I bleached my hair!

I bleached my hair over a week ago since I wasn't going to have a hair appointment for a while and I already had 2 inches of root growth. It wasn't looking pretty so I was feeling adventurous.

First I did a little research. I knew that with how dark my hair was, aside from the highlights, I could only use bleach to lighten my hair. I was able to find many videos and few good articles on at home hair bleaching. The article that I used on the day I bleached my hair was this one.

It was very descriptive and was set up for a few different scenarios depending on the person's hair. It even has a list of products to use while bleaching and after the whole process. I used some of the products suggested but I did my own research to find out what would be best for my hair type.

 Here is a picture of all the products I purchased. These can all be found at Sally's Beauty Supply.

For the bleaching process I used Ion Color Brilliance Powder Lightener, Clairol Pure White 30 Volume Creme Developer, and two packets of Ardell Red Gold Corrector Plus.

After bleaching I had to tone my hair. The article I got most of my info is a bit dated and Wella no sells toners with names. When I went to Sally's I couldn't remember the number of the toner I wanted so I just went with what sounded right.

I think there are five toners, T10 Pale Blonde (the one I got), T11 Lightest Beige Blonde, T14 Pale Ash Blonde, T18 Lightest Ash Blonde, T35 Beige Blonde. They have the same names for the hair color so you have to make sure there is a T before the number.

After some further research I found that T10 is actually Ivory Lady (yay!) and T18 is White Lady. This does explain why my hair came out to be such a light color.

This is my hair after being brushed out. I know it looks crazy and fried but it was actually quite soft. Looking back I wish that I had kept it that color but I freaked and so did my mom so we went to CVS so buy a darker blonde color.

I was able to find Clairol Perfect 10 in Light Ash Blonde. It just made my hair have a beige yellowish blonde color. I like it but I definitely want to lighten it so that I can have pastel hair in August. For now I am deep conditioning every time I wash my hair so that it gets more life.

This is my hair in natural light and straightened after using the Clairol Perfect 10. As you can see, it is still VERY blonde. I completely love it when it is this color. But for it to pick up a good light color I will need it lighter.

Artificial light and my hair is "curly". This is as good as it curls at the moment since it is still recovering. I like the slight wave though. It's a nice change.

Here you can see that my hair is a lot lighter at the roots and darker as it goes down. I blame that mostly on my root growth since it is easier to bleach virgin hair than it previously processed.

I also have a few streaks of orange on the top of layer of my hair because that is where I had the bleach for the least amount of time. Once my roots grow out again I will bleach those pieces again. I may use a toner too just to lighten up the color.

To get back some life into my hair I have been using Ion Color Defense After-Color Sealer and L'Oreal Natures Therapy Mega Moisture Nurturing Creme. Also for shampooing I've used Clairol Shimmer Lights Original Conditioning Shampoo, but I want to try the LUSH purple shampoo if it's still being sold.

Well, this has been a productive and non-rambly blog post. Maybe my next will be about my plans to try pastel hair and new makeup styles. We'll see!