by Heather Craig

Created on: June 27, 2009   Last Updated: December 08, 2010

You don't have to be a professional or spend loads of money to bleach your hair. You can do it yourself fast and of very low cost. Lets assume you are bleaching your hair for one of the following reasons: 1) You would like to achieve very light blonde hair or platinum blonde hair color. 2)  To lighten your hair color before applying a dye lighter than your existing color. Below are my tips to you coming from many years of experience.

For most of us, bleaching is NOT a simple one-step process. It takes time, patience, and lots of hair conditioning! You must not assume that bleaching your hair can be done in one application (for people starting out with a dark brown/red or black color,) the bleach on its own will not make your hair platinum or close to. Instead, it will work as a stripping agent and transform your hair into a blotchy mess full of oranges and yellows (sometimes with a hint of green.) This initial treatment will serve as the first step to achieve your goal of ultra light blonde color. You should also be extra sure that your hair is in near perfect condition before applying the bleach as it will cause less damage this way. Bleach eliminates most of the protein from your hair. But not to worry! There are things you can do to refresh your hair. A specific product called "Henna 'n Placenta, yes, that would be natural animal placenta. It sounds a bit gross and maybe a bit taboo to boot, however, Ive found that it works wonders.

Since the ends of your hair are much more susceptible to damage than the roots, (this is because all your hairs natural oils designed to keep your hair healthy, usually linger at your root area) while bleaching, try to apply as little as possible to the ends of your hair. After the bleach has sat in your hair for the desired time and it is time to rinse it out, that's where the real fun starts. Your hair will feel like soft, stringy, straw. Very weak. And it is extremely delicate. So try to minimize any potential damage in the weeks following the bleach. Do not style with heat at all, if possible. It will result in a big disaster, such as your hair breaking and even so much as falling out in tiny bits as you are brushing or working with it. You must be sure to deep condition it, depending on the texture of your hair, once a day or once every two days will be necessary.

You will most definitely need a very light NATURAL blonde hair dye after the bleaching process. I say natural blonde dye because colors like ash or champagne will typically turn your hair gray or pale green after bleaching. And sun or golden blonde will turn your hair into a bright yellow nightmare. To maintain light or platinum blonde hair, if your natural color is very dark, you will need to regularly bleach, which can and will seriously damage your hair. For already blonde or light colord hair root-lightening is as simple as an ultra light blonde hair dye (ammonia/bleach FREE.)

If you're starting out the bleaching process with dark brown/red or black hair, it will turn orange and yellow the first time around. It may even turn green on already blonde hair. One bleach treatment can only do so much on dark hair. You will need to bleach it two or even three or four times for your hair to become light enough to then apply an ammonia/bleach free blonde hair dye. I strongly recommend "ultra light natural blonde" by Revlon. It will keep your hair very light in color but add a natural look to it.

Good luck!

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