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Thread: From black to blonde

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    Default From black to blonde

    A few people asked about my results with my recent blonde ambition, so I've attached before and after photos that I'll leave up for a bit and list my products/process. I thought others might want to chime in with their dark->light journeys with tips/questions/etc. I was told by a stylist that there was no way in hell I'd get my hair to anything lighter than orange/copper and although I still have some more golden tones I'd like to get out, I'm definitely a pretty light shade of blonde now and only began this process less than a week ago.

    If anyone has any tips on how I ought to go about getting some *very* resilient golden tones out of my hair, I'd appreciate it. I'd like to not bleach it again for a few weeks and I want it to be as white blonde as possible. Thanks!

    The State of My Hair (Pre-Bleach):
    - Natural level seven or eight blonde, been putting permanent level 2 dye on it for years
    - Pretty long with grown out bangs; going down my back, it hits right before the end of my ribcage.
    - Very, very thick. A stylist quoted me several hundred dollars to bleach my hair just once purely because she didn't want to fuck with it.
    - Fairly porous
    - The ends were bleached to a brown stage last summer to get an ombre look, but I think most of that had already been cut off
    - In pretty good condition otherwise in terms of ends, etc

    My Process:

    - I applied Rusk Elimin8 twice: once to dry hair, then another time right after the first application didn't lighten enough. I used a cap and blow dryer to help with the lift the second time. I shampooed twice during each rinse. The box says to rinse for a few minutes, but the woman who sold it to me said 15. I went for 20 both times. Rinsing is key to getting the desired results from these types of products.

    - I took a day off, then bleached the next. I used L'Oreal Quick Blue Bleach with 40 developer. I did a strand test with a less intense product and it was pretty useless. Blue bleach got much better results, and the 40 developer was my best option for getting all of that dark dye off my hair. If you tell a stylist you want to use 40, you'll probably be discouraged and rightfully so, because this shit is rough. I have burns on my scalp and my ears and was nauseated by the end of my second day bleaching. One application of it got my roots to white blonde and the rest of my hair to a strawberry blonde/orange shade.

    - I tried using a high lift toner after this (Clairol 12N), hoping it'd be enough to cancel out the orange, though knowing better. It took some of it out, but not all or even most. This also required a 40 volume developer.

    - I took another day off and left my hair in a conditioning repair mask for several hours. At this point, my scalp had only become a little irritated, mostly from the last step.

    - I bleached my hair again with the same mix. I should mention it takes twice as much time as bleach should process just to get bleach on my whole head. So I had to do it in sections.

    - When I dried my hair, it still had some orange-ish streaks so I went to Sally's and got Ardell's Red and Gold color corrector. I was told it would be enough to lift all of the red/orange/gold shades out, so I mixed it with my high lift toner and applied again. I'm not sure if the color corrector helped or not. I definitely had lighter hair and the gold/orange had lessened, but I'm not sure whether to attribute that mostly to the toner or the corrector. It didn't get as light as I wanted, but I want the lightest I can get, so I was kind of doomed for disappointment on some level.

    By the time I rinsed the final time, my scalp had had enough. It was reddish-purple and hot to the touch. I left a conditioning mask on for a bit last night and feel fine today, but I don't know that I would ever want to do that again. A lot of my issue is that, as I've said, I have a ton of fucking hair and it takes a long time to do, so the bleach mixture had more than enough time to fuck up my scalp. I had a little bit of breakage as I combed my hair, but it wasn't bad, surprisingly. I'll probably trim an inch or two to make sure my ends are healthy, but that's about it. I'm almost satisfied with my color results, but seeing as I had black hair less than a week ago, I think things turned out alright.
    Last edited by tuesdaymarie; 03-31-2012 at 07:47 AM.

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    Default Re: From black to blonde

    wow! your hair looks lighter and better than mine and I went to a professional 3 times over the last month to get it blonde from black..

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    Default Re: From black to blonde

    The only time I let a professional try to take my hair from black to blonde, he ruined it. From my experience, most don't want to cause or assume responsibility for the kind of damage that can come with this drastic of a color change, which is understandable. The only professional offers I got were to do it in highlights with half of my head at a time, which would have looked really, really awful, or else a single bleach session for $500 with 20 volume developer, which would, at best, turn my hair to a lovely mixture of dark orange and brown. Bleh.

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    Default Re: From black to blonde

    Hey! In regards to the golden/brassiness issue: go to Sally's and get a toner, I use "white lady" (I believe) by wella. You will need to also purchase a developer with it. I have heard that "virgin snow" by manic panic is awesome as well. Invest in a purple shampoo (Clairol shimmer lights) and use it 4/7 days out of the week until you feel it's not so "yellow", then cut down to maybe one or two days a week. These are some pics I took yesterday, my hair is wet right now.

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    Default Re: From black to blonde

    Cute pictures! I've heard good things about both of those toners, but the girl at Sally's convinced me to try the Clairol once since it was supposed to lift it even more. I don't think it was a great option for me though :/ I'll look into whether the Wella and Manic Panic are effective with 20 or 30 developer and maybe try one of them out in a week to two weeks. Someone else recommended shimmer lights to me as well, so I'll go by Sally's tomorrow and see if it's in stock. Thanks!

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    Default Re: From black to blonde

    I did see your thread a while back when I first contemplated going back to blonde. Actually, I read through the whole thing when I was trying to decide, haha. That sucks about the shampoos :/ I have naturally oily skin so I usually shampoo my hair daily or every other day, but I'm going to try just rinsing it and using deep conditioners/masks for at least a week. The bleach definitely dried my hair out a lot--the ends were so dry they were almost inseparable when I was trying to get the toner through it. Once I was able to get a mask on it though, it improved dramatically. My stylist friend said that using a purple shampoo as a once a week or every two weeks sort of thing helped to keep the lighter shades "pure," a big issue we have in the more rural areas of Texas, since some people use well water. She did say that I should definitely deep condition after if I use it though, so maybe waiting a week or two to try one AND deep conditioning will do the trick...

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    Featured Member Odette's Avatar
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    Default Re: From black to blonde

    Wow. You are lucky. The last person I knew that tried to bleach her hair from brown ended up with most of it falling out. Like she went from having beautiful hair halfway down her back to having to cut what was left into a bob. And that was from a hairstylist not her doing it by herself. I am impressed with your skills! But I am also a cool platinum blonde and instead of shampoo buy purple conditioner and use that more than the purple shampoo. It worked pretty well for me when I was left a bit brassy when I first started bleaching my hair.

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    Default Re: From black to blonde

    ^Wow, Kisca. Yours turned out really light. As you can probably see in my photo, my roots are very light, but by the time my hair hits my ears/chin, there's definitely a yellowy/golden tint to it. Do you think I'd have any luck getting it out if I mixed another toner with some 20 or 30 developer and the unred? I don't want to put it on my scalp right now, but those first few inches are basically white anyway...

    Quote Originally Posted by Odette View Post
    Wow. You are lucky. The last person I knew that tried to bleach her hair from brown ended up with most of it falling out. Like she went from having beautiful hair halfway down her back to having to cut what was left into a bob. And that was from a hairstylist not her doing it by herself. I am impressed with your skills! But I am also a cool platinum blonde and instead of shampoo buy purple conditioner and use that more than the purple shampoo. It worked pretty well for me when I was left a bit brassy when I first started bleaching my hair.
    Do you have any purple conditioner recommendations? I remember seeing a set at the professional beauty supply, but I'd have to wait till someone with a license would go with me.

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    Default Re: From black to blonde

    I didn't want to start a new thread about this bc it's not something new, but I've been trying to gradually lighten my dark hair to blonde. I started mid March l I got a full set of highlights by one stylist.. they were very skinny and hardly noticeable but I also had black dye in my hair that I liked to pull through the length to keep in super shiny. So then 3-4 weeks later I went to someone else and she did a partial, she def used a higher volume and really lightened me up. Went back to her in another 3-4 weeks for a full foil but due to the counter over scheduling she only did a partial. Got parts of it really light but then parts were still black, and I think she made the light parts too chunky bc she was rushed. So then 2 weeks later I went to somebody else bc I couldn't stand looking like a skunk. She did a full foil for me and I absolutely fell in love with her work and how she talked me though how to style and use the products and just everything. BUT she wants me to wait 6 weeks to come back and do a partial. I'm not sure if I made it clear that I want to be BLONDE.. I feel like my out of work appearance doesn't suggest I want something drastic as I'm rather conservative looking otc. This Fri will be 3 weeks and I really don't want to wait 3 more! I really want to go next week to someone.. I feel like each of the last 2 stylists were kinda puzzled by me so I'm thinking of going to someone new for a full, then back to the one I really like 4-5 weeks from then for a partial and trim and just saying I had a groupon or something silly lol. Is that a bad idea to do to my long hair?? I went blonde ages go, my aunt did it for me in her kitchen.. just did a few applications of a high volume over the course of a week.. or course it fried but I had short hair then anyways. This time I need to keep it in intact, but I feel like I have a hard time expressing that I want something that will look good itc in normal people terms, and that this new stylist thinks I just want to lighten up and keep my roots touched up. Is there any real reason besides regrowth to wait a whole 6 weeks??

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    Default Re: From black to blonde

    I had great luck lightening my long black hair to blonde... until the last time I toned it. I bleached the roots and then put a toner all over, got in the shower to rinse, and had breakage galore. I have extremely thick hair so most people can't really tell just by looking, but I had enough breakage to fill a normal person's ponytail and most of the hair that broke off was about 4-6 inches long. I had stylists try to lighten my hair through gradual highlighting a few years ago and I thought it looked awful, so I think I know the dilemma, but if I were you, I'd wait. I waited 3 weeks before the last time I did my roots and toned (and I only used a 30 volume developer with the toner), and I thought my hair would be fine. As it turns out, I don't even really like being blonde, so I lost a lot of hair for nothing.

    The biggest warning sign, from what I know, is if your hair seems mushy in the shower. If it does, you will probably have an experience like mine unless you wait. Mine felt soft, but not mushy... but it got fucked anyway. As a side note though, from my experience, most stylists don't want to put bleach all over. Working with the highlights makes it easier to control the level of damage. I only found one stylist who was willing to do bleach all over my long hair and she said it'd be $500 and she would only use a 20 volume developer. So even if you make yourself clear to your stylist, she might not be willing to do what you want.

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    Default Re: From black to blonde

    Sorry to threadjack...I'm going to the salon tomorrow to do the rest of my hair. I'll post pics and let you know how it turns out.
    "Fake tits are like Kevlar. They don't guarantee your chances of survival but they sure as hell improve it."
    Tempest

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    Default Re: From black to blonde

    Tues. I did NOT see pics!
    Also, what brand of conditioning mask did you use, where'd you get it? Thanks!
    Also, for your scalp, have you tried pure aloe (no alcohol)?
    See, I've been doing the opposite - I want my hair lighter, had highlights 6 mo. ago, but now middle through ends are too blond, (from the sun) from scalp to about my ears is too dark (I touch up my own roots). I used lightest brown, cause my roots are way too light, it looks good when highlighted over that, which I can't do right now (at the salon). So I dyed my middle through ends with a Roux rinse out water based product. Not thrilled w/results.
    Ok, I'll shut up now.
    Last edited by whirlerz; 06-12-2012 at 10:10 PM.

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    Default Re: From black to blonde

    I took the pictures down after a week or so. I can PM you some if you'd like. I used Ion's repair mask after bleaching. It comes in packets at Sally's for pretty cheap. I also really recommend Aquage's Healing Conditioner. It'll probably be ~$25 for a tub of it, but it's really good. I got mine at a professional beauty supply, but you can probably find it online or through a salon if you don't know anyone with a cosmetology license who can get it for you.

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    Default Re: From black to blonde

    Thanks, & I LOVE Aquage! I used their shampoo for damaged hair, & conditioner sample sizes, GREAT!

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    Default Re: From black to blonde

    Thanks for sharing Tuesdaymarie.. I def remember that mushy feeling from the last time.. ick. I guess I'll just wait for a few more weeks.. I'm trying to save money anyways. Conditioners I love, Joico K-Pak for restoring protein I got a tiny little bottle at CVS, Davines Vegetarian Miracle another protein one the first stylist sold to me.. this one I always have to really rinse out or else I get stiff gross hair, from the Argan oil line I use the restorative mask for moisture. The new stylist got me using from the salon Morrocain Oil brand (light blue label) the Hydrating Styling Cream as a leave in conditioner. I do a pump and a half of this with 3-4 drops of pure argan oil (got 2mL for $15 at health food store!!) through towel dried hair and it really saves my naturally frizzy hair even when heat styling. Will buy this stuff for the rest of my life!!

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