Have you bleached your hair before? Please enter!

[SheenaVee]

Hey ladies!
Wow, I haven't really been on the boards for ages.

I just have a question (or questions) for naturals - and even relaxed actually - that have bleached their hair.

I always dye my hair and right now my hair's dyed a really, really, really dark blue that basically just looks black.
I want to dye half of my hair - the back portion of it - either red or blue. I want it to be a dark red or a dark blue but not too dark so you can tell that it's actually red or actually blue, you know?
And I'm just gonna keep the top portion of my hair dark dark dark blue/black.

So, because my hair is now basically black, red and blue won't show up, right? So I'm thinking to maybe bleach that back portion that I want to dye first, to strip the colour, before I put the colour I want on it.

My questions are:
Is bleaching even the correct way to strip hair colour? Or is there another way?
How did you bleach your hair?
How did your hair respond to the bleach?
Did it dry out?
Did it break?
Did it shed excessively?
Did it severely damage it?erplexed

Because I want to do it, but if it's gonna compromise the health of my hair then I'd rather not.

Also, if you have any other advice or suggestions concerning bleaching hair I'll be glad to know them!

Thanks in advance!

 

[NikStarrr]

Is bleaching even the correct way to strip hair colour? Or is there another way?

It's basically the only way. There are some products like Color Fix and Color Oops that have worked for people. They are less damaging than bleach, supposedly.

How did you bleach your hair?

I only did a few small sections at the top/front of my hair.

How did your hair respond to the bleach?

My hair had been dyed black AND i'd henna'd twice in the past. So, it lifted the color, but it was bright red. I'm assuming it was the henna stain left behind as henna is hella permanent.

Did it dry out? No. Keep in mind, I'd only left the bleach on my hair 5-10 minutes. Was too scared to leave it on longer than that.

Did it break? Nope.

Did it shed excessively? Nope.

Did it severely damage it? Not at all that I can tell. I think ppl who's hair get damaged from bleach is because they probably wanted to achieve a shade in the blond family, thus having to leave the bleach on their hair a longer time. I'd just wanted my hair to be any color other than black. haha

 

[BellaLunie]

do a search for creolesugarface I remember her having step by step instructions using products from Sally's

 

[Ozma]

I used to use 60-80 lift peroxide to bleach my hair before using Manic Panic or Punky Colors. It was the only way I could get my hair fire-engine red.

Unfortunately, I left it on too long in my younger days, so my hair was a crispy critter

NikStar has it right; 5-10 minutes tops.

 

[KurlyNinja]

Is bleaching even the correct way to strip hair colour? Or is there another way?

Bleaching is really the only you'll be able to put colors like red and blue in your hair. Because usually red and blue dye's are rinses and will not show up on dark colored hair

How did you bleach your hair?

My beautician bleached it for me. She bleached my nape and did some highlights in my bangs

How did your hair respond to the bleach?

At first it was alright. It took it pretty nicely. But hair can only take so much

Did it dry out?

Eventually, yes, it did dry out. I did not know at the time, but bleach made my hair very porous and it was not holding any moisture

Did it break?

The bleached hair on my nape broke more severely than the hair highlighted in my bangs. I just think that is because my hair in the back is more fragile.

Did it shed excessively?

I did not experience any excess shedding, but breakage? Yes.

Did it severely damage it?

YES! I no longer have any bleached hair my head because it all broke off or because of severely split or damaged ends that had to be cut! If you think taking care of relaxed or permanently dyed hair is hard then bleaching is not for you. Bleaching does even more severe damage to your hair and you'll have to care for it like a baby! I did not know this at the time I had my hair bleached. Thankfully for me, my hair can withstand a lot! Otherwise I would have no hair left.

I will not lie, I did like it though. I bleached my hair in NOV of 2008. If you are trying to put a color rinse over it then your hair will have to be bleached to a very light blond almost white which is very damaging. Here are some pics of the color I put in it. It looked good, but was it worth it for my hair? Thats the question

 

[SheenaVee]

Yay! Seems like it would be ok. Thanks for the responses!

 

[SheenaVee]

Miryoku, yes it looked gorgeous! But now I'z scared again.erplexed

 

[blacksapphire]

bleaching my hair is what led me to lhcf. My hair became severly damaged and dry, it also broke off like crazy until I got fustrated and got a cut. Within two months I went from shoulder length hair to ear length hair.

However I did not have the great hair practices that I discovered on LHCF. I did deep condition once a week but that was it, did not moisturize of did protein treatments and raked combs through my hair from root to tip so I guess my hair was not it the best condition.

Knowing what I know about my hair now, If I was to bleach it again I'm positive that it would be fine.

 

[Minty]

"I want to dye half of my hair - the back portion of it - either red or blue. I want it to be a dark red or a dark blue but not too dark so you can tell that it's actually red or actually blue, you know?
And I'm just gonna keep the top portion of my hair dark dark dark blue/black."



Truthfully, what you are asking involves corrective color. You can not just go slap bleach on your hair and then expect your color (red/blue - or what have you) to come out picture perfect. There are many factors involved to corrective color and that includes maintaining the integrity of the hair. It could take a few days or a few visits to the salon to get to the shade you desire.

Please do not attempt to lift blue/black yourself.

 

[SheenaVee]

^^^ Thanks! I wasn't gonna do it myself, I was gonna do it in the salon, but I just wanted to see how it would affect my hair. I have no idea how to even attempt doing it myself :S

 

[VictoriousBrownFlower]

Is bleaching even the correct way to strip hair colour? Or is there another way? I believe bleaching is the only way to strip color but I'm no expert

How did you bleach your hair? I used one of those streaking caps that pull out little sections of your hair. Applied the mixed bleach to the sections and let sit for maybe 5 mins. It works really fast. I had med to light brown streaks which is what I was going for.

How did your hair respond to the bleach? My hair was absolutely fine after bleaching. I didnt notice any adverse effects but once again I only did streaks not all of my hair.

Did it dry out? At the time that I did the streaks I wasnt on my healthy hair journey so I did absolutely nothing to my hair. I was relaxed and already color treated before doing the streaks. So its hard to answer this question. I didnt know what moisturised hair felt like. My hair felt like it always did.

Did it break? Once again nothing noticeable to me but I will say they all ended up slowly fading away within a yr or two. Wether it was from natural shedding, breakage, etc... I dont know.

Did it shed excessively? Nothing more than ordinary...I never dc'd or used a leave in, moisturizer, etc...I was very cruel to my hair and maintained my look by going to the dominicans once a wk. So I was shedding but it was just from bad hair practices not the bleach.

Did it severely damage it? Not that I could tell. My hair maintained a nice looking and feeling shoulder length if not a little past. I think if you actually took care of your hair you wouldnt have any probs with the bleach as long as you dont strip all of the color. I think the lighter you go the more damage it could cause.

There was a girl on here named creolesugarface that did her whole head to platinum blonde and she ended up having to bc because it messed up her hair so much.

There's another lady on here that has some beautiful streaks all over her head in med to light brown and she's had no adverse reactions. I hope she comes in. Shes had streaks her whole journey and shes like bra strap-mid back. Her name is Bronze something I think??? or maybe butterfly something...I dunno but her hair is

Also streaks are safer than doing a whole chunk of hair. Why dont you try some streaks instead of doing the whole back of your hair.

Miryoku your streaks looked gorge.

 

[ConsiderCamille]

My beautician at the time bleached my hair and it took a couple months for it to become hay. It dried and broke ad I was forced to cut off 8 inches....BUT I DID NOT TAKE CARE OF IT. I was relaxed and didn't know about hair care at all, I used my flat iron all the time and never moisturized...ever! So I think with the proper care you will be fine. I just lightened my hair again yesterday and I think it'll be fine now that I know how to take care of it. Good luck!

 

[brittanynic16]

I used Klaleidscope(sp) or something like that. It was a bleach that was blue to counter act red tones. I only did it on the ends and then dyed it.

Here were the results.

I have trimmed most of it away but I still have some color there and it seems to be just fine and did not get any breakage from the process. I had done a few brown rinses but the product did get my hair bleach blond.

 

[hothair]

My questions are:
Is bleaching even the correct way to strip hair colour? Or is there another way? Pretty much, all the other products Colorfix etc are variations of the same...
How did you bleach your hair? Diferent ways- I've used Jerome Russll peroxide with the booster powder, but now use a store brand highlighter kit (Superdrug doesn't make my hair reddish)
How did your hair respond to the bleach? It's fine, I have to DC and up my protein but I've been doing this so long its what I know
Did it dry out? It can if you don't look after it, its definitely dryer than my new growth- pre LHCF I had bright blonde hair (no DCs ever) my hair grew but was just very dry
Did it break? It only broke when I tried to relax on top of it (pre LHCF) now I just stick to the colour)
Did it shed excessively? Not more than the usual I don't think.
Did it severely damage it?Like I said I'm sure there must be some "damage" as it altered some of my texture - yours MAY lossen up your curls a bit, but my hair doesn't break or shed any more than normal (from what I see on the board).

You may not need the bleaching kit those Colorfix packs are supposed to be milder since you want to go red/blue not blonde.

 

[SheenaVee]

Thanks so much for the responses! And Brittanynic your hair looked gorgeous! I think that's the red I want if I decide to do it red. And BronxJazzy maybe I will do streaks instead! Thank you!

 

[ShiShiPooPoo]

My hair broke off something awful when I got that done. I eventually cut it all off because I couldn't control the breakage. It was a beautiful color though!!!!

 

[NikkiGirl]

Hey,

I have bleached my hair before in the past. Actually two different times. When I was natural it was fine, my hair actually fell out out in the front when I bleached relaxed hair.

Is bleaching even the correct way to strip hair colour? Or is there another way? Umm, I don't know.
How did you bleach your hair? A stylist did it both times
How did your hair respond to the bleach? It fell out.
Did it dry out? Yep
Did it break? Yep
Did it shed excessively? No
Did it severely damage it? Yep. My hair was about shoulder length and was edges in the front were like an inch to two. I am not kidding. I had to gel them down everyday. It was horrible. But I learned that my hair cannot take a relaxer and bleach. So I just won't ever do that again.

But to be honest, my hair had always been pretty effortless, so I thought I could do all these things to it and not take care of it. I was so shocked when it fell out. I was so used to not having to really try with my hair. It was a big lesson learned. You cannot bleach, relax and not take proper care of your hair. As long as you take care of it, it should be just fine.

 

[dany06]

Is bleaching even the correct way to strip hair colour? Or is there another way?
In my opinion it is better to bleach your hair if you are trying to go 3 to 4 shades lighter than your natural hair color or blonde. Do not use box color because you dont know what volume peroxide is being used. For bright bright red and dark blue you will need to bleach your hair. You should also look into semi permanent colors like manic panic or special effects. I can only help you with the dark blue. For manic panic After Midnight I like After Midnight Blue and for special effects I like Blue Velvet. If you want the colors to stay kind of dark then dont bleach your hair too light. Just check out the website it might help you http://haircrazy.info/

How did you bleach your hair?
I bleached my hair like the directions stated to. I made sure I used the correct amounts of peroxide and bleach powder. Dont try to wing it by eyeing the amount. Also I used the correct volume of peroxide for the level of lift I was going for. Dont forget to use on the scalp bleach if you are wanting an all over hair color If you are doing highlights then off the scalp bleach will work. Make sure the developer has moisturizing properties and if you like use special oils in the mix too. You can use moroccan oil for this.

How did your hair respond to the bleach?
My hair felt silky and it had a pretty glow. It kind of looked like my hair sparkled. It looked super healthy but the color just didn't complement my skin tone.

Did it dry out?
I was using one of those conditioners that come in the box with hair color at the store. The dye may suck but those conditioners are awesome. I would buy the box just for the conditioner. When I stopped using the conditioner my hair didn't have as much shine nor felt as moisturized.

Did it break?
I never had breakage. I had split ends though. That is only after I was trying to grow the color out. In fact, I started using henna and cassia. My original goals was to dye my hair black with indigo but I fudged up the directions. My hair turned fire engine red but it felt super healthy. The henna and cassia left my hair shiny and smooth. When I ran out of henna and conditioner and tried dying over it with bigen that is when the splits started to occur.

Did it shed excessively?
Why would bleach make my hair shed unless it messed up my scalp? Now if you mean long peices of broken blonde hair then no.

Did it severely damage it?
I would say no. If the hair is kept moisturized you shouldn't have a problem. If you use lots of heat and you let you hair go dry a lot then you will start to see damage. If you are natural it shouldn't be a problem. If you are relaxed or texlaxed then make sure you condition both moisture and protien more often.