Is it possible to have healthy, bleached hair?

[-simply Venus-]

So, I have been obsessed with dyeing my hair since the first day I dyed it. I want to grow my hair out, though, to waist length, which means I have to quit dyeing and straitening (Didn't do that often, but now I need to quit all together)

I've had my hair the same color for almost over a year now, and I'm dieingggggg to dye it! I want to dye it fun colors!! Only problem is, I have dark brown hair, so it's hard to do anything without bleach. Last time my hair was another color, I had bleached and dyed it red. Kept dyeing it red when it faded, then learned about henna (which brought me to here, since you have so much info on henna!) lemme just say, the bleaching + dyeing + henna made my hair all icky and wirey (The henna, 100% BAF quality, actually made my hair drier and tangle easier =/ ) So now in my hair, the virgin to bleach hair (though not to dye, since my hair keeps fading and i dye it back to my natural color, lol) is silky smooth, and the part exposed to bleach is really thick and wirey and not soft at all. Protein, oil, conditioning, nothing helps it! As my hair grows, I cut it off.. and my plan is to do this until it's all gone, then grow it out to waist.

But I really really really want to dye my hair lighter colors! Is it possible in any way to have silky, bleached hair?

Thanks for any help!!

[sarahbrownie]

Well if it's done correctly it can minimize damage. I want to say healthy bleached hair is possible. I'm always amazed on how some people's hair can withstand the peroxide. I've bleached many times and though my hair never fell out it did feel very dry and a bit like straw. It's a high maintenance, a lot of moisture and deep condish treatments but it never was the same as before I bleached it. Going dark brown to blonde is very hard. I remember the l'oreal blue (?) peroxide and going through the stages. Usually it stopped around the orange stage, though my roots were always white. All I can really recommend in my opinion is hair extensions or maybe experiment with some vegetable dyes. Even though I had brown hair the purples and reds turned out really nice.

[-simply Venus-]

So basically, bleaching your hair will never let it feel the same as before? =[

[dancedancedance]

yes, it is possible. it will make your hair more prone to damage, but that just means you'll have to try extra hard. =]

[dancedancedance]

good luck!!

[lundmir]

Check out this thread: http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=10495
It is actually possible to have healthy and bleached long hair. Ask me about it! I've dyed mine a lot.

Of course, my hair is really strong naturally, but I have done "horrible" things to it and I rarely experience split ends, and no breakage so far.

After I really abused it about six months ago, I did get really dry ends, so I trimmed those and took better care of it, and I'm very satisfied with it.

[McFearless]

I have naturally BLACK hair. Jet black. When I wanted to go lighter I started with highlights and slooowly worked my way up to light hair with lots of treatments in between each dye job. So I think you CAN avoid bleach.

[Angeletti]

Yes it's possible, everyone's hair is different and some can deal with the damage while others can't. I had bleached my hair years ago and probably still have half of the bleached hair in my length still. Honestly I can't tell where the bleached hair meets non bleached hair because it all feels soft and silky and about the same to me.

[ghost]

Lightening slowly, over time, will help keep off some of the damage. So will doing protein treatments when you lighten, and handling your hair incredibly gently. Your hair won't be pristine, but you can still keep it in pretty good condition.

[ericthegreat]

Yes, it is definitely possible to lighten your hair with bleach and still keep it reasonably healthy!! This is exactly what I did to my hair recently. My natural hair color is jet black as you can see from the old picture of my avatar. I am now a blonde, here I'll show you the pic I showed everyone else from a recent thread of mine:

http://a.imageshack.us/img243/8028/picture304f.jpg (http://img243.imageshack.us/i/picture304f.jpg/)

Uploaded with ImageShack.us (http://imageshack.us)

You will need to take care of your hair a lot more gently however after you have lightened your hair. The bleach will dry out your hair at least somewhat, this is simply unavoidable as any chemical process will end up drying out your hair. However, if you are diligent about oiling your hair and keeping it moisturized, then you can compensate for the dryness that will result from coloring your hair. My regular routine is to wash my hair only with conditioner every day. And about once a week, I will soak my hair in coconut oil. I usually do this on the weekends, and I will leave the oil in my hair as I sleep( I cover my pillows when I do this). When I wake up the next morning, that is when I wash the oil out. I wash the oil out with a small amount of shampoo, I try to make sure I don't completely wash out all the oil from my hair. I then follow that up with conditioner again, that way I keep my hair as well moisturized as possible.

Good luck with whatever you decide. :)

[GoddesJourney]

I suggest a really good professional and doing it infrequently. Let those roots really show between appointments. It can be done, especially since your hair is very coarse. It won't be quite as healthy as it would be if you don't lighten it, but it can still be nice. With LHC info, your hair can be nicer lightened than many peoples' natural hair. The only thing to worry about it is that your hair is naturally curly, so it may dry out a little faster. Protein treatments often work wonders on chemically treated hair. Constant moisture is a good idea anyway.

[Flossy]

I would like to say that my bleached hair is nice and healthy! I work really hard on keeping it in good condition, and have to try extra hard on the ends, which were pretty fried after daily straightening. I've ditched most heat (but still use a blow dryer after washing on my roots, it's a bit cool here for wet hair) and oil a lot, and treat it gently.

I have light hair anyway, and get foil highlights to maintain my colour, so it's not as bad as bleaching the whole lot (IMO).

Good luck!

[UltraBella]

My hair is bleached. I have attached a pic below. I had a very dark reddish brown dye job and I bleached to this coppery color I have now and added highlights as well. My hair is just as healthy as before, but not everyone's hair handles bleach as well so you must be careful.
That being said, I believe you need to enjoy your hair and have fun with it, if that means bleaching it and dying it funky colors, do it ! Just re-evaluate if you start seeing signs of damage and treat it extra gently to compensate. Good Luck !

http://i908.photobucket.com/albums/ac282/beyondbeauty76/IMG_0389.jpg

[Kathie]

Here’s a link to a thread I started when I first got here :D

http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=47956

There is defiantly some beautiful bleached hair out there... especially here at LHC

[Kathie]

Ok- this is a little crazy (a tripple thread)

[UltraBella]

Lol, Kathie, I hate it when that happens :)

[share801]

For some people I would say absolutely yes. Many fine examples here. For me personally, sadly, no. My hair does not react well to bleach even when very short.

[Maddy25]

I would say yes, for sure. As long as you take good care of it and only dye your roots when you get the overall colour you want. My mom has been bleaching her hair since she was a teen and she has really think, strong shiney waist long blone hair. She also heatstyles everyday so I'm not sure how she does it hahaha, but I envy her!

[Crazycatlady]

My hair is bleached. I have attached a pic below. I had a very dark reddish brown dye job and I bleached to this coppery color I have now and added highlights as well. My hair is just as healthy as before, but not everyone's hair handles bleach as well so you must be careful.
That being said, I believe you need to enjoy your hair and have fun with it, if that means bleaching it and dying it funky colors, do it ! Just re-evaluate if you start seeing signs of damage and treat it extra gently to compensate. Good Luck !

http://i908.photobucket.com/albums/ac282/beyondbeauty76/IMG_0389.jpg
:slap: Okay, UltraBella! Let's duke it out! The winner gets your hair!!! Hair envy is such an ugly thing, but your hair is sooo pretty! :p Thanks for your sweet post. You always give your fellow chemical users hope and encouragement.

[UltraBella]

Crazycatlady, thank you ! Today I will just give it to you, it is not on it's best behavior........darn hair ! :shrug: Oh well, it happens.

[Qwackie]

I just bleached my hair on Sunday and Monday with hydrogen peroxide (not the entire length, just bangs) and it's just as soft as it usually is. Don't know how it'd be on your hair, but it only made the obvious color change in mine.

[Fractalsofhair]

Your hair won't feel the same, or as nice, but you can avoid a lot of damage! Applying coconut oil before hand is said to help.

My hair can't stand any bleaching though. However, my hair is very light and doesn't bleach easily.

[Aleria]

I have natural medium-dark brown hair (in my avatar), and I have not only dyed it black, but also bleached three streaks in (in order to dye them with Special Effects dye). They feel no different than the rest of my hair, which is soft and doesn't tangle too much.
I had a thread about long hair+dying as well, here (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=54065) XD however since mine was mainly focused on dyeing, not bleaching, it may not be as helpful to you.

[aenflex]

It totally depends on the hair first and foremost, and then the care after the treatment. Some people with very dark hair require a stonger bleach solution, and longer exposure to the bleach. I am in that category - I need to keep 30 volume developer on my hair for 2 hours total time in order to go from my dark brown/auburn tones which are natural, to honey/caramel blonde color. And my hair is always worse for wear. I keep a light blonde streak at the front of my hair, which I occasionally decorate with Manic Panic colors. I've been doing this for some years now, touching up the roots mainly. I can certainly say that for me, my bleached hair is in far worse condition than my non-bleached. Those with lighter, easier to lift hair color would probably need less time and weaker concentration, which of course would be less damaging. I will probably always keep my stripe though, it's become part of me :)

[swivelhop]

I need to keep 30 volume developer on my hair for 2 hours total time in order to go from my dark brown/auburn tones which are natural, to honey/caramel blonde color.

Ouch, I don't understand all the factors in lifting dark hair color. I know my "almost-black" hair bleached with 30vol (or was it 20vol, long time ago) in 20 minutes to champagne (cold gold?) blonde (no toner/dye). I think you either have to not care too much about the outcome or find a stylist who knows your hair, bleaching, and long hair all very very well.

[rags]

It depends on your hair type somewhat too, I think. My hair will not tolerate ANY bleach. It turns to straw and breaks off. However, it's baby, baby fine and very fragile to begin with (imagine bleaching a two year olds hair - that's what mine's like). My DD however, has bleached hers over and over and has only acceptable damage. (dryness, hair a little wiry, not bad at all) :shrug:

[aenflex]

It may very well just be my hair. My stylist after experimenting with 20 volume developer, Clairol I think, told me to try the 30 volume next time to help decrease the damage. I thought she was nuts, but it seems for my hair, the less time I leave the bleach on the better, versus using a less potent developer and leaving it on longer. I'm serious when I say my hair takes forever to go blonde. After an hour of the 30 volume, it's red. After another 45 mins or so, I get the caramel. The last mins seems to really bring the honey shades, and that's when I stop, mostly out of fear for my poor hair.

[23_seconds]

It's definitely possible to have nice, soft, and manageble hair after using bleach, however it can be a lot of maintenance and depends on many factors such as how many levels you intend to lighten, your hair type, starting color, hair history, products used before/during/after, aftercare routine, and so forth.

[ravenreed]

The only time I went blonde as a teen, I had this same problem. I think I used 20 volume and I remember it taking 3 or 4 hours. My hair was not the same after, but now I know how to care for it better.

I am thinking of putting in some streaks. I will try the 30 volume and see how it goes. The first one, my tester, is going to be along my nape where I have short hairs anyway, so if I loose a small chunk, it won't be noticeable.


It totally depends on the hair first and foremost, and then the care after the treatment. Some people with very dark hair require a stonger bleach solution, and longer exposure to the bleach. I am in that category - I need to keep 30 volume developer on my hair for 2 hours total time in order to go from my dark brown/auburn tones which are natural, to honey/caramel blonde color. And my hair is always worse for wear. I keep a light blonde streak at the front of my hair, which I occasionally decorate with Manic Panic colors. I've been doing this for some years now, touching up the roots mainly. I can certainly say that for me, my bleached hair is in far worse condition than my non-bleached. Those with lighter, easier to lift hair color would probably need less time and weaker concentration, which of course would be less damaging. I will probably always keep my stripe though, it's become part of me :)

[Hylia]

Yes, my hair used to be super healthy and bleached. I found all the damage that made me have to cut my hair was from styling tools.

[JulietCapulet]

It seems like it would be hard. But I'm sure there is a way!

[Kome]

I made a post about this here because I have dyed hair as well: http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=53544

:)

[like_magic]

Is it possible to have healthy, bleached hair?

Well that depends on many things, like what your hair color is before you're bleaching, how light you're going, what products you're using and how you maintain it.

Personally I've been bleaching my hair platinum blond and light beach blond for years now and I can tell you my hair hasn't been healthy since. I have natural dark brown hair, and ive done everything, bought the most expensive professional products, stopped flat ironing it, used deep conditioners, did multiple treatments, talked to every hair stylist I know and the result is that my hair will never be that healthy.

I don't know one person who has natural dark hair that can bleach their hair light blond without damage and or breakage. Caramel, yes. Honey, yes. But very light blond, no. Not unless your natural color is couple levels lighter than dark brown.

If anyone knows different, please let me know, how i would loooove to have my healthy blond locks!