I want white hair. Help?!

[Luna12345]

Hi everyone.
I have been coloring my hair blue black for approximately 2 years now and need a change. I wanted to try something I've never done before so I thought of white. My natural hair is dark brown. It is currently colored black. I have a light olive complexion and dark brown eyes. Do you think it's possible to achieve this at home? And do you think it could look good with my dark eyes?
Has anyone here colored their hair white or close enough?

[AnqeIicDemise]

I do know that it takes a lot of bleaching to get it to get it light enough to tone white properly. I've seen it be done both on accident and on purpose. There's a lot of damage that happens in the process... and that's with short, virgin hair. If your hair is longer than collar bone and it has been dyed (especially in such a dark color as blue black) I strongly recommend that you go to a professional for a consult and having it done. DIYing something like this can be extremely tricky and the potential for a horrendous mistake to happen is much too high. At least in my opinion.

I've made the mistake of trying to dye my hair blue on my own and the bleaching process, itself, was my undoing. Turns out I have a light of red undertones and my hair goes quite brassy super fast... I wasn't applying the bleach evenly so I got patchy.

I'll dye my hair any color at home, but I refuse to bleach it.

Ps: the only reason my room mate gets her hair bleached that white at home is because our other roomie is a licensed cosmetologist and he does it for her. And even then, I've seen it go a little wrong too. (Too much purple shampoo toned it grey.)

[cathair]

My hair is dark brown and I couldn't even get it to blonde. A weird honey comb orange was about the best I could manage, which broke and snapped off. I would imagine it would be even hair if you hair is dark brown and then coloured black. You'd probably have to try to remove the black with a colour remover, then bleach many times over a long period of time and then use purple toner, I would imagine. I'm sorry that isn't very helpful for what you are trying to achieve, it's just fair warning really. It would probably be easier to wait until you naturally go white!

[AnqeIicDemise]

My hair is dark brown and I couldn't even get it to blonde. A weird honey comb orange was about the best I could manage, which broke and snapped off. I would imagine it would be even hair if you hair is dark brown and then coloured black. You'd probably have to try to remove the black with a colour remover, then bleach many times over a long period of time and then use purple toner, I would imagine. I'm sorry that isn't very helpful for what you are trying to achieve, it's just fair warning really. It would probably be easier to wait until you naturally go white!

Yeah, I forgot to mention that sometimes, you just can't go white all at once. You'll have to take it in steps if you want to keep your length.

The only person I saw who managed it white in one go also destroyed his hair. But he didn't care because his hair was like... three inches all over. He rocked the white look for about two weeks then shaved his hair. Lucky dude. (He said he fell asleep with the bleach on and woke up when it was burning a bit... about two hours later.)

[biogirl87]

Luna12345, I have not colored my hair any color (unless the sun lightening the ends naturally counts), but I think most people here say that it's not really possible to go from black to white without quite a bit of damage to your hair. About whether it could look good with your dark eyes, it really depends. I think most people who have light olive complexion have cool skin undertone (and therefore look best in cool colors), but even then you have to be careful. In general, if you look best in clear, warm or muted, cool colors, I don't think you would look good with white hair if you have dark brown eyes as there would not be harmony in your face (I have a hard time imaging someone with light olive complexion and dark brown eyes coloring their hair white and looking harmoniously if they look best when they wear clear and warm colors or when they wear muted and cool colors). Usually only people who are winter seasons and people who are light springs or light summers look good with white hair, but I don't know of any people who are light seasons' who have light olive green complexion. What colors do you tend to get compliments when you wear them?

[Luna12345]

I get compliments when i wear lavendar, black, royal blue and red.

[Firefox7275]

I'd be amazed if you can achieve white from black without completely frying your hair first. White is hugely damaging, it means getting rid of all melanin pigment which means bleach can start eating away at the structural proteins. And that is assuming you can even shift all the black, it's notorious for hanging around and can cause cuticle staining which won't ever bleach out.

[Wavelength]

Also worth considering -- the upkeep would be horrendous.

[jillosity]

I agree with everyone here that it would be quite difficult to get your hair white and add a hair coloring story of my own. When I was a gothy teen back in the 80's (yes I'm pretty old) I of course started out with black hair, and kept it black for about a year and a half and I was at about APL, maybe a bit longer in places due to awesome 80's angled cuts. My friend Tammy had very short hair that she bleached and dyed amazing colors, or she'd just bleach it and dye just the tips of her bangs bright turquoise or fuchsia, then she'd crimp and hair spray her whole head. I was very envious, I was bored with my boring black hair and we decided that we'd bleach my hair and dye it purple. We got the bleach and she mixed it up and we waited, she tested some strands and we waited some more, we finally washed it out because my scalp was feeling tingly.

Because I had dyed my hair black for so long, the ends only lightened to a very deep blackish purple. Then up the length the color changed to brown, then red, then orange, then yellow and finally, right near my scalp, to pure white. I had sunset hair. It was really something and looked pretty cool in a french braid at work that night, luckily I wore a hat as part of the uniform. I did end up with purple hair though, eventually.

[Jenny31557]

If you don't know if you would look good with white hair, then I would suggest you try on a white wig and see what you think. :)

[Luna12345]

GOOD IDEA..I'm gonna try a white wig on first.
I have no intention of frying my hair so what if I take it slowly and do it over a period of several months. ..first going brown, then light brown, then blond to light blond..then white. ..I really don't mind if the process takes a long time and I'm not too worried about roots..my roots usually lighten up real well.
So has anyone done it over a period of several months.
I'm just really in love with hair like Anderson cooper's.

[MidnightSunlite]

Sunset hair.. that sounds beautiful! And yeah going all white or as close to as you can will be damaging to your hair.. sure you can lessen it alittle but it will still damage your hair. And you'll have to keep it bleached everytime there is new growth less you want dark brown roots. Like someone said, you have to do it in steps since your hair is dark already (naturally).. not mention you have dyed it black so it's going to be hard to get that out.

[biogirl87]

I get compliments when i wear lavendar, black, royal blue and red.Luna12345, in theory you could look good with white hair, getting there practically would be damaging to your hair I think.

[SerinaDaith]

My wicked self says just wait, time will do it for you without the damage. The truth is that bleaching causes damage, there are some lovely folks about here who have methods to help defray some of that damage like applying coconut oil and then applying bleach over it. I quit the dye and bleach before coming here so I have never given it a go myself but that's all I can really offer.

[Kittney]

My boyfriend tried it over a period of time once. His hair is naturally brunette, shoulder length, it was dyed black when he wanted it white. It was bleached for short periods of time about once a month for a few months. Then, his hair fell off. If you are going to try it I recommend letting the black fade or using a color remover and then bleach but it didn't work for us when we just tried to slowly lighten his hair with just bleach.

[Audhumla]

Just thought I should restate that hair that has been dyed dark will turn patchy weird orange and/or green when you bleach it.
From what I understand you have to use something like unred to get that residual colour from the dye out, even if you bleach out all of your natural colour.
There's no guarantee of success. It depends on what kinds of hair colour you've had. With some, you could bleach yourself bald and the hair would still be orange or green.
You really have to weigh up the pros and cons.
I think you should stop and wait for 2 weeks and read some more stories of people experiences bleaching (especially hair that has been dyed dark previously). If you think you can live with the consequences then go for it but really think about it. Measure your hair, think about your growth rate and how long it's going to take to grow out if it all goes wrong. Just remember if your hair is already even a little bit long you could be living with the effects of trying to get white hair for up to 2 years just at shoulder length.
I'm not trying to be a buzz kill but I've read so many stories about people who completely fry their hair trying to get it platinum blonde and they end up not only with weird-coloured hair that's nothing like what they pictured but it's also horribly damaged and they regret it really deeply and have to look at the results of their mistakes on their head for years afterwards. It's not a nice experience for them.
Just trying to help :blossom:

[woodswanderer]

Ok...ignorant bleachophobe question here.:confused: I don't really think I understand the idea of bleaching gradually and having success that I sometimes hear about on this forum. Since everyone's hair is already technically dead and unable to recuperate from any damage....what benefit does the waiting period offer?

[Audhumla]

Ok...ignorant bleachophobe question here.:confused: I don't really think I understand the idea of bleaching gradually and having success that I sometimes hear about on this forum. Since everyone's hair is already technically dead and unable to recuperate from any damage....what benefit does the waiting period offer?

Personally . . . I don't think it makes a huge amount of difference. The bleach will still be damaging.
As Kittney said some people can try it a little at a time and still end up with trashed hair.

Maybe when you go to a hairdresser they offer a bleaching process with a high concentration bleach in a single session or two sessions with a less concentrated bleach. In that case a higher concentration bleaching product might do damage that even multiple treatments with a less concentrated one couldn't do. That might give the impression that splitting up the time you treat your hair in total into sessions would be gentler . . to me I just can't see how that would do less damage than adding the times of that treatments and doing it all in one go. Then again the human body is pretty complex and sometimes understanding how certain things behave in response to chemical treatments only comes with experience.

[LadyCelestina]

I never bleached my hair but my mom does so I thought I would chime in - I don't know if it helps with damage to the length,but bleach shouldn't be left on too long or it'll eat your scalp off.Same goes for higher-than-normal concentrations of bleach,or how do I put it.

If you were to bleach black hair white in one session,I imagine you'll need to do both.

[CurlMonster]

I don't think it's a good idea. Bleaching hair is always damaging. Even hair that is lightened from blonette to light blonde is fragile and requires careful handling (part of my hair has been bleached this much, and it feels noticeably different from the rest of my hair) and that is only a fraction of the bleaching that would be required for you go from black to white. Your hair will be very high-maintenance if you do this - not only will the roots be tricky to keep up with, but the ends will need more frequent trims/S&D and more deep treatments.

I suppose what would be important for you to think about is how much the colour matters to you vs the condition. If you could no longer easily run your fingers through your hair, had more split ends, and your hair was no longer very shiny or soft, would it be worth it if it were white? Even if your hair is not 'fried' by the process (which is a very real danger) it will still be damaged. I think you need to consider whether the colour will be worth the considerable damage.

You can always get a beautiful white wig, and wait for one day when your hair is naturally that colour! :)

[Flor]

GOOD IDEA..I'm gonna try a white wig on first.
I have no intention of frying my hair so what if I take it slowly and do it over a period of several months. ..first going brown, then light brown, then blond to light blond..then white. ..I really don't mind if the process takes a long time and I'm not too worried about roots..my roots usually lighten up real well.

Ok, how is it that you're not too worried about your roots? You said your natural color is dark brown. In several months you'll have an inch of new growth. And considering that you can't go from dark brown to white in one step, then even the monthly upkeep on your roots will be an incredibly time and effort consuming process. That assuming that you even manage to get your current length to white in the first place.

And like someone else said, hair damage cannot be reversed. It can be made to look better with certain products, but it's not a live organism, it cannot get restored from within. There's not much of a point of stretching damaging hair treatments over the course of months. Accumulating effect will still add up, plain and simple.

Why not just buy a white wig and have fun with it? Chances are you're gonna get bored of it soon enough anyway.

[Naiadryade]

A few years back I bought a beautiful long white wig which I used when I worked as an entirely iridescent sparkly white human statue. I felt so elegant in it. I think it was around classic length or maybe mid-thigh on me, and had these wonderful 2c curls. I loved it. Maybe getting something like that would fulfill your desire without you needing to bleach your hair and lose the health of your length.

[Agnes Hannah]

you could try highlights to see how your hair coped with the colour change but in much smaller quantities, or streaks maybe. Another alternative is to use streak clip ins in white to see the effect. Hope you find what you are looking for.

[Rio040113]

I agree with the idea of a wig, the damage bleaching to white will be forever, the colour won't be - you'll get roots and will eventually want to change colour again, the damage incurred will be the only lasting thing. I don't know how long your hair is right now but I'm willing to bet it'd take more than a few months to grow back what you could lose! A wig would be a very good bet, imho.

If it helps any, I once had my hairdresser bleach in a few streaks and under my bangs/fringe, I wanted them pure white so I could temporary dye over them in super bright colours (which I did eventually, for a very short time). My hair is naturally a pretty dark brown with slight red undertones and it was, you guessed it, dyed raven black at the time. For the sake of a few measly streaks I had bleach on my head for over 10 hours straight. She had to make up 3 different mixes, each stronger than the last (the first was strong to begin with!) and she had the hairdryer on it too. My hair ended up barely a light blonde and my scalp bled! My hairdresser was literally begging me to stop and refused to take it any lighter in the end because of how horribly it was going, she told me she'd never had bleach on anyone that long in 1 go before (she's a good family friend and I was a stubborn teenager, she still tells the story with horror almost 7 years later and refuses to let me bleach ever again, I love her haha!!). Anyway, a month later I was left with 3-4 inch long sort of blonde pieces all over my head where the hair snapped off. Brilliant :lol: Luckily I was able to hide it somewhat because my hair was long and only the damage to the underneath of my bangs was obvious, so I grew a side fringe...

She's told me several times when dyeing my hair that my cuticles must be pretty tight/lay pretty flat/close because dye takes horribly to my hair but even so, my hair isn't a superhair-o (see what I did there?!) and I ended up with light-ish blonde streaks, not white. I can't imagine the result if you did a full head aiming for white :shudder: And I agree with what others said, doing it over time/with several applications won't save much except maybe your scalp, a little?


TL;DR - Wig wig wig! :cool:

[lapushka]

If your hair is naturally dark brown / black it's going to take strong bleach but less bleach to get it to a very light stage, than when it has been dyed black. What I mean to say is, it's much harder to get dye out with bleach than to bleach natural hair. So you have to take that into account also.

This is a pretty drastic change, though...

[ravenheather]

I agree with the others, buy a wig. The damage to your hair is so not worth it. When I was younger and had short hair I used to dye it all the time. Once I lightened my dark brown hair to a light copper. Pretty but after only a month my hair felt like straw. My hair was only 4 inches long at the time. I can't even imagine the damage on longer more fragile hair.

[Firefox7275]

GOOD IDEA..I'm gonna try a white wig on first.
I have no intention of frying my hair so what if I take it slowly and do it over a period of several months. ..first going brown, then light brown, then blond to light blond..then white. ..I really don't mind if the process takes a long time and I'm not too worried about roots..my roots usually lighten up real well.
So has anyone done it over a period of several months.
I'm just really in love with hair like Anderson cooper's.

I've lightened from dark burgundy with build up aiming for a blonde base, couldn't get past strawberry blonde without killing several inches of waves - I have naturally mousey hair with no natural red but had cuticle staining. I did three colour removers and three peroxide only blonde box dyes (no persulphate bleach) over a period of perhaps six weeks, I did do coconut oil soaks and I was generally being kind to my hair with co-washing etc. but I still had to have a good trim.

I spent a huge amount of time on hair dye forums before and during, so learned from those who were aiming for a light blonde or white base and had a lot of experience doing so. The regulars knew to take it slowly so were doing bleach baths/ soap caps but some still fried their (relatively short) hair.

IMO don't begin unless you are willing to do numerous strand tests prior and during, have a plan for what you are going to do if you have to stop at brown or bright orange. IMO do THREE sessions (maximum recommended) with Colour B4 Extra or Color Oops on shed plughole hair BEFORE you touch your head with any chemicals. Whatever that goes you may end up stuck with on your lengths, you could end up anything from an orangey to a greeny base depending on what undertones are in your hair and the black dye you use, don't assume it will be a simple dark brown-light-brown-blonde transition.

And you may only be able to cover that orange or green mess with a SEMI permanent because your hair is too fragile to take a permanent, and your lengths might be porous from past colouring and stripping that it is a nightmare to get an even result. Would you be willing to do a big chop? Can you go to work or to social events with orangey or greeny hair?



Ok...ignorant bleachophobe question here.:confused: I don't really think I understand the idea of bleaching gradually and having success that I sometimes hear about on this forum. Since everyone's hair is already technically dead and unable to recuperate from any damage....what benefit does the waiting period offer?

A good question. Some of the damage done is temporary, most is permanent: in a similar way to how soaking your hair temporarily weakens it by breaking some of the protein bonds in hair. Bleaching, relaxing and perming breaks bonds but a small number will reform 'spontaneously', which is why you are advised not to wash your hair for a couple of days after a perm.

Also to give you chance to (temporarily) strengthen the hair and (temporarily) reduce the porosity and prepare the hair for the next session. It's is proven that hydrolysed protein (wheat IIRC) can help reduce damage, and seems likely so can coconut oil, both are useful before and after processing. So you could use these between times to reduce the impact of the next session on the cortex, not sure you can do anything about the impact of the damage to the cuticle, except patch repair afterwards with ceramides, 18-MEA and panthenol.

[spidermom]

I remember a member from the past bleaching/toning to white hair, and at first in the forum she was saying that it didn't damage her hair at all, then I saw she was talking about her hair breaking off a lot in her blog. It's been a long time since I've seen a post from her. I really think the odds are against you succeeding in getting your hair white while remaining in acceptable condition. White clip-ins or a wig might be fun.

[lapushka]

This might be an idea. This is a girl with dark brown hair who bought red extensions, and put them in. It resulted in red highlights on her. You could do the same with white-blonde extensions.

Here's the YT video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Te371uT7_Sk

[jeanniet]

I would get the wig, and have fun with that. The chances are really quite high that so much bleaching would damage your hair to the extent that you might want to consider a wig anyway, so why not wear the wig when you want to go white, and keep your hair in the condition it's in now?

[MidnightSunlite]

I say get a wig. I mean you can buy kinds of wings in all kinds of colors, you can style it anyway you want to without do so to your own hair. Plus you might not want to stay forever, with a wig you can just put it on then take it off. That's what I'm doing, for days I want another hair color (wig = no damage to minimum damage to your hair depending on the kind of wig you get). Or short hair, and I don't have to sacrifice my hair for my fickle hair changes. :)

[RainbowBowser]

A tip for going white as opposed to using purple shampoo. Use a pea-sized amount of manic panic ultraviolet in 100mL conditioner.
As for the bleaching process, getting rid of dark dye would go down better at a salon.

[mysecretnights]

Hi everyone.
I have been coloring my hair blue black for approximately 2 years now and need a change. I wanted to try something I've never done before so I thought of white. My natural hair is dark brown. It is currently colored black. I have a light olive complexion and dark brown eyes. Do you think it's possible to achieve this at home? And do you think it could look good with my dark eyes?
Has anyone here colored their hair white or close enough?


http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=115920
here are my pics of my progress. I am doing the same thing now. going for years of dyed black hair to blonde. my hair is obviously quiet damaged and I am being realllyy gentle with it.

i used a colour remover cream at home a few times first, and then went to the hair dresser to have it bleached. ill be waiting a few months and a few hair trims to get it in better condition before going for round 2 of bleach to see what kind of blonde it will get to.
the roots came out super white, but from about 2 inches down it was all orange odd colours. the colour is still lifting, and is a lovely shade of orange, brown, red, haha, not lovely at all really, but thats ok. its not the final colour.