Can I do something like this without a lot of damage?

[-arachne-]

Hey guys,

I have hair that is about at classic length right now. I've had long hair for years at this point, and since I'm a vet tech, I find myself pretty much always wearing my hair up in the same bun. (My hair also knots easily so it's really discouraged me from wearing it down.) Needless to say, this is getting kind of... boring. I love my hair and I love the satisfaction of letting it down at the end of the day, but I'm SO plain the majority of the time.

I also find myself pining a little for my punk teen years :p I've been toying with the idea of adding some color - which I have never done before - instead of going for a chop that I might really regret.

So I am wondering, can I do something like these...

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/b8/6e/4e/b86e4e56e986083af43ea0f206d89bd6.jpg
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/07/0b/30/070b30915872ba8aebfc906ff6c94833.jpg

...Without horrendously damaging my hair? I only wash my length about once a month and I don't use heat on it. I'm assuming I would have the bleach for this..? But I really don't know. (I'm brunette.)

Thanks!

[cassidy_2711]

I would try a strip of hair with just dye because depending on your hair color you may not need bleach.

[-arachne-]

Hm... good plan. It's medium to dark brown. The only reason I don't say dark is because I have a fair amount of red/gold in my hair.

I guess my only issue is that I'd probably get it done at a salon, because I wouldn't trust myself not to butcher it. Then again, I'd also have to find a salon I trusted not to kill my hair!

[Anje]

I'd suggest that rather than bleaching the entire underlayer, you only do the bottom bit, like the last 6 inches or so. Whether you do all the ends like a dip dye or an underlayer like the first pic is up to you, depending on the look you want. But if you only do ends instead of going up to your scalp, you have the option to cut out the damage and only get set back about a year for length in a worst case scenario.

[Borgessa]

Isn't there, some sort of hair chalk so you could try something like this out first. I think I seen it somewhere?

[lapushka]

The maybelline color tattoos (for your eyes yes), yes the cream eye shadows, work for this perfectly if you just want to add a pop of color.

[Aredhel]

If you use a vegan dye like Manic Panic it won't damage your hair. Plus it'll wash out eventually so there's less commitment there. :)

[Borgessa]

You can get funky hair extensions too if you just want a pop of color, these could even be hair extensions?? I dunno. Sometimes it sucks having dark hair, since these bright colors just don't show up with out bleaching which is so damaging as we all know.

[Acid]

This is IF you still want to have the pop of colour after trying out the safer temporary techniques (and your job is happy to let you have bright colours)

you could get a balayage on the ends, youd only need to go to a lightish mid orange colour which should easily be one bleach and it wont affect more than 3-4 inches of your ends which is safer than doing your whole underlayer. id ask the salon to use 30vol or lower with Olaplex and inform them youll be leaving coconut oil in your hair throughout the whole bleaching process (she should wash it out as normal when she washes out the bleach). Soak your all of hair in coconut oil overnight and leave it in as you go to your appointment, even though youre only doing the ends itll give the rest a nice treat :) (if your hair dislikes coconut oil just soak the ends overnight that you want bleached, itll also give the hairdresser a guide as to the amount you want balayaged).

IMO, dont let her colour it pink. you can do that easily at home cheaper and without any damage whatsoever. A salon will likely use a peroxide toner and then a permanent pink colour which would triple process the hair or if she does use the vegetable dye she will charge you extra for applying it and only leave it on 15 minutes. you can buy a rose pink vegetable dye like manic panic or la riche directions and leave it on overnight (its basically pigmented conditioner so the longer its left on the more intense the colour will be and it will last longer in your hair).

If youre bored and dont want to risk the damage you could try some different hair styles like a crown braid, dutch braids into a bun etc

[Aphra]

If you have brown hair, before trying anything involving bleach, I'd give manic panic vampire red a shot. It covered my brown hair really nicely in roughly the tone in your top photo, and didn't do any damage. Most of it washed out / faded to unnoticeable in a few weeks, and I think the bits that persisted were over my grey (although I don't guarantee that - it's not a great idea to put any dye in unless you are willing to take the risk that your hair might be the one where it decides to stick around awkwardly).

Directions plum worked for me too, although it faded more quickly. Directions midnight blue also gave a fantastic colour, but it bled for days, and some parts did not do the fading thing!

[MidnightMoon]

Like others suggested, I'd go for the bottom 6 inches or so of your hair. That way, in a year you could cut it all off, and by that time it probably won't give you too much trouble. My issue with bleach is, it makes hair exponentially more unmanageable, fragile, prone to tangles, etc., and while it stays in "decent" shape for a few months, it deteriorates quicker than just regular hair. In my case, walking around with ~20 inches of bleached hair for what will now be over two years started getting worse about a year ago. It seems this hair becomes harder and harder to manage the monger it stays on my head... of course, it's hair that has lost some of it's qualities... and it was bleached over 4 times, so yeah, there's that. If your hair is dark brown, for the colour in your pic you probably have to bleach it twice, maybe once if it's a strong bleach and well done. I understand you want a darker magenta, not a light pink. Light pink requires almost white hair to show up properly, which on very dark hair might involve bleaching up to three or four times.

[*Wednesday*]

I have dark black\brown hair. I have a few [chunky] highlights in the front and sides starting halfway down. They are copper. Few strands to frame my face.
I used Loreal Ombre for medium brown hair. It has peroxide not bleach, however can still be damaging. I used this because it won't get very light on my hair. It stops lightening 25 min. to the intended color.

I work with some one that uses clip in highlights. She does not like committing to highlights and likes constant change. My boss got highlights at a salon. They bleached then dyed the strands.

[MidnightMoon]

I've used Manic Panic in Vampire Red. I too, suggest using that, but keep in mind you hair actually has to be at least a medium to light brown for it to show up like in the pic in regular light. In the sun, even black hair sometimes appears medium brown, or depending where you stand, but it's not what hair actually looks like.
By medium brown I mean something like this: http://yourhaircolors.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Chestnut-Brown-Hair-Color-for-Blondes-500x651.jpg

Hair like this: http://mac.h-cdn.co/assets/15/48/1600x1125/gallery-1448317846-dark-brown-colors.jpg
is basically black to me and definitely needs to be bleached if you want to use dyes like Manic Panic on top and have it turn out like the pic or something similar

They have pics on their website too if you want to browse

[littletiern]

don't bleach!! have a professional use a color lifter, you might get a little damage but if you are diligent about strength and moisture treatments you'll recover. especially if you only wash once a month. you can also try oVertone for the color upkeep and won't have to dye it nearly as often. https://overtone.co/

[MidnightMoon]

I'm sorry buy what's the exact difference between what we refer as bleaching, be it in a salon or using a box due, and a "colour lifter"? It's the first time I see this distinction made and I'm curious. I'm asking exactly how they work differently/what they do to our hair strands.

[Anje]

Bleaching hair typically involves mixing a hair bleaching powder with a peroxide developer, then applying it to hair. (That is, this is NOT laundry bleach!) The level of damage and the speed it works at are generally proportional to what peroxide developer you use. In most cases, to get some color lift, you'll want a 20-volume or 30-volume peroxide. When in doubt, go with the lower number, as it'll be less harsh.

Now in addition to that, I'm very much in favor of applying coconut oil heavily to hair a while beforehand (overnight would be ideal) and then bleaching the oily hair. Mixing your mixed-up bleach with a clear shampoo also helps to make it milder and easy to apply, but slows it all down a bit. I've done that several times recently, and I absolutely prefer using a bleach-shampoo mixture to only the bleach.

I believe your blond box dyes attempt to lift with a strong peroxide (30 or 40 volume?) but not the bleach powder. I'm sure opinions vary, but I can't imagine that they'd be less damaging than lifting the color with hair bleach.

If hair has been previously dyed, there's another route you can go: color removers. These are typically sulfurous-smelling products with names like "Colour B4" or "Color Oops" that help to remove dye from hair. They're somewhat drying, but definitely less damaging than bleaching the dye.


Anyway, once you have the hair lightened by one of those methods to the point that you want (it can be orangeish or dark blond if you're shooting for a deep red, but clearer colors that would look muddy mixed with those shades will require hair to be lightened to a brighter blond), the usual favorite method is to use a semi-permanent direct dye to add the color you choose. These dyes (like Manic Panic, Special Effects, Directions, Adore, Punky... there are a whole lot of brands!) are not at all damaging themselves and simply serve to stain the hair, and they often have conditioners as part of the mix. You smear them in, probably leave them on for way longer than the 15 minutes the packaging says to, and rinse them out. The color gradually fades over the course of weeks or months, and you can reapply as needed.

The Colorful Longhairs (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=125938) thread has a bunch of people who are way more experienced and knowledgeable about these things than I am. :)

[MidnightMoon]

Hmmm, yes, I know not actual bleach, but I'm unaware of what are the exact different ingredients you would use when bleaching vs. lifting?
You mention not using bleach powder, what would be the ingredient used in replacement?

I've had my hair bleached at the salon, and I've used box dyes before (platinum blonde), but I always thought it was the same thing.

[*Wednesday*]

Hmmm, yes, I know not actual bleach, but I'm unaware of what are the exact different ingredients you would use when bleaching vs. lifting?
You mention not using bleach powder, what would be the ingredient used in replacement?


I've had my hair bleached at the salon, and I've used box dyes before (platinum blonde), but I always thought it was the same thing.


Bleach is very strong and will keep “lightening” the hair until the hair pigment is completely removed. When it is in the hair, needs to be carefully watched. Bleach is normally used to strip hair of pigment and deposit color. First they bleach, then they color.

Peroxide has a two fold deal and is mixed with the color developer. You can control the level of lifting with peroxide. One, it opens the cuticle of the hair so color can be deposited. Secondly, it lifts the color depending on the level of lightening and disperses the color developer/pigment.
Permanent beige blond is going to have a higher volume of peroxide than permanent dark brown dye. Semi-permanent has very low peroxide as it's designed to not penetrate the cuticle and wash out over time.
Sometimes you see someone with dark brown hair dye their hair medium blond, it turns reddish/brown. The volume of peroxide for that color is not strong enough to lift the color of the brown pigment. A salon would use bleach to remove pigment, then apply hair color. Home hair color I was told is made for lifting 2-3 shades within the natural color. Could be the same with a salon. This I don't know.

Platinum blonde is extremely light. A stylist will tell you if you need bleach to achieve a light color several shades past your current color as opposed to the normal use of peroxide. They should anyway.

[PixieP]

I bleached at a salon with Olaplex last year, to take me from dark henna red to the copper you see in my signature/avatar. I didn't get damage from it, except for my ends that had been bleached in an ombré two years before with cheap home bleach and was still affected by that. Olaplex actually does work!

[Rebeccalaurenxx]

I too hear great things about Olaplex. I think if I ever decided to lighten my hair just a shade or two, I would only go to a salon that would use that in the process.

[Fleurish]

I agree with the advice suggesting to oil your hair heavily before bleaching and possibly doing a bleach bath to lighten if you go that way. I do this on my medium brown roots before henna to get the colour I want and it's resulted in much less damage than when I was just bleaching the usual way. It even saved my length when I stripped some of the chemical colour out of my full length before going the henna route, and it was already fragile. Hope you get the results you want! :D

[-arachne-]

I'd suggest that rather than bleaching the entire underlayer, you only do the bottom bit, like the last 6 inches or so. Whether you do all the ends like a dip dye or an underlayer like the first pic is up to you, depending on the look you want. But if you only do ends instead of going up to your scalp, you have the option to cut out the damage and only get set back about a year for length in a worst case scenario.


Like others suggested, I'd go for the bottom 6 inches or so of your hair. That way, in a year you could cut it all off, and by that time it probably won't give you too much trouble. My issue with bleach is, it makes hair exponentially more unmanageable, fragile, prone to tangles, etc., and while it stays in "decent" shape for a few months, it deteriorates quicker than just regular hair. In my case, walking around with ~20 inches of bleached hair for what will now be over two years started getting worse about a year ago. It seems this hair becomes harder and harder to manage the monger it stays on my head... of course, it's hair that has lost some of it's qualities... and it was bleached over 4 times, so yeah, there's that. If your hair is dark brown, for the colour in your pic you probably have to bleach it twice, maybe once if it's a strong bleach and well done. I understand you want a darker magenta, not a light pink. Light pink requires almost white hair to show up properly, which on very dark hair might involve bleaching up to three or four times.

My plan was pretty much to only do the ends, not very far up my hair, because yes, I could cut it soon if I don't like it. (I continually cut to tailbone/hip, regrow to classic...) I do wonder how that will look, but again, not like I'd be stuck with it. Although I hope I'd like it enough if I spend a lot of money on it.

[-arachne-]

Okay, after reading the entire thread, I have a lot of great answers. Manic panic might show up... noted. (I had heard really mixed reviews on manic panic, like that the blue/green shades could be kind of weird.) Does it tend to bleed a lot though? I don't want to ruin a pillowcase (or shower... or hands...), but I don't know if that happens anyway when you dye your hair because I never have. I haven't really decided on a specific color, just not green or very bright... I'd like a muted royal tone I guess. Dark red, magenta, purple, MAYBE blue, but I think that might not work.

Also, I guess if I go the bleach route I will be busting out the coconut oil! Another thing I did see in this thread was the mention of using cream eye shadows. WHAT?!

I suppose if I end up doing this, I might try it at home, because if I'm not paying a stylist to bleach or lighten, what's the point? But I would have to figure out how to get the layers or whatever right so it doesn't end up looking like just a blunt line of color.

[Aphra]

Manic panic vampire red only bleeds on the towel when I dry it after the first few washes. It doesn't bleed (for me at least) once my hair is dry. I don't know about their other colours, as while the dark reds show strongly on my hair, their purple didn't take at all, so I didn't bother with their blues.

I found it remarkably easy to do myself - which says something because I have no grooming skills in the make-up etc line at all. But I found the dark colours on virgin brown hair to be pretty forgiving about blending in.

Btw, to preserve the colour, rinsing the dye out in cold water, not shampoo washing for as long as you can stretch, and washing in cold water for as long as you can put up with it does definitely help.

[MidnightMoon]

I can't say it didn't bleed for me :/
I let my hair air dry, and even after a few good washes, the water dripping from my ends to my clothes was red. Of course, my whole head was dyed instead of just small pieces, and if you use a towel instead of just let it hang, I bet it would be better.
If you want blue or teal, I vouch for pravana vivids, stays longer than manic manic, and the colour is very rich/pigmented. I also find it bleeds less for me, I'm not sure. It definitely stains more when you're applying it.

[Jettabar99]

My hair is like that except for the red. I have had no issues with the blond part underneath (until someone put me under the dryer recently - wont go back there). I had had it like this for years without an issue. I was everyday as well since i work out. My hair is growing well still.

[MidnightMoon]

I think the length of ones hair, aside from original hair type and quality have to do with that too. It's not the same having short bleached hair, than having that same bleached part for years and years. I haven't had such a good experience with dyes, and in fact, I haven't had virgin ends in over 10 years. I'll finally get to experience that in a couple of years... I'll see how much of a difference thag makes xd

[Anje]

I tend to use Adore, which bleeds far less than Manic Panic does for me. I've been very happy with it, but it's not as conditioning as MP. It's also more difficult to apply because it's liquid rather than cream. But it's cheap and a store around the corner carries most of the colors for about $4.50 a bottle.

ETA: Dark towels and a dark pillowcase are definitely a nice idea, if you're thinking about playing around with dyes. It's nice to simply not have to stress about a bit of color transferring to them.

[pastina]

Bleach is very strong and will keep “lightening” the hair until the hair pigment is completely removed. When it is in the hair, needs to be carefully watched. Bleach is normally used to strip hair of pigment and deposit color. First they bleach, then they color.

Peroxide has a two fold deal and is mixed with the color developer. You can control the level of lifting with peroxide. One, it opens the cuticle of the hair so color can be deposited. Secondly, it lifts the color depending on the level of lightening and disperses the color developer/pigment.
Permanent beige blond is going to have a higher volume of peroxide than permanent dark brown dye. Semi-permanent has very low peroxide as it's designed to not penetrate the cuticle and wash out over time.
Sometimes you see someone with dark brown hair dye their hair medium blond, it turns reddish/brown. The volume of peroxide for that color is not strong enough to lift the color of the brown pigment. A salon would use bleach to remove pigment, then apply hair color. Home hair color I was told is made for lifting 2-3 shades within the natural color. Could be the same with a salon. This I don't know.

Platinum blonde is extremely light. A stylist will tell you if you need bleach to achieve a light color several shades past your current color as opposed to the normal use of peroxide. They should anyway.


I'm really sorry to say this, and I don't mean any offense, but this post is full of misinformation.

Developer and peroxide are the same thing. The different volumes of developer? Like, 20volume, 30volume, etc? That's referring to the concentration of the peroxide, the higher the volume, the stronger it is. The terms are used interchangeably. And when we're talking about hair, "bleach" is bleach powder plus peroxide (developer). Peroxide is what opens the cuticle, and therefore, what causes the damage.

Peroxide on its own does not have a color. Permanent dye contains peroxide. When you get a box of dye, you have a bottle of pigmented stuff, and a bottle of peroxide. You mix em. ...The mixture lifts the cuticle and will lighten your hair (even if you're going darker, yes, because of the peroxide), and the pigment enters the hair under that lifted cuticle.

If a dye is semi-permanent it should NOT contain peroxide. They work by coating the cuticle like cellophane. And, since they are transparent like cellophane, your base color shows through, which is why color will be stronger over blonde than over black or dark brown. Bleaching before using a semi works so well because then your hair is lighter, and because the cuticle is still a bit lifted and dye can stuck.

Note-- If you buy a boxed product claiming to be semi and the instructions want you to mix one bottle of gunk with another bottle of gunk, what you have purchased is not a semi permanent dye, and some damage will occur. Those types are probably more correctly called a demi-permanent. Manic panic and the like? Those are semis. They are used straight out of the bottle or jar and are non damaging because the cuticle does not get lifted by these products.

....Anyway. Phew.

I've never had luck with hair dressers. IME, they will process too many times just to get you out the door looking good.... since you as a customer are a walking ad. I'd much rather make sure I keep my hair, and that means, yea.... DIY.

My suggestion to you is, if you have layering in your hair (kinda sounded to me like you do, forgive me if I'm mistaken)

Part your hair straight across the back of your head, from one ear to the other almost like doing a half up, and clip the top portion of hair up and out of the way (I tend to bun and clip with plastic jaw clips). Don't touch that hair at all-- only dye what's left, either from root to end, or just in a dip dye, like others are suggesting.. You'll get far less of a stark line that way, at least when your hair is down.