Disclaimer: I know absolutely nothing about hair. I went a little crazy quarantining by myself and one thing led to another and I have bleach blonde hair now. So I am here to tell you my experience and give my advice about bleaching your hair, and you can decide for yourself if you want to dabble.
First and foremost, you need to be realistic with your hair. If you have super dark hair and are trying to go platinum, you will damage your hair. That’s just a fact. Now, it won’t necessarily fall out, but that’s always a risk. If you bleach it once, and it’s not light enough, wait a few days to bleach again. And again be realistic about the health of your hair. Platinum blonde hair is not worth completely destroying all of your hair. After the first bleach, if your hair feels stringy, dry and overall unhealthy, STOP. Give it a few days to recuperate, and then assess again. If it’s still not ready, it may just be time to look into different dye options. There are ways you can avoid the stringy, dry mess though, and we’ll get into methods later. But a main point when thinking about bleaching your hair is being okay if it doesn’t turn out platinum blonde like you originally hoped for, and take care of your hair.
Second, do your own research. Some people have virgin hair and others don’t, and the type of bleach you use will depend on that. Also, figure out what level you want to raise it to. If you are bleaching to then move on to a pastel color, it will have to be level 10 or higher, which is essentially platinum blonde. Even if you want silver hair, it will have to be a level 10. But maybe you just want a lighter color than what you have now, and in that case you might not have to raise it so many levels, which is healthier for your hair in the long run. For me, I wanted to do a pastel purple/blue so I had to get mine as light as possible without damaging it. I also had never bleached my hair before, so I chose a bleach that would work well with virgin hair. Personally, I used ion™ Bright White Creme Lightener. Now, the next step is developer. Developers will help the bleach lighten the hair, and it is also damaging. The level of lightner you choose will also depend on the level. Personally, I used a 20 volume developer because it can lighten multiple levels while still maintaining hair health. If you have darker hair, you might have to use a higher developer, but try not to go above 40 volume, as it will frankly destroy your hair. Next, mix the developer and the bleach in a 1:1 ratio. Some brands give different ratio instructions, but the one I used recommended 1:1. Then, your mixture is ready.
Now the hard part. Actually applying and waiting. It is very important that you apply to just the ends of your hair first. So, apply the bleach-developer mixture to your ends, then leave in for 10-15 minutes, and go back in and apply the rest of the mixture to your scalp. Our scalps produce heat, which causes the bleach to develop faster, and if you do the roots first, they will come out much lighter than the rest of your hair. Warning, it may hurt. Bleach may burn your scalp a little bit, but it shouldn’t be unbearable. If you are sitting there in intense pain, rinse it out. For the amount of time to leave the rest of the bleach, I would honestly gauge it based on how light your hair is. After applying the bleach mixture, put a plastic bag over your head to lock in heat. It looks ridiculous but it does help, trust me. When I bleached my hair, I kept a timer but I found I was rinsing out before the time was up because my hair was already at the level I wanted. Rinse with water and shampoo. You can use a conditioner, but there are more steps, and you can just condition after all of it. Next, use a toner. Depending on what you want to do with your hair, and how it turns out, you may have to use a toner. If your hair is brassy, you need a toner, and if you want cooler undertones, use a toner. Otherwise, don’t put your hair through the extra treatments. I used a Wella™ T18 toner with a 20 volume developer (and I just eyed this one oops). So, as surprising as it is, the toner actually burned my hair more than the bleach. So if you can afford to give your scalp a couple of days break before toning, I recommend that. After you rinse out the toner, you’re done!
Now, I bleached my hair once, so I honestly know nothing. I watched many many YouTube videos before beginning, and picked up all my supplies beforehand. You don’t want to be running to the beauty supply shop with a plastic bag on your head because you forgot something. In terms of tools, make sure to have a plastic bag, a mixing bowl (or tupperware works), and a brush or gloves. Do not use the bleach mixture with bare hands. After bleaching, you’ll want to invest in a hair treatment. I use OLAPLEX® bond maintenance treatment, and so far it’s worked great for me. I also use the OUAI hair oil after showering.
So let’s get real. Bleaching your hair is super fun and I’m all about trying new hair. Luckily, my hair didn’t fall out, but I know some people with horror stories. I promised myself from the beginning that I would only bleach it once, and whatever the result was, I would work with it. Before I bleached, I had pink hair. I had used a semi-permanent dye on my dark blonde/light brown hair, and then let it fade. When I bleached, there were still pink strands, but I did not want to bleach again. When I went blue, there were still some pink strands shining through, but I was okay with that because my hair felt healthy. Since then, I’ve stripped my hair again of color, and honestly it doesn’t feel great. Definitely need to be conditioning and using treatment often. But…I totally recommend bleaching your hair IF you are careful and realistic with yourself. Sometimes a change is necessary, and I’ve loved having lighter hair, and playing around with colors. I did my research and figured out that the bleach I used had good reviews about not damaging hair, and that is why I picked it. But I also already had dark blonde hair, and only had to raise it a few levels. Bleaching multiple times isn’t a bad thing, but you just have to make sure your hair is staying decently healthy or it will fall out. So go crazy girl, bleach your hair, get some fun colors, and be safe doing it.