Bleaching your hair at home

minxcat · May 18, 2010

Hello everyone!

I must firstly apologize if this thread has been started before but I'm just wondering if you all can give me tips on bleaching hair at home. I'm thinking of using the Manic Panic's Flash Lightning bleach. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

x

Orangeeyecrayon · May 18, 2010

I am super against bleaching at home since i have melted my hair before.

What i would suggest is using a lower volume of developer (ie use 20 volume rather than 40 volume) since with bleach things can get out of control very quickly.

another big thing i suggest is do not keep it on the full time. (this is also a time when a test patch is vital, since as i said bleach does get out of control very fast.

Make sure you have a toner, but wait a few days before using it so your hair can heal, because most likely your roots will lighten more than the rest of your hair (due to the heat from your scalp)

Also, this is the most important of them all, if you MUST bleach your hair at home, if it does not come out as light as you would like do NOT just do it again. That is a recipe for disaster (and is exactly what i did when i melted my hair)

pretty_pink13 · May 21, 2010

Boy have I done myself in with all the crazy bleaching stuff at home. I found a good routine though it sounds extreme but it works for me:

I use a highlighting kit, like Revlon frost & Glow or Loreal Feria highlighting kit in the lightest one. I apply that all over or usually now its just the roots, you may need to use two boxes if you have long thick hair. I leave this on for 1 hour. Yes one hour, I get the best color with this, no orange or brass. Then I wash out.

I usually wait the next day or so and then I color my hair with Garnier Nutrisse Nourishing Hair Color Creme - Extra Light Natural Blonde 100. Or any hair color equivalent, sometimes I go cheap with the Clairol Balsam in Ultra light natural blonde 599. Why do I color my hair twice with 2 different products? With trial and error this has worked the best for me as in getting the best blonde without the brass and the orangey stuff.

If you want, you can go pro and find someone to bleach your hair, but a lot of people I have gone to either won't for fear of damaging your hair, or they turn it orange.

Use my routine at your own risk, I have moussy brown ashy hair, also very fine and this has worked for me. If you try and it fails, please don't hold be responsible!!

charlybrown · May 21, 2010

I also tried to do it myself, bad thing to do. Just let the pros get that job for you because I really mess it good.

I ran to my stylist that looked me with a horror face

/emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />, hopefully he fixed it hehe, sort of...

loveiswatching · May 21, 2010

Bleach is bleach and is going to do damage no matter how it turns out (blonde or orange)..

But, for afterwards, the products from ApHogee are a MIRACLE for bleach damage. I just recently went to a salon and had heavy blonde highlights put in my hair over 2 years of brown dye build up (trying to go back to natural color). She did a fantastic job, but there's still nasty damage.. I'm using ApHogee's 2 minute keratin treatment, pro vitamin leave-in conditioner, and shampoo for damaged hair, and its working wonders. My hair ended up getting the classic stretchy, spongy/mushy feel when wet, but the ApHogee products are quickly helping to repair that.

They also have a 2-step protein treatment that they recommend using a week BEFORE bleaching to help keep hair strong during the process, then for immediately after, and every 4-6 weeks after that until hair is healthy again.

I'm telling you, read some reviews on this stuff. It's fabulous.