Guide to Coloring Your Hair Blonde

Many women color their hair blonde and then want to know why it did not work, or why it comes out orange. Well I am going to give you some hints on how to get what you want. I have been a hairstylist for ten years, and I have seen a lot of reasons why this happens. To start I will tell you the three types of lighteners 1. Oil Bleaches, 2. Cream Bleaches, 3. Powder Bleaches.

Everyone has levels to their hair and you must know what level you are before you start.

I am going to give you the levels. You start with 10 being platinum blonde or pale yellow, 9 is yellow 8 yellow gold 7 gold 6 orange gold 5 orange 4 red orange 3 red 2 red brown 1 dark red brown or black. These are your underlining pigments, and are what you have to lift to get a blonde.

Oil bleaches- are the mildest of all bleaches and have the least amount of lightning action.
This bleach is used to only lift a few levels. You will not get a blonde if you are darker then a level 7. As you see, in the scale level 7 it is close to pale yellow or platinum blonde., so I do not recommend this product.

Cream lighteners- are the most popular because they are easy to apply and do not run. This is strong enough to do a pastel blonde yet mild enough to use on the scalp. You can be around a level 5 to use this product. If you are doing this your self at home, I would recommend this product, although you might need a toner for brassiness, but we will get to that later.

Powder Bleaches- like cream are strong enough to do pastel blondes but are too strong to go on the scalp. This is more for highlights with foil or for the cap. This is also a professional product although it is in a lot of beauty supply stores and you can still buy it. This is where people go wrong.

Now we have established what kind of products are out there I will tell you how to use them. First, if your hair is colored it might be harder to lift your color to a lighter stage.

So if you color your hair dark or red, I would go to a professional to go lighter, otherwise you might burn your hair. These colors stain the hair and are almost impossible to get out with a mild product. If you haven't colored your hair or you color it a light brown you can do it at home. Go to a beauty supply store, not Wal-Mart or the grocery store, that is where you buy food not hair color. You want to get the following cream bleach and developer. Developer comes in three main stages, 20vol, 30vol, or 40vol, and nine times out of ten you want 30vol. Vol20 won't lift enough and vol40 is to strong without professional help. Depending on what level you determined your hair was is how long you leave it in. You should have a spray bottle and rag near by to test it. Start with 30 minutes then check it, and never leave it in more then an hour. This is why people come out with orange or yellow hair they get scared and wash it out to fast. If after an hour it is still not the color you want and it is too brassy then take it off anyway this is where a toner comes in.

You want to use a beige toner this is color that is a level 9 or 10, and you put it in just like if you were to color your hair. You need to put it in with wet hair, and do not condition your hair after washing the bleach out or the toner will not take. This will hide the brassiness and you should have the exact color you want.