My New Hair! or Adventures in Bleaching…

[button link=”http://bubbleteapanda.com/pr-disclosure-privacy/” target=”_blank” rel=”nofollow” color=”FTC” shape=”rounded” size=”small” align=”left”]Affiliate Link[/button]

I used to be a chameleon with my hair when I was younger. I tried out new cuts all the time, and my color especially changed constantly. Besides natural shades like brown and caramel, I also used to have all different shades of red, purple, blue, and platinum hair.

That was quite a long time ago. Life, school and jobs which had stricter dress codes caught up to me, which mean I’ve had the same hairstyle or iteration of it for almost half a decade now. Going crazy for me was indulging in a box dye which barely tinted my hair.

I’ve been feeling the itch to change things up a lot lately. I work in a non-client-facing position now, so I decided to start small with a peekaboo underside layer, and work my way up. Of course, now I’m hooked again and I’ll probably be having lots of changes in the near future. 😛

To get this look, as my hair is naturally black (but dyed brown with the Kao Prettia in Marshmallow Brown), I had to bleach it first.

For my first try, I used the Raw White-Out Bleach Kit from Hot Topic. This can also be found under the brand name N-RAGE White-Out Bleach kit at Sally Beauty. It came with lightening powder, developer, toning conditioner, gloves and a tint brush. However, the tint brush was so small that it was basically only good for highlights, which I was not doing.
I went to Sally Beauty and picked up a plastic bowl (never mix bleach in a metallic bowl), larger tint brush, more gloves and processing caps.

As I was only doing the underside, I clipped up my top layers and brushed out the bottom layer I was coloring.
I left the bleach on for just under an hour (~50 minutes), followed by the toner for about 30 minutes, and it lightened to a honey caramel shade. Not nearly light enough. I consulted with fellow blogger and colored hair addict Phyrra, who suggested I try bleaching again. However, the last time I double processed my hair, it became so fried and damaged that no color would hold at all. I was a bit apprehensive. She recommended doing a protein conditioning treatment first, so back to Sally Beauty I went.

I picked up the Aphogee Two-step Treatment Protein for Damaged Hair 16 oz. which consists of the treatment itself and a follow-up ApHOGEE Balancing Moisturizer. I was scatterbrained, and almost left with only the Protein Treatment which would have strengthened my hair, but not softened it. Luckily, the lady checking me out noticed and sent me back for the moisturizer. (On that note, I LOVE shopping at Sally. The employees are always so nice, helpful and, most importantly, knowledgeable!)
I also got Phyrra’s recommendations for bleaching, which were the Ion Sensitive Scalp 30 Volume Creme Developer 32 oz. (although I started out with the 40, I chose the 30 volume this time to be safer) and Salon Care Prism Lites Lightener Blue 1 oz.. I also picked up a few color removing wipes for removing stains from my skin.

After doing the treatment, I bleached again and left it on for around 45 minutes. Importantly, I started at the ends this time, let them process for about 15 minutes, then moved up towards my scalp. This time, my hair was pale yellow blonde, though not platinum.

After rinsing out the bleach, I applied Manic Panic Amplified Ultra Violet, pinned up my hair and popped a processing cap on. I processed with heat (aka blowdryer) for about half an hour, then wrapped my head up in a hair towel. I threw a towel down on my pillow and slept with the color on overnight, just to be safe. Luckily, half of my towels are purple anyway, so I wasn’t worried about staining. 😛

And the end result…

Yay! New hair! I did miss a spot, as you can see in the picture, but overall, I’m quite happy with the way it turned out.

I’m so grateful for Phyrra for her help with this, and especially with her super informative posts about how to bleach and color your hair, and how to care for it afterwards. Definitely check them out if you’re interested in doing at-home color!

What do you think of the color? What should I do next?

Disclosure: All product(s) featured in this post were purchased by me. All opinions are my own. This post contains Amazon affiliate links.