I have naturally extremely thick (I'm talking twice as much hair as an average person) ash brown hair that gets chunky highlights naturally from the sun. Since I turned 14 I've been drying it all sorts of colors... made some stupid decisions, etc. Well, in recent years all that dyeing caused a lot of damage so I decided to give up coloring and let my hair breathe.

 

After all the damage and the condition of my hair improved I decided to lighten my hair just a little bit with peroxide (kind of like Sun-In). It didn't work too well and I hated it so I decided that I wanted to go completely blonde and the best thing to do would be to go to a salon.

I went and the stylist who did my hair said that it would be impossible to dye my hair blonde and have it turn out well (due to the peroxide). The only way to do it is to get full highlights a few times and that would turn my hair the bringht blonde that I wanted. Great!

 

The first set of full highlights took 3 full hours to do, that's how insanely thick and obnoxious my hair is. It looked awesome. I was impressed... but of course on my hair, only one set of full highlights wasn't enough to brighten it to the level that I wanted.

A couple of months later I went to the same salon and got my hair done again - full highlights. The second time was awesome as well. This time my hair was actually light enough and I absolutely loved it. The highlights were really bright (some white-ish) but there were still a lot of natural streaks (looked like lowlights) underneath.

 

I was happy with all that. But then when it came time to get my roots touched up about 6 weeks later I got a letter from the salon informing me that my stylist was no longer working there. Upsetting. The girl was great and she did such an amazing job. But I set another appointment anyway with a different girl.

The other girl was nice as well, but it's just not the same when you have someone better. She told me that though root touch-up was a possibility that time and that she would do it, but that my natural streaks were starting to "disappear" (what that meant totally bloggles my mind but whatever). She said that next time I would have to put lowlights in to maintain that highted look. I took that as a "lets put more work into your hair so you will pay me more" and totally ignored her suggestion. But then, the second thing she suggested was that I go all one color even though I would have to maintain it more frequently.

 

Since the higlighted look is really hard to maintain, especially on long hair like mine. I can't do anything with it - I can't wear it in any other styles but down, and part it only the the same side I always part it on (I like to switch sometimes). It got really frustrating so I decided to take her advice and go all one color - totally blonde.

 

Well, a couple of days ago I went to the same salon to get this done. This time I had a different girl do it. I told her that I was sick of the highlights and to just do it all one color. She said okay, and she went to work. She bleached my roots and the natural streaks that were still in my hair. She didn't leave the bleach (or whatever they use) on my hair for very long before washing it out. I thought it was a bit weird since the first girl who did my hair always let the bleach on for a really long time, and then she would even put me under the dryer for about 5-10 minutes.

This girl washed out my hair and toned it while the roots were still in the orange state. She said the first toner didn't work so she had to use another one. After another toner she said it was puzzled and called over the other girls working there for their opinions. I was getting nervous since they asked her if she'd used this and that (green and some other toners). She said that she tried green but it didn't work, and the second one they suggested they didn't have at the salon. I was hoping there was something that could be done... I didn't want to walk out of the salon with whatever was going on on my head - it was obviously not pleasant looking according to all the girls who worked there.

 

Well, one of the other girls suggested that she bleach my hair again, leave it on longer, and then tone. So, that's what she did. She washed out my hair, bleached it all over again. (My roots looked horrible... extremely orange.) This time she left the bleach on a lot longer, my roots turned a bright yellowish-white... that's what one of the other girls said it was supposed to look like. Then she finally washed it out and toned it really well again. She said it looked a lot better this time - thank god!

 

This time my roots looked a lot better but still don't perfectly match with the rest of my hair. She asked if it was a problem and I thought it was too yellow... but it's not. I'm not overly picky about it so I said it was okay. She dried it and it looks pretty good so overall I'm happy with it; as long as it's not egg yellow or clown orange I'm okay with it.

 

But the problem now is that my hair is a really bright blonde, and once my roots start growing it's going to really show. Even though my natural hair color isn't that dark, it looks a lot darker when the rest of the hair is so light.

So I'd have to go to the salon practically every month to get my roots touched up - and that's a problem. I'm a poor college student. I don't have tons of money to throw away at the salon every month. So I'm thinking since I don't have to work very hard with the highlighting crap anything... I can just brush on the color on my roots, wash it out, and maintain it that way on my own (with help from a friend or something).

And since I witnessed a professional hair stylist at a salon screwed up my hair the first time solely because she didn't leave the color on long enough - how hard can it be for me to learn to do this myself - slap on some color, tone it, and get on with my life?

 

So my question is: how can I do this?
I know absolutely NOTHING about hair bleaching, toning, products that I need to mix or whatever to achieve my blonde color on the roots.

 

Could someone explain to me in detail what I would need to do this myself at home? I would really, really appreciate it since doing this at home would be so much cheaper then going to the salon. I can do this on my own time and not have to worry about paying a ton for it.

Please suggest affordable products from Sally Beauty Supply since there is a store located a few blocks from here. I can't afford salon products, obviously. If I could I wouldn't consider doing this myself. I've seen other people do it and have their hair turn out great. So I figure it's not rocket science - I'm willing to learn.

 

Thanks to anyone who replies. I really appreciate it!

 

 

I have naturally extremely thick (I'm talking twice as much hair as an average person) ash brown hair that gets chunky highlights naturally from the sun. Since I turned 14 I've been drying it all sorts of colors... made some stupid decisions, etc. Well, in recent years all that dyeing caused a lot of damage so I decided to give up coloring and let my hair breathe.

 

After all the damage and the condition of my hair improved I decided to lighten my hair just a little bit with peroxide (kind of like Sun-In). It didn't work too well and I hated it so I decided that I wanted to go completely blonde and the best thing to do would be to go to a salon.

I went and the stylist who did my hair said that it would be impossible to dye my hair blonde and have it turn out well (due to the peroxide). The only way to do it is to get full highlights a few times and that would turn my hair the bringht blonde that I wanted. Great!

 

The first set of full highlights took 3 full hours to do, that's how insanely thick and obnoxious my hair is. It looked awesome. I was impressed... but of course on my hair, only one set of full highlights wasn't enough to brighten it to the level that I wanted.

A couple of months later I went to the same salon and got my hair done again - full highlights. The second time was awesome as well. This time my hair was actually light enough and I absolutely loved it. The highlights were really bright (some white-ish) but there were still a lot of natural streaks (looked like lowlights) underneath.

 

I was happy with all that. But then when it came time to get my roots touched up about 6 weeks later I got a letter from the salon informing me that my stylist was no longer working there. Upsetting. The girl was great and she did such an amazing job. But I set another appointment anyway with a different girl.

The other girl was nice as well, but it's just not the same when you have someone better. She told me that though root touch-up was a possibility that time and that she would do it, but that my natural streaks were starting to "disappear" (what that meant totally bloggles my mind but whatever). She said that next time I would have to put lowlights in to maintain that highted look. I took that as a "lets put more work into your hair so you will pay me more" and totally ignored her suggestion. But then, the second thing she suggested was that I go all one color even though I would have to maintain it more frequently.

 

Since the higlighted look is really hard to maintain, especially on long hair like mine. I can't do anything with it - I can't wear it in any other styles but down, and part it only the the same side I always part it on (I like to switch sometimes). It got really frustrating so I decided to take her advice and go all one color - totally blonde.

 

Well, a couple of days ago I went to the same salon to get this done. This time I had a different girl do it. I told her that I was sick of the highlights and to just do it all one color. She said okay, and she went to work. She bleached my roots and the natural streaks that were still in my hair. She didn't leave the bleach (or whatever they use) on my hair for very long before washing it out. I thought it was a bit weird since the first girl who did my hair always let the bleach on for a really long time, and then she would even put me under the dryer for about 5-10 minutes.

This girl washed out my hair and toned it while the roots were still in the orange state. She said the first toner didn't work so she had to use another one. After another toner she said it was puzzled and called over the other girls working there for their opinions. I was getting nervous since they asked her if she'd used this and that (green and some other toners). She said that she tried green but it didn't work, and the second one they suggested they didn't have at the salon. I was hoping there was something that could be done... I didn't want to walk out of the salon with whatever was going on on my head - it was obviously not pleasant looking according to all the girls who worked there.

 

Well, one of the other girls suggested that she bleach my hair again, leave it on longer, and then tone. So, that's what she did. She washed out my hair, bleached it all over again. (My roots looked horrible... extremely orange.) This time she left the bleach on a lot longer, my roots turned a bright yellowish-white... that's what one of the other girls said it was supposed to look like. Then she finally washed it out and toned it really well again. She said it looked a lot better this time - thank god!

 

This time my roots looked a lot better but still don't perfectly match with the rest of my hair. She asked if it was a problem and I thought it was too yellow... but it's not. I'm not overly picky about it so I said it was okay. She dried it and it looks pretty good so overall I'm happy with it; as long as it's not egg yellow or clown orange I'm okay with it.

 

But the problem now is that my hair is a really bright blonde, and once my roots start growing it's going to really show. Even though my natural hair color isn't that dark, it looks a lot darker when the rest of the hair is so light.

So I'd have to go to the salon practically every month to get my roots touched up - and that's a problem. I'm a poor college student. I don't have tons of money to throw away at the salon every month. So I'm thinking since I don't have to work very hard with the highlighting crap anything... I can just brush on the color on my roots, wash it out, and maintain it that way on my own (with help from a friend or something).

And since I witnessed a professional hair stylist at a salon screwed up my hair the first time solely because she didn't leave the color on long enough - how hard can it be for me to learn to do this myself - slap on some color, tone it, and get on with my life?

 

So my question is: how can I do this?
I know absolutely NOTHING about hair bleaching, toning, products that I need to mix or whatever to achieve my blonde color on the roots.

 

Could someone explain to me in detail what I would need to do this myself at home? I would really, really appreciate it since doing this at home would be so much cheaper then going to the salon. I can do this on my own time and not have to worry about paying a ton for it.

Please suggest affordable products from Sally Beauty Supply since there is a store located a few blocks from here. I can't afford salon products, obviously. If I could I wouldn't consider doing this myself. I've seen other people do it and have their hair turn out great. So I figure it's not rocket science - I'm willing to learn.

 

Thanks to anyone who replies. I really appreciate it!

 

 

  Anyway, all you need to do is run to a beauty supply store and pick up a bleach. You sound like you have relatively light hair, but it also sounds kind of resistant (that might be why she had to bleach 2x), so you might want to go for a stronger bleach. I'd personally try out either Clairol's Born BLonde (the professional version) or Clairol's complements gel lightener.

 

  Clairol Born Blonde is white, so you'll be able to see thru to the roots to see what color your roots are turning.  Just mix 1 part bleach to 2 parts 20vol cream developer and add a booster packette (you can buy those at sally's, too).  I'd use half a bottle of lightener (1oz) 20vol developer (2oz) and one booster. 

 

  You can use the rest of the lightener when your roots pop up in 1-3 weeks.  You'll probably want to have a friend section off your hair and apply the bleach. 

 

  As for toners...all you really need to do to get your bleached hair toned to a good color is get it down to the level of contributing pigment you're looking for (it sounds like pale yellow, almost white in your case) and then apply a toner to either make it more golden, neutral, or ash (or you can mix toners if you feel like it).  Most toners take 20vol developer and are applied right after you shampoo out the bleach--shampoo, rinse, towel dry, tone. 

 

  If you still have random dark streaks, that could look odd with your roots being bleached so heavily. You might want to lighten those up. You can do a "soap cap" bleaching on the rest of your hair...you basically whip up lightener, mix it with shampoo, and work it through to parts of your hair that need to be lightened up.  Watch it carefully.  This will also remove any previous toners that you've had applied, so you may want to do this *before* your root touch-up, so then you can tone the whole thing and be done with it.

 

The reason they did highlights first and then overall color because that's what I had initially. I did highlights for a while and then decided I didn't like it anymore so I wanted to go all blonde.

 

I was also researching the Sally Beauty Supply website and was considering getting Clairol Blorn Blonde. So your suggestion is right on. I will definitely go for that one. I wasn't sure if I should mix it with a 20vol developer or 30vol since my hair is so resistant (even though it's light brown). I think it would be safer to go with the 20vol just in case.

I was looking at toners as well and they have two different kinds at Sally. One needs to be mixed with 20vol developer, the other does not. They're both Clairol. The one that does is supposedly idea for double processing, so I will probably get that one since the other Born Blonde one is semi-permanent, so it would probably wash out.

 

Anyway, this helps a lot. Thanks! I feel more confident that I can do this myself.

 

You CAN do this on your own; you don't even really need a friend to help. The trick is to be prepared. You definitely need to have a mirror to see the back of your head. Section your hair into very small sections so they are easier to work with. As you apply the bleach to your roots, run a line (using a bottle) of bleach along your roots and just 'push' the bleach into the hair with a brush; just tapping. Then, you separate another thin section of hair above it and repeat. Try to do this quickly but meticulously and wipe any bleach that spills on your hands or hair. When everything is done, wrap a grocery bag around your head (to keep the bleach from drying out), but don't flatten or bunch the hair as this can cause the bleach to spread onto already bleached hair. leave it on for at least 40 mins and then check every 10 mins to see if your roots have lifted to the proper tone (inside of banana peel yellow).

 

I do this WHOLE process every month. It gets easier each time you do it. It's actually kind of fun for me now and I love to watch my Level 2 roots go pale blonde! I get very little damage, but I make sure to deep condition regularly.

 

Good luck!

 

I don't really have highlights anymore since I told the stylist that I wanted to have an all over blonde without highlights and she got rid of them (for the most part; there is still a bit of variation, but not much; it just makes my hair look more natural). She also used bleach on my roots, she didn't use color. I don't think that color would work on my roots since they are significantly darker then the rest of my hair (or will be once they grow out). I've dyed my hair with dyes blonde before, and it just comes out yellow... like golden retriever color, which is not attractive and it wouldn't match the rest of my hair. It also takes repeated application to get my hair blonde because at first it kinda turns orange. The stylist had to use bleach twice to get my hair to not be carrot-orange (not exaggerating, it was literally a disgusting color of orange for hair - totally unnatural).

 

I will look up your suggestion - the product you suggested - and then figure out what to do. I think I'll definitely ask the people at Sally Beauty Supply to help me out with everything prior to buying products. They should know since they can see my hair and the condition (it's so thick, I can't stand it).

 

Thanks!

 

Ok, I just went on the ClairolPro website and looked up Miss Clairol products. It sounds good, however, they don't have a #35 and it also says that in order to achieve the brightest blonde I would need to mix it with a 40vol developer (I'd need to lighten it about 4-5 levels since my hair is a about a level 4 naturally according to the swatches on their website, and I'd like it to be about a 9). I've read countless times that a 40vol developer is never recommended for use on the scalp because it works so quickly and is so intense. I don't think it would be safe for me to even attempt to use it (especially the first time) since it will take me probably 20 minutes to just apply the solution to my hair (like I said, I have extremely thick hair, it's almost abnormal). Putting 40 would work too quickly, and I don't know what it would do to my scalp. I don't want to risk it. :( It'd probably be best to go with a 30 in my case.

But I'll continue researching and see what I can do.

 

 

I wanted to add, that it helps if you cover all of your hair (that is blonde) with a heavy/thick conditioner before you start the process. I always do this as any bleach that may drip onto that hair won't affect it.

 

Breaking the base can be great, but you still have to do it every month AND it often lifts warm, which is what many want to avoid!

 

Don't give up or get scared. A lot of people will tell you you can't do it yourself. If I listened to everyone who told me that, I would not have ever coloured my hair at all. My hair is long and blonde and in pretty good condition. You can only TRY!!!

Wella has good reviews as well.

 

Thanks for the conditioner trick. That will help a lot since my hair has been processed so many times already (due to the highlighting). It wouldn't be good to get more bleach on it. Plus it does tend to dry out occasionally so conditioning can't possibly hurt. I have a good deep conditioner for this.

 

A lot of people do suggest professional and that mistakes can be made. But I did go to a pro and even she didn't do it right the first time. I learned from her mistakes... plus I did a lot of research of my own. It's not rocket science - I'll be able to figure it out. I've witnessed a friend bleach his hair in 30 minutes and then dye it blue. He is definitely no expert when it comes to hair atall and it worked just fine for him.

 

Thanks so much! Love encougraging words cuz that way I'm not as nervous about it.

I'm glad that my roots haven't even started to come in much yet (maybe they're like 3mm long, which is not notceable at all) so I still have plenty of time to read more about it.