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View Full Version : Already bought the bleach and the dye... what do you think? Should I bleach? (pics)



galaxzee
April 4th, 2015, 07:15 PM
I'm a natural redhead that has bleached maybe three times in the past three years. I currently have faded Pravana Vivids in yellows and pinks mixed with RAW red to create a yellow to orange and slight purple gradient..

Can my hair stand up to a bleach shampoo with 30vol bleach? Should I just put the dye straight over the faded hair without bleaching? Or should I just try the bleach as directed? I have Special Effects Pimpin Purple and Atomic Pink to use, which are both red based dyes. Will they cover what I have?

Starting point with fresh pravana:
http://i.imgur.com/zGrTwOb.png

Current hair (two months later):
http://i.imgur.com/wgJVPglh.jpg

Reddish roots growing in:
http://i.imgur.com/QOrRvbLh.jpg

Overall color is decently light... photos taken in bathroom.
Color graduates from natural red roots to light yellow then orange and reddish pinks with some brownish purple in the ends:
http://i.imgur.com/Ju1kFyFh.jpg


I should end on the note that I'm trying to grow out my hair. But I wont want to leave it alone unless the already damaged parts are the right color. If I can skip vleaching, Id rather. But I want to make sure the purple and pink takes.

Arctic
April 4th, 2015, 07:29 PM
Two words: strand test. :flower:

MiamiPineapple
April 4th, 2015, 07:47 PM
As long as you are ok with some damage. I have had bleach turn my hair to mush...I don't think there is any way to avoid damage a high level bleach will cause.

meteor
April 4th, 2015, 07:58 PM
I am not sure I understood correctly, but are you trying to bleach old dye off your hair? If so, please consider using a dye remover instead: e.g. Color B4 or Color Oops - they aren't supposed to be damaging (like bleach), just quite drying. Remember to keep rinsing and rinsing for a long time after.

If you do decide to bleach, definitely do a good old strand test and always use quite a lot of coconut oil and a strong hydrolyzed protein treatment (e.g. Aphogee 2-Step) right before and right after bleach.
Coconut oil for reducing peroxide damage: http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=10495
Aphogee 2-Step: http://aphogee.com/two-step-protein-treatment-for-professional-use/

Bindi
April 4th, 2015, 08:05 PM
As long as it is a VERY dilute bleach bath, I would go for it. I don't think that the pink will hold over what you have now.

galaxzee
April 4th, 2015, 08:07 PM
I am not sure I understood correctly, but are you trying to bleach old dye off your hair? If so, please consider using a dye remover instead: e.g. Color B4 or Color Oops - they aren't supposed to be damaging (like bleach), just quite drying. Remember to keep rinsing and rinsing for a long time after.

If you do decide to bleach, definitely do a good old strand test and always use quite a lot of coconut oil and a strong hydrolyzed protein treatment (e.g. Aphogee 2-Step) right before and right after bleach.
Coconut oil for reducing peroxide damage: http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=10495
Aphogee 2-Step: http://aphogee.com/two-step-protein-treatment-for-professional-use/

Hey there! I had considered a color remover.... however, I am dealing with Pravana Vivids in my hair... from what I've been reading online, they are very resistant to color removers and bleach.... I have been reading that the best way to get it to fade is just to use a clarifying shampoo and possibly even Vitamin C treatments or bleach caps (Shampoo + bleach) to subtly remove color and get to a slightly lighter base color.

Thanks for the tips, I was definitely planning on leaving my hair unwashed for a while + covering it with coconut oil if I do decide to bleach.

But if my current hair color is light enough, I'd much rather just color over immediately with the Special Effects dye. So I guess, my question is, is my current hair light enough to just cover directly? Or does it need to be lighter?

I'd be okay with it if it doesn't turn out a true purple and true pink. I know I'll have a lot more orangey and red tones in my hair, which is fine. I just want to get rid of the yellow!!!

galaxzee
April 4th, 2015, 08:09 PM
As long as it is a VERY dilute bleach bath, I would go for it. I don't think that the pink will hold over what you have now.

Thanks for the opinion! I have 30 vol bleach. Maybe one part bleach to three or four parts shampoo? Just to get some of the tones out and lighten it?

My hair seems to be pretty resistant to bleach damage so far, if it would really help the colors, it's worth it to damage it a bit and chop off a few inches! To me at least.

meteor
April 4th, 2015, 08:12 PM
^ I really hope somebody who used Pravana Vivids will jump in on how best to remove it. :)
Can you test the dye you want to use on shed hair or on some hidden strand of your hair to see if the color will show on your hair without having to remove old dye?

pastina
April 4th, 2015, 08:13 PM
galaxzee!! dont do it! your two colors will 100% cover what you have!!

galaxzee
April 4th, 2015, 08:16 PM
galaxzee!! dont do it! your two colors will 100% cover what you have!!

Do you think if I put the pink and purples over this orangey base, it will come out similar to what I want, just a bit redder/oranger? Like this: http://www.polyvore.com/cgi/img-thing?.out=jpg&size=l&tid=101865988

galaxzee
April 4th, 2015, 08:17 PM
^ I really hope somebody who used Pravana Vivids will jump in on how best to remove it. :)
Can you test the dye you want to use on shed hair or on some hidden strand of your hair to see if the color will show on your hair without having to remove old dye?

Me too! It looks like Pravana Vivids last for forever and are difficult to get rid of. But they are sold as semi-permanents. XD

pastina
April 4th, 2015, 08:29 PM
now that i have that emergency situation diffused in my own mind, i will elaborate. lol

i am a million kinds of positive that even a bleach bath (you called it a bleach-shampoo) is NOT necessary here, and a full-strength bleach would be total overkill. what you've got going there is likely staining, which is not possible to 100% remove, but is extremely easy to cover. especially with the colors you chose. both atomic pink and pimpin purple are like, amazingly strong, and if you're worried about darker bits showing through, just make those bits pimpin purple-- it's a darker color.

just wash your hair really well with some clarifying shampoo, and no conditioner. let it dry (i don't know if you use heat or not, so that's up to you) and then apply your dye. leave it for as long as you can stand and rinse with cool water.

it will cover, i promise you, and this is coming from someone who 1) has been using sfx for 15 years, and 2) currently has blue and pink bcl hair. also, if you ever have questions, feel free to pm me, i'm on here a lot!

note--- eventually if you want to touch up your roots with a bleach bath, that's ok, but there is no reason to lighten your length any further right now.

pastina
April 4th, 2015, 08:35 PM
dont let the term semi-permanent fool you! it means the dye contains no peroxide, but omg, certain colors last an extremely long time. tbh, atomic pink is notorious for that-- it's a forever color. you'll most likely never get it gone completely. pimpin purple fades to pink after a few weeks, but that pink is tenacious!

galaxzee
April 4th, 2015, 08:35 PM
now that i have that emergency situation diffused in my own mind, i will elaborate. lol

i am a million kinds of positive that even a bleach bath (you called it a bleach-shampoo) is NOT necessary here, and a full-strength bleach would be total overkill. what you've got going there is likely staining, which is not possible to 100% remove, but is extremely easy to cover. especially with the colors you chose. both atomic pink and pimpin purple are like, amazingly strong, and if you're worried about darker bits showing through, just make those bits pimpin purple-- it's a darker color.

just wash your hair really well with some clarifying shampoo, and no conditioner. let it dry (i don't know if you use heat or not, so that's up to you) and then apply your dye. leave it for as long as you can stand and rinse with cool water.

it will cover, i promise you, and this is coming from someone who 1) has been using sfx for 15 years, and 2) currently has blue and pink bcl hair. also, if you ever have questions, feel free to pm me, i'm on here a lot!

note--- eventually if you want to touch up your roots with a bleach bath, that's ok, but there is no reason to lighten your length any further right now.

Thanks for the advice! I couldn't honestly tell how light my hair is, since it has color in it. I'd definitely rather not bleach and save my hair the stress and myself the time- but for the sake of knowledge, what if I was looking to go more pastel? I would definitely have to bleach more in some way to do that, correct?

I was thinking about diluting the SFX dyes with white conditioner to make the colors more subtle. But I know my base still has a LOT of orange in it. XD

I may very well have more questions and I will definitely hit you up! Thanks again ^.^ (I don't dry my hair with heat and I have been avoiding using shampoo for the past two months, I just condition with a sulfate free argon oil conditioner and rinse. So my hear FEELS healthy, even soft and better than usual. XD But it's probably weaker than that....)

galaxzee
April 4th, 2015, 08:38 PM
dont let the term semi-permanent fool you! it means the dye contains no peroxide, but omg, certain colors last an extremely long time. tbh, atomic pink is notorious for that-- it's a forever color. you'll most likely never get it gone completely. pimpin purple fades to pink after a few weeks, but that pink is tenacious!

That's what I've been reading!! It's somewhat misleading, haha... But I'm okay with having mostly permanent pink and purple colors in my hair. I just currently have too much yellow for my taste

endlessly
April 4th, 2015, 08:38 PM
I would recommend trying a strand test with both methods if you can - one section with the bleach and one with just color. That way, you will know with absolute certainty which will be the best method. Depending on how your hair responds to bleach, it might be much more damaging than it has in the past considering you've mentioned your current hair color is pretty resistant to the bleaching process.

On a more personal note, several years back, I had a bit of a hair dye mishap and was left with nearly black hair. I tried everything - Vitamin C mixed with shampoo, vinegar, baking soda mixed with shampoo, using a dandruff shampoo (they're more stripping for color-treated hair), etc. As a last resort, I had to do a bleach wash and while it did lift my hair to a color that was much more tolerable for me, it did leave my ends severely damaged. This many years later and I finally have all the damage removed after cutting off the last bit, but I've had several trims over the years. In the end, I should have done a strand test, but I was impatient, and as a result, I left the bleach wash on far too long and gave myself an unintentional "ombre" before it was considered chic.

If you do decide to bleach, treat your hair very well both before so it's strong enough to handle the damage, but know that there will be at least some damage caused unfortunately. Afterwards, use protein treatments, deep conditioning, oils, anything to help put moisture and strength back into your hair. Then, I would suggest waiting a while before coloring it again.

All in all, best of luck in whatever you choose and I hope it turns out well!

galaxzee
April 4th, 2015, 08:55 PM
I would recommend trying a strand test with both methods if you can - one section with the bleach and one with just color. That way, you will know with absolute certainty which will be the best method. Depending on how your hair responds to bleach, it might be much more damaging than it has in the past considering you've mentioned your current hair color is pretty resistant to the bleaching process.

On a more personal note, several years back, I had a bit of a hair dye mishap and was left with nearly black hair. I tried everything - Vitamin C mixed with shampoo, vinegar, baking soda mixed with shampoo, using a dandruff shampoo (they're more stripping for color-treated hair), etc. As a last resort, I had to do a bleach wash and while it did lift my hair to a color that was much more tolerable for me, it did leave my ends severely damaged. This many years later and I finally have all the damage removed after cutting off the last bit, but I've had several trims over the years. In the end, I should have done a strand test, but I was impatient, and as a result, I left the bleach wash on far too long and gave myself an unintentional "ombre" before it was considered chic.

If you do decide to bleach, treat your hair very well both before so it's strong enough to handle the damage, but know that there will be at least some damage caused unfortunately. Afterwards, use protein treatments, deep conditioning, oils, anything to help put moisture and strength back into your hair. Then, I would suggest waiting a while before coloring it again.

All in all, best of luck in whatever you choose and I hope it turns out well!

Thanks for the heads up; looks like I'll have to try out a strand test or two! ^.^ I could always dye without bleaching and use the bleach one day down the road to do highlights or chunks in a different shade

pastina
April 4th, 2015, 09:32 PM
i think you'd get really close to that picture with they dyes you have, color-wise. it wont be orangey. if you dilute slightly with conditioner, you won't change the dye's color payout much, and it will combat the staining a bit. but, still, with these colors, not entirely. you'll have staining.

significantly diluting any semi dye with white conditioner is the best way to get pastel shades-- it's way more cost effective than buying a pre-mixed pastel shade and it'll last longer. you can also dilute dyes a LOT to make toners. i also have added a bit of my semis to travel bottles of my conditioners so that when i condition my hair, i refresh my color.

in terms of what BASE you'd need for a pastel... that depends on what color you're going for. pastel blues, purples and silvers typically need a lighter base, but you can get around that, sometimes. like, i'm a big believer in only lightening as much as i HAVE to, so i've gotten yellow hair to gray by diluting purple dye, but it required a lot of upkeep. and i've gotten yellow hair to pastel purple by going pastel pink (which is much more forgiving to a yellow base) and then toning it with a teal-blue dye.

side note-- you never EVER want to lift your hair to white. the lightest you should go is the inside of a banana, and then, if you want white, you'd TONE to get there. also? manic panic sells a pastelizer, but dont waste your money on it-- cheap white conditioner does the same thing.