Le Brunette to Blonde without Bleach
I've gotten manymanymany requests on how I did my hair, what color it is right now, or where I got it done. If you don't like it, that's you. I could care less because I love it! I do think I look more enticing with jet black hair but I love light hair too. It's MY hair and I am comfortable enough to play around with it.
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So to answer some of your questions:
It's a shade of ash blonde. A shade because it's a mixture of a few cool toned ash blonde shades. It's not one flat color. Even if it might look like one solid color in pictures, in reality there is depth due to subtle all over highlights.
I'm also super flattered as is my "helper" when people ask where I got it done because I did it at home ... ^_^ !
the color appears brighter in pictures than it does in real life
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WHY THIS METHOD?
I wanted to do the main part WITHOUT any use of bleach. I've used bleached before, color worked out great but it's too drying for my taste. Plus, I just wanted to try a new way.
This method will lighten your hair g r a d u a l l y. Mine took about 2.5 weeks. I CHOSE to take this long. If you want you can do this in less time but I think the longer you take the better because it involves multiple processes. It doesn't mean it will not get damaged just because you didn't bleach all of it. It will still get damaged because you are doing something unnatural to it. This method is less damaging because of the condition it left my hair in. My hair's texture when running fingers through doesn't feel anything like straw, far from. When it dries naturally it still feels soft and fluffy.
DISCLAIMER
Oh yeah...I'm not a professional hair stylist. Just did a lil research, asked around, and went for it. So this is from my own experience. I like my result, it's not orange in person, and I cannot guarantee the same exact results for you. However, it WILL lighten your hair. Promise ^_^
Things you will need:
- A few pair of gloves
- Hair dying brush
- Bowl
- Regular bobby pins
- Plastic bag
- Foil paper (I used the regular grocery kind)
- 40 volume creme developer (I used Salon Care Professional)
- 1st Hair dye of choice (I used Loreal Preference Ash Blonde 8A)
- 2nd Hair dye of choice (I used Loreal Excellence Creme Medium Ash Blonde)
- Revlon Frost kit (I used the one for medium/dark hair)
Tips before you begin...
- Hair dye does not adhere evenly to clean washed hair so wait a day or two if you can
- Ask a friend to help you for those hard to reach areas
- One process is one time you dye your hair. This one took me 3 (dye, highlight, dye)
- Let their be some time between each process. 1 month is best but if not, a week or AT LEAST a few days. You don't want your hair to fall out and be extremely dry do you? I hope not...
- Use vaseline, pond's cream, or even a chapstick (something oil based) and rub some at the hairline all so you don't get funny stains all over. You shouldn't get too stained since we're going for a lighter color.
- Make sure there are no tangles in your hair before applying any dye.
- Put hair in sections then apply dye to get the most even coverage.
- Don't spend too long applying dye to sections because then your timing will be off. You might end up with lighter sections where you applied first because it was on longer.
Step 1: All Over Color
I lightened my hair the most in this step. To do that I used 40 volume creme developer mixed with the Ash Blonde dye. Mix this together in a bowl and apply with dye hairbrush. A lot of people cannot handle 40 volume developer so please do a patch test first. During my patch test I noticed that if it touched my scalp for over 5 minutes it felt itchy, when applying I simply made sure it didn't touch the scalp to avoid the itchy sensation.
You can make as many sections you like when parting your hair. I had 3 on each side, 3 in back, and 4 on top. That is 10 sections, so I used 10 pieces of foil. I cut the foil a little bit wider than each section. Place foil under the hair and "paint" the hair on top thoroughly, then fold in half and use bobby pins to hold it in place. Let it sit for as long as it suggests in the box. I let mine sit for 45 mins because I started with very dark hair. You can always unfold a foil to check if it's the color you want. Wash and shampoo lightly.
Result: If you used the same volume and color as me you should have hair that is at least 5 shades lighter. This will be the overals shade. If you want it lighter just repeat this step again.
Step 2: Subtle Highlights
I didn't want my hair to have one solid color so I decided to add in some highlights. I did not want chunky highlights so I used the Revlon Frost Kit for medium to dark hair. I mainly used this because of the cap. The cap is very helpful because it has sections on it to help you highlight. If you want just the top highlighted or just to frame your face, it's as easy as color by numbers! I wanted to have highlights all over my hair for an overal lightening effect with depth. So I pulled out a few strands of hair from each of those circles on the cap with the picking tool they provide.
It took an hour =X it's a good workout for your arms...
You do not have to use the mixture they provide in the box, it is bleach. You can just dye with a very light blonde cool toned color. I went ahead and used the bleach mixture. This isn't bleaching all of your hair. The strands of hair should be very very thin. I mixed following directions on the box and left it on for only 15 minutes. Wash and shampoo lightly.
Result: It lightened very fast because my hair was lightened significantly after step 1. I had very light hair now compared to what I started with. Definitely blonde.
Step 3: Toning
I get that blonde highlights are nice sometimes but bleached highlights are NOT. Bleach doesn't leave hair blonde, it leaves it a pale yellow. You don't want that. You will have to tone it now. You can tone it with a hair dye that is cool/blue/violet toned. I used a regular old box dye in medium ash blonde. I applied it all over in sections. I did not use foil this time but after applying dye I covered my hair with a plastic bag because I wanted a ghetto hat. Jk. I did it because it helps trap in heat and the chemicals just work better and gives it a more even coverage this way too. I left it on for about 30-40 minutes.
Result: My hair is darker than after step 2 but that's what I intended to do. I wanted a medium ash blonde shade with highlights to give it depth.
All done =) !
It looks a little uneven because of the flash and shadows but
trust me it's the same shade all over =)
I tried to be as thorough as I could and I hope it helped some of your out who are trying to lighten hair at home without bleach. Yes this way does take longer and it is more costly because you need a few more things but it's still cheaper than the salon AND it's less damaging in the long run. Hair doesn't feel like straw, I haven't had much breakage, and it still feels soft when airdried! Woot!
-le midget
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