So.. My hair has been dyed with several box dyes in order to achieve a neutral/ashy medium brown color. But every time it came out either too dark or too brassy. A bleach process seemed absolutely necessary. I had to get rid of all that color buildup.
Still, I'm trying to grow my hair super long and I can't afford any kind of damage or at least not a major damage. So I did my research and decided a bleach bath (bleach shampoo/french shampoo..etc) is my best bet and I was right. I'll tell you why later.
So without further ado, I went on and gathered my ingredients:
- Any shampoo you like, preferably a white/clear one and if it's a clarifying shampoo then it's even better. Don't use conditioner!
- Your bleach powder
- Volume developer (preferably 30 if your hair is dark but no less than 20)
- Food coloring (optional): blue/blue-green to tone brunettes and blue-purple for blondes.
Next, grab your ingredients: mix the bleach with the developer as you would regularly do, then when your mixture is ready, add about as much shampoo and few drops of the food coloring you need so that you end up with colored concoction that's half (or less than half) bleach and half shampoo. Apply it to the ends first and work your way up. Leave the roots till the end as they develop a lot faster.
Leave it on initially for 20 minutes, then check the color. If it's not light enough for you then leave it on for additional 10-15 minutes. Don't leave it on for more than 45 minutes!
Rinse it off and you should be good to go. I mean your hair will be light enough for you to dye it the right color and it will be relatively toned thanks to the food coloring but you'll still need to tone it with a box dye and/or a toner.
Remember this has to be a relatively gentle and gradual.If your hair isn't light enough after the first bleach bath process, wait at least one week, and redo it without skipping the oiling step because it's extremely important.