Preparing for Bleaching
Get your supplies. If you buy ingredients separately rather than in a kit, it is cheap. You can bleach your hair, then mix small amounts of the chemicals later to touch up your roots.
Consider doing a test bleach. You can get some hair from your hairbrush and go through the bleaching process with it to test how it will go. It's better to test it out first; that way, there won't be any surprise you'll have to grow out! You can also test a few strands in an inconspicuous spot on the back of your head.
Wash your hair a few days before you intend to bleach. Don't use styling products that may cause buildup. Leaving your natural oils on your head helps to protect your scalp and hair.
Oil your hair. The night before you intend to bleach, soak your hair in coconut oil and leave it overnight. Again, this helps protect your hair and scalp from damage.
Gather your equipment and some old towels, and ventilate the area. Once you begin, you must work quickly to avoid burns, so having it all there helps.
Brush out your hair. Carefully remove any tangles. Start by brushing out the ends, then gradually work your way up to the roots. If your hair is delicate, use a soft-bristle brush, a wide-toothed comb, or your fingers to work out tangles.
Protect your eyes, skin, and clothes. Put on your goggles and gloves! Add tape around them to protect your eyes. Wear a button-down shirt or a loose-fitting top so that you can take off your shirt to rinse your hair without getting bleach all over your clothes. You can also protect your clothes by wearing a hairdresser’s cape or draping an old towel around your shoulders.
Applying Bleach
Protect your skin with Vaseline. Liberally smear around your hairline, ears and neck with Vaseline to provide a barrier between the bleach and your skin.
Part your hair in 4 sections. Start by parting your hair down the middle from front to back into 2 equal sections. Then, divide each of those sections in half, making a part on each side just above your ear. Twist up each section and secure it with a plastic hair clip.
Mix your cream developer and bleaching powder. Pour 2-3 ounces (60-90 ml) of cream developer into a plastic mixing bowl. Add 2 ounces (60 ml) of bleaching powder (or 1 scoop of clear developer and 1 scoop of bleach), in a room with windows. Remember that you will get a higher lift if you use higher volumes, but they also have a higher risk of burning your scalp. When in doubt, follow the manufacturer's instructions regarding the quantities and mixing processes. The bathroom is probably the best place to bleach your hair, since you will have easy access to your shower and sink. Leave the door open and open the window or turn on the bathroom fan, if you have one. Do not use volumes 30 and 40 unless you really know what you're doing. It's possible to achieve a platinum blonde with lower volumes, all you need is patience.
Set a timer so that you know when you started the bleach application. Then commence mixing the bleach and developer mixture. Prepare to apply the mixture.
Start applying the bleach at the back with an applicator brush. DO NOT start at your roots, unless you want to come out with lighter roots and darker ends. You can put foil under a section of hair, paint on the bleach, then wrap up that section in foil if you like. Make sure it is hairdressing foil and not tin foil from the grocery store or you could damage your hair.
Add bleach all over your head. Keep 1 ⁄2 inches (3.8 cm) away from your roots initially. After you have finished the rest of your hair, apply the bleach mix to your roots, being careful not to massage it into your scalp too much. Avoid putting the bleach directly onto your scalp. If you do, it will sting or burn a little bit, and it will hurt a bit. If it burns a lot, this is a chemical burn. Rinse it out immediately.
Adjust your process for darker spots, if desired. You may wish to put more bleach, earlier, on whichever part of your hair is darker. So, if your roots are dark and the rest of your hair has been bleached before, bleach the roots for 15 or 30 minutes longer than the rest of your hair. If your roots are light or blonde and the rest of your hair is darker, paint the dark bits first.
Waiting and Rinsing
Cover your hair. Put a shower cap, aluminum foil, or clear/white plastic bag over your hair. Make sure it's not covering your face, but is over all of your hair. Then tie it at the nape of your neck, making sure all of your hair is tucked underneath the bag. If you want a higher lift, use aluminum foil instead of a plastic bag. If you are using a grocery bag, make sure the side with printing on it is NOT against your head, or you will wind up with the color of the print processed into your hair a bit.
Leave it like this for 40 minutes. Start timing from when you first started applying the bleach. Check your timer. If you leave it on for longer, it won't get any lighter, it will only damage your hair more. Check the color all the time. Once at a pale yellow, you must wash off the bleach. Don't leave bleach on for over an hour. Don't bleach any more once at pale yellow or your hair will break. If you’ve gone as long as you safely can and your hair is still not pale yellow, then rinse it out, tone your hair, and wait a month to re-bleach your hair.
Rinse out the bleach when your hair is light enough. Wash out with a PH neutralizing shampoo. This will stop any further acidic or basic chemical reactions from occurring on your head. This will formally end the bleaching process. You ‘’must’’ wash out the bleach mixture completely, or else you will damage your hair. After a while, the developer and powder stop reacting and your hair won't bleach anymore, only become more damaged. If you over-bleach, your hair might end up feeling a little bit straw-like and brittle. If you're in doubt, rinse it out. Make sure to use a shampoo and conditioner designed for bleached blonde hair to eliminate any yellow and make your hair bright platinum and white. Any purple shampoo is fine. Remember purple counteracts yellow, makes it white, and eliminates brassiness.
Finishing the Process
Add toner/dye if desired. Once hair is pale yellow, it is time to tone or color, if desired. Toner is semi-permanent hair dye that can counteract some of the unwanted hues from bleaching. For a natural platinum look, dye it with a natural blonde mixture with 20 developer, since the hair is already bleached. Leave it on for 25 minutes. For pale silver platinum, use a platinum dye with 20 developer, and leave on for 25 minutes. For yellowish-white, leave it the way it is after completely stripping all the color with the bleach. Use a lot of purple shampoo to eliminate and dull yellow or dye it a level 12 color. Leave on for 25 minutes. For white blonde or white use a white blonde toner, and leave on 25 minutes. Many of these toners are semi-permanent, so the color will fade and you can redo the toner the following week.
Condition, condition, condition. Make sure your hair gets repair treatment and keratin protein and softening treatments. User a deep conditioning at least once a week.
Use a protein treatment to strengthen your hair. Bleaching weakens your hair a lot, so adding protein will make it stronger and less susceptible to breakage. This takes a few hours to harden and about half an hour to wash out, so you must allow time to do it properly if you choose it.
Following up with More Bleaching
Don't bleach again right away. If you under-bleach, and your hair is an orange tone, you must wait a month in order to avoid damage to your hair and skin and then bleach it once more. While you’re waiting, you might try using a blue shampoo to balance out the orange tones in your hair. Follow the directions on the bottle to determine how often you should use the shampoo and how long you need to leave it in your hair.
Repeat the bleaching process after 1 month for even lighter hair. Apply once a month, until your hair is a light yellowish color. After re-bleaching, shampoo with a pH balancing shampoo, apply toner as desired, and be generous with conditioning treatments. After about 40 minutes (depending on your toner), wash, condition and dry as before.
Be careful with the whole process. Do not bleach or dye your hair for more than an hour at a time, and always leave a month in between for processing time for your hair and scalp to heal. Otherwise, your hair will be damaged, dull, and frizzy. Your hair will become brittle and tend to break, and there's a possibility your head will be covered in scabs, which will develop into bald spots. Always condition in between! Be patient.
Rock your new blonde locks. Make sure you keep up the good care of your hair, since bleaching can be a rough process. Condition often and use protein treatments to strengthen your hair and prevent breakage.
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