Calling all blondes who lighten/bleach/peroxide!

[SapphiraSilver]

Greetings.

I have a question for all you blondes out there who damage by lightening.


Ignoring what colour results you would get, What is more damaging:

Lightening it with a 40 volume peroxide (mixed with hair colour ofcourse, Ash, or whatever it may be in the pack) with no bleach powder,

or.....

Using bleach powder with a 20 volume peroxide to lighten?

I always have the illusion that using bleach power is more damaging, but lately I am not so sure any more. I would like to hear your views from your experiences. Is bleach mixed with a lower volume peroxide more damaging then a stronger peroxide but without bleach?

Oh and what is 120G/L peroxide in volume, is that a 40 volume? I'm not sure how to calculate that.

PS: Feel free to use this thread to share and discuss your experiences with being a blond!

[WaitingSoLong]

Ok, well I have done both. I had dyed my hair auburn back in the late 90's and kept it that way for awhile, the color really looks good on me but alas I got tired of the upkeep. So, not caring one lick about hair damage back then, I went bleach blonde about 6-7 years ago. I mean BLEACH bottle blonde. White blonde, like you.

I HATED IT. It looked horrid with my ruddy complexion. The color itself was OK, but not for ME.

SO I proceeded to dye it auburn again, and again as it would ust wash out, and again until it "took". Then I remembered...oh yeah...I didn't like the upkeep so I let my roots grow about 3" long and dyed my hair back to my roots.

On my current length, that comprises about the last 4-6" of my hair.

Then I sun-inned my roots and some of my length last year (just the top part). I have let that grow out and have about 4" of roots now.

The last 4" of my hair is super damaged, but that could be just from age, it IS 6 years old. I have learned how to make the ends look healthy even though they are secretly fried and I am super careful withmy hair now, protecting and babying. If you came and picked my hair up, you would see a difference between my roots health and my length/ends health, but not so much between the length and roots because I have figured out how to disguise my damaged ends.

And maybe it hasn't been long enough since the sun-in to see real damage. What will THAT look like in 6 years? But the ends are definitely more fried.

Not sure if that helps you or not!

There is a certain LHCer that uses sun in and has knee+ hair that is gorgeous. I think if you care for your hair (no heat, no chlorine, etc.) you can preserve most your hair health and still peroxide.

[SapphiraSilver]

Thank you so much for sharing. Unfortunately, I use heat all the time, otherwise it would just look horrible, and frizzy. Your hair is really beautiful.

I tried Sun In a while ago, I had to use it a lot of times on the same spot in order to see any difference at all, took so many tries or so to see any difference, and it was orange, so I didn't like it. Also dried it out quite a bit.

Happy growing!

[littlenvy]

:)
What is your starting colour? That's very important as to what you should use.

[SapphiraSilver]

Well my natural hair is a very dark blond to light brown at the back and a medium to dark blond at the front. Very silvery (ashy)

The goal is to achieve the lightest you can go with as little damage as possible. I am currently using Nordic Ash Blonde which has no bleach, and lightens up to 2-4 shades but I imagine it would be quite a strong peroxide in order to go that much lighter without bleach.

The front turns out okay, but the back ends up being orangey.

So that is why I wonder, would it be less damaging to use the ones with bleach in it (but with less peroxide) or continue using the Nordic Ash Blond without bleach.

Just want to know if Bleach is more damaging the peroxide.

[littlenvy]

Yes, from my own hair, bleach is WAY more damaging then peroxide. :)
I made that mistake about two years ago and my ends are very damaged. (I'm just waiting to cut them off) meanwhile my peroxide only ends are still in good shape even though I now dyed them back to match my natural colour.
If you are a blonde (even a darker one) you don't need to apply bleach at all.
I think (someone correct me if my thinking is wrong) the damage in bleach is do to the fact that bleach is a base. And your own hair is naturally slightly acidic. When you bleach you not only get rid of the colour but you also destroy the acidic bonds. Even if you try to restore the acidity , the damage is done.
Hydrogen peroxide on the other hand is a weak acid so more friendly towards your hair's pH level. Plus, from what I remember your body itself produces a certain amount of peroxide so its able to handle it better than bleach which is totally foreign.

[SapphiraSilver]

Thank you so much.

That is pretty much the answer I was looking for. Thank you :) Will try to avoid the bleach like crazy.

One more question:
Do you think Bleach is more damaging then even a 40 volume peroxide?

[justgreen]

My colorist uses bleach powder with 40volume. On the roots only, every 4-6 weeks.

[SapphiraSilver]

Wow, if I did that, I would have no hair left at all.