To all bottle blondes

[LaFlor]

I see a lot of bottle blondes here with long healthy looking hair. I have to ask, what is your secret? How do you keep hair looking healthy while bleaching? Do you have a special routine or is your hair just tough?

I have highlights and my hair doesn't seem bothered by the bleach. But I am careful in every other way and I use coconut oil regularly. Plus I didn't need to process very long, like 5-10 min, so I'm sure that helps.

I was thinking of going lighter so I would really like to know what everyone does!

[defineinsanity]

I have always wanted to achieve an incredibly light blond colour that it definitely not my natural... so i've been through the bottle blonde stage and it killed my hair.. that was before LHC of course, but now i have found the wonders of sun-in, yes i know alot of people here really hate that product buuuut if used correctly and sparingly it really does work, i'm going to do a touch up tomorrow :) really looking forward to it
It's got a small amount of peroxide in it which is nothing to the amount of damage hair dye does, and yes you have to use heat to activate it but once doesn't damage very much at all.
It works soooo well :D great results
The next wash i do a protein treatment (usually egg and mayo with a bit of honey for moisture) and it adds back all the lost protein from the peroxide :) simples

[nobunny]

i'm usually hovering between a "level 10" and a "level 12" switching up from golden to platinum/neutral. i think it wouldn't be possible for me if my natural hair wasn't blonde, naturally oily, and lifts like a champ. in fact nowadays i don't bleach and i can still get platinum with a "high-lift" dye and 30 vol developer. protein fillers while dying help, and lots of attention and tlc. coconut oiling under hair-dye is a must IMO.

i've come to the opinion that if your hair lifts fairly easily, you can have pretty nice white-blond hair without killing yourself over it. it's never quite as healthy as some people's but it is doable without too many processes and headaches.

[GourmetChica]

I am a natural dark blonde with highlights. I highlight about every 4 months, using small skinny strands so that it looks sunkissed and natural. Thanks to LHC I've also found that highlighting or bleaching over coconut oil or argan oil or both can help chelate the bad byproducts of bleach, which I've done once with great results.

For me the key to keeping my hair healthy is, weekly protein treatments followed by a moisture mask, and cones on the ends to protect them from friction. And, protective styling at night (braids, bun etc). My hair is shiny, not breaking off, and no splits even after 4 mos from the last trim. It's kind of a pain having to baby it so much, but I've been enjoying taking care of it and watching the growth.

[justgreen]

My secret is my hairdresser, bless her lovely gorgeous soul. She is so good at taking care of my hair and she's only been out of beauty school a year. I found her right before she graduated and I've been seeing her on a regular basis every 4-6 weeks. She also does waxing and takes good care of my tootsies , with regular polish changes and clipping. She's very careful with my hair and we've gotten it down to a science as to what it takes to get my hair to lift using 40 vol and just a tiny bit of warm air blowing down on the top. AND NO TONER, TONER IS EVIL. Once it starts to fade away, then the brassies move in and all hell breaks loose.

I get a dusting done on the ends (I have one side that grows a bit faster) about every six to eight months. Bangs and sides trimmed once a month.

I use diluted shampoo, usually Natures Gate Original Herbal. My holy grail conditioners are Humberto (found at Target) and Sebastian Volume (found on ebay usually at a decent price). I also like using the new L'oreal Everpure Shampoo (sulfate free) and Conditioner. I rub the conditioner on my damp hair and let it air dry, makes the ends so soft and not dry and sharp .

ETA: Just wanted to add that before my current hairdresser, I did have another great one. She took care of my hair for almost 8 years, then her husband transferred to Denver. I figured a five hour drive was not gonna work for me, every 6 weeks. :justy: So I lucked out when I found Casey.

[Carolyn]

I color and high light. I wouldn't dream of doing it myself. I go to an Aveda salon. When I started at the salon I asked for a stylist who was good with ash blonde hair. I was very happy with what she did with my hair. She really listened to what I wanted and would tweak things if I wanted something different. She also kept excellent notes and records of my color formulas/mixes. She eventually decided to be a SAHM for a while and she picked a new stylist for me at that salon. Again I got a stylist who understands blonde hair. I am coloring to cover up my silvers and I not coloring to change my blondness. I get a lighter VERY ashy blonde on the top and sides and a slightly darker shade underneath. I also get about 6 high lights in my bangs area. I get this done about every 4 months. My home hair care is lots of rich, moisturizing conditioners, SMT, long CO soaks, and lots of S & D. I also use several blue/violet S & C's to combat brassy, gold tones. I want to stay as ashy as I can.

[Malibu Barbie]

[quote=justgreen;1754869]My secret is my hairdresser, bless her lovely gorgeous soul. She is so good at taking care of my hair and she's only been out of beauty school a year. I found her right before she graduated and I've been seeing her on a regular basis every 4-6 weeks. She also does waxing and takes good care of my tootsies , with regular polish changes and clipping. She's very careful with my hair and we've gotten it down to a science as to what it takes to get my hair to lift using 40 vol and just a tiny bit of warm air blowing down on the top. AND NO TONER, TONER IS EVIL. Once it starts to fade away, then the brassies move in and all hell breaks loose.

For years I hated toners!! Everytime a hairstylist did this my hair went bad color wise. I'm also a darker blonde. I like it lighter and a high lift color is all I need. I have had people use bleach on my hair about 25 years ago. In college, I found a guy that also worked in a salon while going to hairschool. He was great and bleached my hair back then, he never used toner and I always used Aveda back then. My hair was really white due to saltwater and sun. My hair wasn't damaged at all. Now I keep it golden blonde and use high lift color. I also heavly oil with argan oil in between colors and oil it the day before I go in for color.

[cubiczoeconia]

I just want to echo tha finding he righ hairdresser is key. Lightening is something you don't wan to mess around with at home, especially if you want your hair to remain healthy and pretty.

[cubiczoeconia]

Sorry about the missing "t"s, by the way. It seems my keyboard has decided I need to work really hard to actually get them on the screen.:rant:

[Loviatar]

When I was bleaching, I found that bleaching over heavily coconut-oiled hair and CO washing using cool water were my staples. :)

[Lianna]

You can find some advice in this thread:

Bottle blonde grows long! (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=21256)

I have not grown my hair too long, or too light. However, I know that when dyeing hair it's best to avoid heat styling aswell, because it can just be too much. I wash as I need and keep it moisturized with oils.