Black hair with color underneath?

[maborosi]

Hi LHC. For the longest time, I've wanted to have two colored hair. I've heard that some people claim it looks bad, but I don't know if I believe it.

My idea was to keep my black/ very dark brown color on top, and underneath, have a different color, perhaps a blue or a pink. I don't mean going 'up' my hair, but literally have a thick layer of black on top with some bright, vibrant color under it.

Does anyone here have this? I'm extremely interested to at least check it out and get some ideas. I love my hair right now, but I've been itching to dye it a fun color since I had it pink years ago. :(

~maborosi~

[battles]

I plan on doing the same thing once my hair reaches a decent length, and my hair is a medium brown.

Do what makes you happy. :)

[maborosi]

I plan on doing the same thing once my hair reaches a decent length, and my hair is a medium brown.

Do what makes you happy. :)

Thanks!

I only have two problems:

I don't know what colors I should do
I'm kind of afraid of the bleaching process.

Hopefully someone who's done this before can chime in and offer a bit of support :)

~maborosi~

[battles]

I took a quick peek at your album, hope you don't mind! Just my own opinion, but I think a light blue or a turquoise color would look nice on you.

As for bleaching, I think using plenty of coconut oil before and after would help.

ETA: I know there are definitely people who play with dye more than I do, though. I'm sure someone will have advice. :D

[Slinks]

maybe try Henna rather than dye ?? your dark hair on top and a rich red henna underneath ..

[Dizzy_zzz]

I think that sounds gorgeous. Post pictures when you do do it! :D

[maborosi]

I took a quick peek at your album, hope you don't mind! Just my own opinion, but I think a light blue or a turquoise color would look nice on you.

As for bleaching, I think using plenty of coconut oil before and after would help.

ETA: I know there are definitely people who play with dye more than I do, though. I'm sure someone will have advice. :D

Thanks! I'd been leaning toward a cotton-candy blue color, because I really like the way it looks.

@Slinks- I've never tried henna before. It sounds interesting, but I also know it's very hard to get out once you use it. :< I also don't have completely black hair, and I know I'd have to do a bit of alchemy to get the right shade.

@Dizzy- Thanks! I'm not sure if I'm quite ready to do that yet, since there's going to be a wedding in my family pretty soon, which I'll be participating in, and I'm not so sure my brother and sister-in-law would really appreciate a wild color there. Maybe after I give it some more thought, I can make a better decision. :)

~maborosi~

[Emmental]

This is a boring suggestion, but it's what I'm going to do, so I figured I would offer it. :) Buy extensions. You can buy blonde ones (dye them) or colored ones and then cut and style them to fit your hair. For me, the cost is worth the fun of it and I can take them out when I'm bored and reuse them at a later date.

[Slinks]

This is a boring suggestion, but it's what I'm going to do, so I figured I would offer it. :) Buy extensions. You can buy blonde ones (dye them) or colored ones and then cut and style them to fit your hair. For me, the cost is worth the fun of it and I can take them out when I'm bored and reuse them at a later date.
That's a good idea ..

[KittyLost]

If you want a cotton-candy blue or any kind of blue you'll have to bleach to a light yellow, which will require a lot of bleaching or bleach baths spaced weeks apart so you don't ruin your hair. There will always be damage from bleach but you can minimise it with protection such as coconut oil and spacing bleaches apart so that you don't fry your hair. Once you get to a light blonde you'll have to tone it to white, to get rid of any yellow tones so that the blue does not pick them up and turn green. Pastel colours do not last long and wash out quicker than just a normal dye as you have to dilute it with white conditioner to get the light cotton candy colour you are after. It is possible to achieve but you'll have quite a big and long project on your hands especially since your hair is so dark.

I think it will look good though, I like underlayers of colour as you don't really have to worry about roots and it looks good just peaking out the bottom.

[Quezie]

Definitely go to a professional styling for the bleach process, and a strand test is also a good idea if you haven't bleached before, and don't know how your hair reacts to bleach.

The extensions that Emmental suggested sounds like a great idea, especially if you're unsure on what colour you want.

Good luck! (:

[sweetestpoison]

I've done this before with red.. here it is set in pin curls:

http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/n531/Tricia_Ann/DSCF0946.jpg

http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/n531/Tricia_Ann/DSCF0937.jpg

and i plan on doing it again soon with rainbow :) the red i didn't have to bleach but it was a hassle to get because it kept wanting to turn brown.. but that was before i knew about the wonders of Henna :eyebrows:

Anywho as for the bleaching process it is just a matter of how you plan on wearing your hair.. if you plan to heat style it often and leave it down.. i would suggest going for a color you don't have to bleach, and if you wear it down a lot i would definitely baby it for the day after you bleach and color it. Also don't go too many shades lighter in one day, if you have to go through the process twice then do it but letting bleach sit on your head for more than 30 minutes can be dangerous! Happy Dye-ing!

[|Xei]

I've had this in the past, though my very top layer was also bleached and coloured (I have several pictures in my album, if you're interested). Styling it was extremely fun because the pop of colour adds a special twist to nearly every style. It still looks awesome even when I didn't do anything to it. I think it's totally worth it if you don't mind the upkeep (which is not very difficult imo).

If you're going to be doing the bleaching yourself, I'd advise for you to stay away from the 40 volume stuff, and unless you have extremely resilient hair, stay away from the 30 volume stuff as well. 40 and 30 volume bleach is very strong, and it's easy to get into hair accidents with them. The white-blonde I have right now (picture in album) was done with only two bleachings with 20 volume bleach, two hours of processing in total. I toned it with a violet demi-permanent to get it white. My natural hair colour is the black that you can see in my other pictures.

Additionally, do not deliberately heat up the bleach while it's in your hair to make it work faster (eg, with a blow dryer). Doing this will fry your hair. It's best to just let your natural body temperature do the work.

If you're set on the cotton candy blue, you'll have to bleach it to a light yellow (like the inside of a banana peel) like KittyLost mentioned. With this amount of bleaching, I can definitely tell you, your hair will not feel very nice. When dry, it'll be a little more frizzy then your virgin hair, and it'll feel stiffer as well. When wet, it'll stick together and be difficult to comb through and you'll probably need some sort of detangler to help you through it. So while the colour payoff may be absolutely lovely, the condition of your hair may not be, so do think well before going through with it. I've read many stories of girls regretting bleaching their hair because of the resulting condition of their hair.