16 December 2013

From ginger to blonde...in two days

Disclaimer: I know blonde hair looks so beautiful I GET IT. I would advise you to NOT bleach your hair. It's seriously not worth it. To clarify - do not do a full head bleach on your hair. Please. That's the serious bit done! Seriously though, if you wanna be blonde do it over a couple of months via highlights, truuussst me. I had waist length, thick glorious hair, I now have layered, limp, dull dark brown boob length hair that is brittle and weak. I did have a great summer as a blonde though and yes I did have more fun. You have been warned! I am now not responsible for any hair disasters ok xx

WHAT I USED
Jerome Russell Bblonde cream peroxide 40% vol
Jerome Russell Bblonde powder bleach
Garnier Nutrisse British Blondes Collection 10.31 x2
Superdrug Ash Blonde wash out toner


My hair had been stripped twice, and dyed constantly for about 4 years at this point. The condition was brilliant though, and was thick and lustrous. Like Severus Snape's lovely locks. My natural colour is like a dull golden brown/ginger but I dyed it every shade of orange and red.

For some reason, a week before a festival, I decided it would be a brilliant idea to go blonde. I had a romantic image of Courtney Love or Marilyn Monroe in mind. and despite never even picking up a bottle of bleach in my life I thought it would be a great idea. I used 1x bottle of Jerome Russell Bblonde cream peroxide 40% vol for every two sachets of Jerome Russell Bblonde powder bleach. Mixed it in a bowl according to the easy instructions and it was lilac paste. I started applying it at the roots and then mixed another batch for the mid length and ends, due to the length, similar to hair dye application. I then wrapped my head in clingfilm to trap heat, and speed the bleaching process up a bit. After around 35 minutes (don't be scared if your head is really hot) I rinsed the bleach out with normal shampoo and conditioner. It didn't feel particularly weak, but was very stretchy at the ends. Like an elastic band. I then went to bed and gave my hair a quick 12 hour rest. 
L-R start colour, first bleach, first tone/dye, second bleach, second tone/dye, result!

I wasn't satisfied with the fox blonde result after the first bleach, but I was impressed with how light it was. Years of red dye had stained my hair and some parts of it were a faded pink. It was brassy and ew so the next mor I tried the brilliant Superdrug wash out ash blonde toner (£1.29 I think) and dyed it with Garnier Nutrisse British Blondes Collection 10.31. This made it a little better but not perfect so the next morning I decided to bleach again. After another half hour, my hair started to snap off at the end so I washed the bleach out with the toner again. The hair was now almost white at the root and yellowish towards the ends so I did another box of the previous dye through it. My hair was beyond traumatised at this point, but I had come so far and felt obliged to continue.

Success! After some more Superdrug toner my hair was now an acceptable blonde shade and was still on my head. It was much thinner from the chin down though, and felt like synthetic doll hair and was very stretchy. The colour was even though, and didn't smell weird and felt reasonably soft so I was pretty happy! Here's a before and after! 







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