Will bleaching hair a little bit cause a lot of damage?

[Enrapture]

Hello everyone!:)

So I decided to lighten my hair a little bit. I want to go a few shades lighter (probably chestnut).

My hair is pretty healthy right now and will that damage it a lot? (if i do it at the salon?) :confused:

[NuclearApple]

bleaching always damaged hair,first i suggest you to think well about it and do it only when you'll be compleatly sure,there are many people (as me) who regrets highlights,dyes or bleach,and then after it you have to take extremely,extremely care of your hair cause it's weaker and more exposed to damage as dry/split ends and breakage,regular oiling and deep conditioning will make your hair beautiful and healthy. :o

[martyna_22]

If you're absolutely sure you want to do it, I say soak it in coconut oil first. Many people have reported less damage from bleaching this way. But I'd say it's still pretty invasive and do it only if you're certain. Go for the 2 weeks rule, if you want to do it 2 weeks from now, as much as right now, then go for it. :)

[Hybris]

Simple answer, yes, yes it will. Doing it in a salon doesn't necessarily mean it will be better, unprofessional staff can make it worse.
If you only want a few shades lighter I don't think bleaching in any way is the way to go anyway... You can just use hair dye few shades lighter then your own hair but doesn't contain bleach.
I think there are also some natural ways you can do that and I do believe there are several posts and discussions about it on this forum. I'm new around here so maybe someone else might be more help to you in finding them. :)

[Lyv]

Bleach will always damage it a little bit and every ones hair reacts differently. Mine doesn't get damaged very much from bleach I've gone from dark brown to light blonde blonde and then red to blonde at home and my hair is still very healthy. I always do deep treatments before and a few after to help keep it from drying out so baby the heck out of it before and after! Just make sure it's really what you want before you do it, good luck!

[vindo]

You want to know if it will cause A LOT of damage right?

Like everyone has said there will be some damage. But how much depends on a lot of factors.

Out of all the heads of hair I bleached in the past, some would put up with the bleach really well, and some would not. Some factors that influence the result.

- How highly concentrated the bleach is, as in how many % of peroxide
- Your hair type and hair health. M hair actually holds up well. Interestingly C hair can dry out a bit too much, but it also depends on how much moisture your hair naturally retains.
- The porousity of your hair, your overall health. People with hair affected by Thyroid disorders for example can suffer more damage if their hair was already affected by the condition.
- How long the dye is applied and how often repeated. One reason why it is better done at a salon. They will make sure not to go over a certain time, which can be fatal even on strong hair.
Since you only want to go a but lighter, one application might be enough.
Though you will possibly have an orange tinge and dye will need to be applied over it.

If the result can not be reached with one application of bleach, the stylist might suggest to stop and settle for a slightly darker shade than chestnut. This all depends on the condition of you hair. If you are unsure you vould even go home and wait a few days to see how well your hair really took the bleaching process.

My own experience - My hair held up well when I did highlights in 2005. They were a but dryer than the ret after a wash, but I suffered no breakage. (Midback length)

Just be really sure you want this change of color. As a longhair I swore to myself to never stray to much from my natural color anymore because I just would not want to ruin all my progress by dyeing back and forth.

Nowadays my hair is all my natural color, but years back Henna was a good alternative for me. :)

[Firefox7275]

Why am I getting deja vu with this title???

The only way you will know how much damage will be caused is to run strand tests on shed plughole hair and perhaps head hair too, this can be done at the same time as skin patch tests. As others have said there are many variables. Salon colour is not necessarily gentler than DIY colouring, unless perhaps you go for an acid-based product. If you are only lifting a few shades there is no need to use persulphate bleach, you can use a peroxide only product.

Both coconut oil and hydrolysed wheat protein can be used as a pretreatment to reduce the damage caused. Only ever do roots only do not get into 'refreshing' the lengths, that causes a huge amount of damage over time. A box dye containing ammonia naturally stops processing after a period of time, ammonia free products smell better but are much less easier to control and need a more constant temperature to get an even result.

[Unofficial_Rose]

If it were me (and I appreciate it's not), I'd get a few professional chestnut highlights around the face. You can always add more if the damage is not too bad.

[niky45]

You don't need pure bleach (i.e. first bleach then color) to go just a few shades lighter, BUT, the dye itself must have a little amount of bleach. Bleach will ALWAYS damage your hair, but the stronger the bleach, the worst the damage... so, a couple shades SHOULD NOT damage it too much. (Pure bleach -the one that turns you blonde- WILL damage it A LOT. My poor hair surely knows that. )

However, keep in mind that your hair grows... and roots won't be lighter. AND the color fades. I mean, once you start dyeing your hair, it's hard to stop... keep that in mind.

[Jasperine]

I slowly lightened my hair a couple of shades and wouldn't say the damage is too obvious, but it's defitely not as soft as before :)

[cathair]

You don't need pure bleach (i.e. first bleach then color) to go just a few shades lighter, BUT, the dye itself must have a little amount of bleach. Bleach will ALWAYS damage your hair, but the stronger the bleach, the worst the damage... so, a couple shades SHOULD NOT damage it too much.[/B]

Might also be worth noting, if you use one of those dyes that isn't permanent, like 20 or so washes that does have peroxide or ammonia in it, when it washes out it may not be the colour underneath you expect.

My Mum had been dying hers a light-ish golden brown, which was actually about her natural colour before she started going grey. She eventually let it wash out to see how grey she was underneath and found that her hair was nearly orange! So now she is having to use even less permanent dye, to cover the orange so she can grow her hair out to see what colour it naturally is.