Complicated Bleaching issue...

[Satori]

So, I did what everyone says not to do - bleach your own hair. But, I spent literal hours researching, watching videos of amateurs and professionals alike, and I was prepared to be very patient and lighten my hair very slowly. My end goal was/is platinum to then dye silver and pastel colors. I was fully expecting my hair to go orange, but now I'm wondering where to go from here until I can bleach again.
My hair background: My natural color is light brown, I think 1b?, and I've been dying it blue black for a couple years now. Yes, I know it's extremely difficult to go from black to platinum. The last time I dyed my hair, I tried to lighten it to a plum 4vv color. I used 30 volume developer all over, in hopes that it would be strong enough to lighten my black hair. Well it did not show up on the black at all, and my regrowth, which was about two inches long, was bright purple. I should've known that would happen..
So I then decided I wanted to try and go blonde. I used a color remover first and it worked okay, but my mid-lengths and ends were still very dark brown, and my roots/regrowth that were not dyed black turned bright orange. So I threw a 6n demi-permanent over it, and that turned out okay.
So today was bleaching day, and I did my ends first with 30 vol, and then my roots/regrowth with 20 vol. All my products are ion brand, and I also added the ion absolute perfection booster. That helped keep it healthy, and my hair doesn't feel too damaged right now - just a bit dry. But long story short as you can hopefully see in the pictures, my ends are still pretty dark (which I expected) but my roots/regrowth are verrrry bright/light orange. It's also very uneven/patchy, and there are oddly some sections that are actually greenish, which I have no idea why.
So... what should I do to fix this? Should I try bleaching my ends again and try to avoid the root area? Should I put an ash demi color over everything to try and tone the orange? Should I try toning with a blue semi-permanent, like Manic Panic, mixed with conditioner (I've seen people do that before, but I'm still wondering about the uneven color) Or, should I just dye it back to a darker color and give up on being blonde? All advice appreciated. :)
PS: please don't tell me what I should've done differently, as I can't go back. I need to know my options for where I'm at now. thanks! https://photos.app.goo.gl/AzncpkQMzME64Cqc6
https://photos.app.goo.gl/AzncpkQMzME64Cqc6




https://photos.app.goo.gl/AzncpkQMzME64Cqc6

[Aerya]

Colour remover again. The darkness in your length is dye. You can bleach it out if you're lucky but most likely you will fry your hair in the process, especially considering you're going silver. Also, colour removers, NOT strippers. Colour removers are drying but not damaging outside of that. Also, shampoo your hair a few times before going at it with bleach/dye after colour remover. If there is any dye left, even if your hair seems light, the peroxide can cause it to re-oxidise.

If you haven't found it already, hairdyeforum is a great resource. Check out the masterposts on home bleaching and colour removers.

Honestly, I would back away now. I'm saying that as someone who went that exact route, from dyed dark hair to light blonde. I did eventually get to my goal colour, but my hair was fried, falling off, and the colour was uneven and took toner differently depending on how damaged it was, so I was left with yellow roots and purple lengths, even after "spot treating" it. I quickly got sick of the upkeep and decided to dye it darker again, and with the unnevenly damaged hair holding onto dye differently I now have almost black lengths, a weird reddish mid length that flares blonde, and then my brown virgin roots. The worst part however is the difference in texture. The bleached parts don't act like hair, if that makes sense. It's stiff and gross and dry even after tons of conditioners and oils. My virgin hair, I only shampoo it and yet it's shiny and smooth! The difference is driving me crazy and if it weren't for buns, I would probably get a boy cut already.

Going Platinum will damage your hair when done in a salon on virgin hair. It's possible to do at home, but chances are it will be unneven and very damaging, especially with previous permanent dye. With your hair already showing signs of being stained from the colouring (the dark ends and the greenish tint) I would really, really recommend you stop now before it's too late, or at least go to a salon. If you are hellbent on doing it, try colour removers before, let them work for a long time and rinse until you never want to shower again, and when you bleach, go SLOWLY. Seriously. Put away the 30vol developer. Use protein treatments in between and baby your hair. It's tempting to dye it to a more pleasing colour in between bleachings but don't, unless you use true semis and conditioner (and be aware these can stain if you're unlucky).

I hope I don't come off as mean with saying you should back off, it's just that I've done that exact thing and I'm paying for it big time. I wish I could go back in time and pry that bleach out of my hands!

[Ylva]

Go to a professional. They can try and even out the colour for you and get you as light as possible. Then you can keep doing your own roots later.

[LittleHealthy]

Mixing a temporary dye like manic panic with conditioner is only going to be extremely temporary, like, a few washes. I’d do as the above commenter has suggested and avoid bleach if you want to keep your length. You’re at a point now where your hair will have sustained some damage, but not too much that it’s a disaster. Your next move should be very calculated, so as not to ruin your hair completely!
Maybe you should go to a reputable salon and tell them exactly what you’ve used and when, then they can finish the job for you? Perhaps going back to dark blonde-ish for a while might be best, until more of your natural hair colour grows out and can withstand being bleached to go platinum!

[lapushka]

It's not that hard to go from a natural black to light (just enough bleach / sessions), but it IS hard to go from black *dye* to very light. Which is why I would recommend you stop messing with this yourself, and try and go to a professional, and please *pretty please with sugar on top* do it now before you ruin your hair!

I did home bleaching, and chemically cut my hair / burned my scalp due to too much of it.

Hair dressers (good ones) know exactly when enough = enough and what to do.

Your roots are almost light enough, but the rest of your hair (where the dye probably is?) needs a lot more.

[zmirina]

Whatever you do next, patch test first. Choose a strand of hair in the depths of your mane, and abuse it as much as you like, and watch what happens. You might even try different things on different strands. Then, depending on the results, either do what brought the best results to the rest of your hair, or go to a salon. Then have them strand test first.

I think you can make it blonette without losing much of the length. I would not go black again if you want to eventually be platinum. Good luck!

[Carrieberry77]

I agree that to get rid of the dark ends color remover is the gentlest option. Color Oops extra strength has worked very well for me in the past for removing permanent dyes.
What worries me though are the green bits in your hair.
There is a chance that the green stems from some sort of chemical reaction and is permanent and irreversible (I really hope not).
I guess it could also be green pigment from the demi permanent 6n hair dye, are the green spots in the area where you used that dye?

[SleepyTangles]

I second Ylva on that: I´d go to a professional, you need a good hairstylist that knows what he´s doing. Black hair dye is very stubborn, and you used lots of products that can react with each other.

I personally I won´t dye it again, not even with manic panic: adding more pigment over your hair is not going to improve the situation.
I don´t know in what field you work or what environment you live, but... could you consider on leaving it alone for a week or two (maybe just using blue shampoo to tone the worst out)? I know that not all jobs would allow that, but I think you should plan the next step carefully (or to find the right hairstylist for the job, not every licensed professional works the same)

[Gothic Lolita]

The green pigment could also stem from the black dye, those usually have some green pigment in to make it ashy (or just not warm). As far as I remember, it's one of the bigger pigments and tends to cling to hair, especially porous hair that has been dyed/bleached a few times.

My recommendation too is: go to a trusted colorist and tell them what you have used on your hair and at what strengths. They will be able to get you slowly to your goal without making it more uneven and with less damage. And if platinum isn't possible they should be able to get you safely back to a dark color you like without orange shining through after a couple of washes.
There will be some damage but right now it won't be too much. I'd skip the ManicPanic for now, it's temporary, but it's also one more thing that you need to get out of your strands to get to your goal. Going back to dark will likely also become patchy soon.
Pamper your hair as much as you can while you look for the colorist: deep condition it, maybe you have some Olaplex on hand or another protein treatment and be careful while styling, bleached hair can snap a lot faster than what you're used to.

Keep us updated how things work out :flowers: This forum is a well of knowledge when it comes to babying hair, no matter what your starting point is.

[flowerbabies]

So sorry you are going through this. I would definitely see a professional as soon as possible and not mess with this at home any more. I think it can be lightened safely but may take a few sessions.

Have you ever put henna on your hair? I had henna’ed my hair several years back, and when I went to get highlights the highlighted portions turned bright green. It was a reaction with metallic salts in the henna. Maybe there was something similar in your dark dye? Anyways-there is no way to get the green out once it goes there (according to my stylist). She dyed my green hair bright red, which counteracted the green, then applied a brown dye on top, so I ended back up with brown hair again. Better than green, but so much damage I would have rather avoided.

Please update us when you get a chance.

[Jo Ann]

I would try a color remover like Color Oops Extra Strength to remove more of the black box dye, but your hair color will NOT go back to your natural color because of the demi-permanent dyes and bleach you have used in the past--it WILL come out orange or whatever color the peroxide in the dyes will have lightened your natural hair color. Forewarned is forearmed. You still have quite a bit of dye to remove--follow the directions on the box EXACTLY and rinse, rinse, rinse and rinse again to get as much of the box dye out as possible. See what you have to work with and see a professional colorist to find out what you can do after you get the box dye out. Do not forget to moisturize heavily after you are done--color removers can be very drying.

If you do not want to risk using a color remover again, go to a professional. Be prepared to have it take a few sessions to remove the dye currently in your hair and get your hair to the color level you want it. Be patient. Also, ask for Olaplex or other protein filler/replacement to keep your hair as intact as possible so you can offset or avoid as much breakage as possible, especially if you will be having your hair bleached! Afterward, use a moisturizing treatment to get as much moisture as possible back into your hair and a protein treatment (Olaplex two-step, SM Manuka Honey & Yogurt Hydrate & Repair Intensive Protein Treatment, whatever works for your hair) about once a month. Be prepared to baby your hair afterwards, whichever course you choose to take.

[MadHatter]

I bleached out (for the most part) henna, in a slow process, starting at the beginning of 2018. Like you, I did tons of research and used good products. Also like you, I ended up with patchy results. But I lived with it and just continued the process slowly. Judging from the tone of your post, you strike me as someone who can be patient, which is what is REALLY needed at this point.

Are you married to the plan of going blonde? Because you need to be, if you're going to have ENOUGH patience to put your hair through this in a gradual process.

I agree with those who are suggesting another round of color REMOVER (not stripper).
I agree with those who are suggesting strand tests, so you will know how your hair will behave before you do another strong process.
I personally think that, as far as masking brass/orange, that the manic panic + conditioner is the way to go right now.
I suggest that you refrain from bleaching again until you have 4 weeks worth of re-growth. Like another poster mentioned, ditch the 30 vol and stick with 20 vol.

In the meantime, limit your hair-washing as much as you can. When you do wash it, use cold water. Do not use "full-strength" shampoo. I assume you are near a Sally Beauty Supply, and if you do not have one already, pick up one of those re-usable dye bottles with the nice long nozzle on it. When you wash your hair, put enough shampoo in the bottle to just cover the bottom, and fill the bottle up the rest of the way with water. Agitate the bottle so you disperse the shampoo. This is a great way to wash your hair without over-drying it. Once you have washed it, put on your conditioner/manic-panic mix and leave for a good amount of time, at least 30 minutes. Rinse with cold water. Do not blow-dry. Do not brush, do not comb your hair until it is BONE-DRY. Doing these things will minimize mechanical damage, which is vital when you're a bleacher.

(I realize you didn't ask for care tips, but I have found the above to be immensely helpful for protecting my hair)

I don't have any specific sure-fire tips for your bleaching process (except use 20vol instead of 30vol, and get a dye-savvy friend/relative to help you when applying all-over bleach again), since what worked for me* may not work for you in that instance. All I can tell you for sure is that you must take it slowly if you want to preserve your length.


*If you're curious about what I did, I used a few high-lifts at the start (I don't suggest doing this, I'm only mentioning for the sake of being completely forthcoming, and if I had it to do all over again I would go straight to the bleach). Then I did full-saturation bleaching (roots to ends) spaced out a few weeks (I don't recall how many I did, though). 20vol, 20 minutes process time starting from the completion of application. You know by now that roots process faster than lengths, so the initial effect for me was hot roots and orange mid-lengths/ends. The end effect, after all was said and done, was a much more even canvas. Not 100% even, but it looked very nice, like a subtle ombre. For a while though I looked pretty funny, but that didn't bother me enough to abandon the process.
But of course, you and I had different circumstances. I was henna-ed and you used black dye, so your mileage will vary from mine.

[maryalana]

I don't really have anything helpful to add but I've done something similar to myself. Hopefully reading the stories of other hair disasters make you feel a little better :)

While trying to grow out henna I ended up going to a salon to add a "gloss" to even out the colour a bit. It turned out a darker red then the henna and my natural hair colour but was supposed to fade out in a month or two. Fast forward a bit, the gloss wasn't fading and I needed to start job hunting so I decided to use a box of demi-permanent colour as my roots looked really unprofessional. The colour was slightly ashy and between my natural hair colour and the lengths with the goal of having a colour that I could live with while I grew everything out.

I looked great until the demi started washing out. The demi had lightened my natural hair to a strawberry blonde but had washed out of the lengths completely. I read everything I could and decided to try using a colour remover at home to try to remove the "gloss" that the salon added. It was a disaster! It lightened the previously hennaed hair and removed the last trace of the demi but it didn't do anything to lighten the hair that was virgin before the gloss.

In the end, I had four distinct lines of colour in my hair: henna on the ends, red from the salon, strawberry blonde from the demi and then my natural roots. I used a colour remover again to get rid of some of the patchiness as well tried "natural" methods to remove the red from my hair. The process completely fried my hair. I wore it up until the henna was past my chin and then cut it off. I did use manic panic and tinted conditioners to try to even things out while it grew out. Not sure if it really helped but it didn't really hurt.

If I could go back in time I would have gone to a professional hair colourist, not just the salon that cut my hair for colour advice. I'd also lecture myself to be patient and wait longer in between treatments. Even "natural" methods can be damaging and I might have been able to save my lengths if I had of been more patient. I was convinced that I could fix it myself at home. Sure, it was cheaper ($) than going to a salon but it cost a lot more.

Please keep us updated on what happens next.

[Caribbean_girl]

Go to a professional. They can try and even out the colour for you and get you as light as possible. Then you can keep doing your own roots later.



Just like Ylva said, I recommend you to go to a professional it will save you tons of future damage.