Lightening hair, tips to keep it from getting fried (I think it's possible)

[clanless]

Only recently I realized how good Naturtint is. I used it and even after I lightened my hair twice with the lightest blondes, my hair was still soft and shiny. The formula even made my hair softer. All this without conditioner.
But the brand was expensive, so I resorted to using Ion color vol 30 developer and their bleach to lighten my hair on a 1:1 ratio. It has quicker results than Naturtint, but not as gentle. My hair didn't get destroyed, but it's not as lustrous anymore. Perhaps it's because the developer was a vol. 30 and I used bleach. I would go back to Naturtint, only if it wasn't so expensive. So I am trying to get similar results to it.

I assume the Naturtint developer was a lower volume because it didn't lighten my hair as quickly as Ion Color did. Naturtint has a bottle called "developer" in it and a bottle of dye, but I don't see any bleach in the box. So I assume it's possible to only lighten hair with developer and dye, and not bleach. Perhaps that's why my hair was still so soft when I used Naturtint.

To keep my hair from getting killed, I am thinking of resorting to ammonia free bleach, even though it may not bleach my hair as quickly.
Or, a lower level developer (a gallon of vol 20 developer is on sale for $10 at my store) and just lightening my hair slowly with conditioning in between than using a strong developer to get faster results.
Or, using a higher ratio of developer to the amount of bleach I use. I use about 1:1, but maybe 1:2 or 1:3 might be good. Plus I get to save on bleach then. I heard that it's possible to lighten hair only with developer, and that bleach is the one that does most damage to hair anyway. And I also heard that you can't lighten hair only with developer.

I am thinking of keeping my blonde for a few years though, so I want to learn what formulas and methods that may be the best to keep my hair healthy, even if it means taking more time with how I dye my hair.

Thanks

[ellen732]

I am a hairstylist and I can tell you this as a fact, color over color and bleach over bleach, no matter what volume or ammonia free product you use, is going to fry your hair. Overlap is what damages the hair like nothing else. When I highlight or color someone's hair I never go over the previously processed hair again with full strength product. Good luck.

[Chetanlaiho]

For as far as I know, anything that lightens hair (other than the small amount you might get from honey and such, and the sun) chemically, or at least in chemical products = bleach. The developer's second ingredient is almost always hydrogen peroxide.

The volume of it may differ, but bleach is bleach.

[clanless]

Thank you. So, I assume developer does work without bleach powder. I know that anything that lightens or darkens hair is damaging, but I want to make the least damage as possible while also achieving what I want.

[sfgirl]

What everyone else says is right. Layering developer is not doing you any good. Developer/ peroxide, is what's damaging. You might as well add the ammonia and get a solid, good color, than keep putting developer on your hair.
I really do believe it's the peroxide that damages hair. I used to every month or so, tone my hair with 30 volume. My hair got so much breakage. When I just do my roots, my hair is pretty healthy.

[clanless]

I see, that makes a lot of sense because from what I know, all hair color products have a 'developer', and all of them damage hair to an extent.

I think the best I can do is just bleach little bit on intervals, use weekly purple conditioner, and deep condition.
Would purple conditioner be as effective as shampoo? I am not too fond of using shampoo as I only co-wash or baking soda wash once a week (and my hair is still clean..), but if the shampoo deposits purple into my hair better than conditioners, then I'd be willing to try it too.

Just asking if you guys know.

[clanless]

Oops, I meant the best I can do bleach, condition, then bleach, wait for my virgin hair to grow out, and do the same. Not put peroxide on the same hair over and over again.

[Sisgoldenhair65]

What Ellen732 said....I get my hair lightened in a salon. It's worth the extra money for me because I know I would get the bleach on previously lightened hair and my hair would be ruined! My stylist never colors over color except for the highlights I get over my base color once a year for color variation and that is only on base color that is not previously highlighted. My hair has minimal color damage. Going blonde at home is tricky and I wouldn't recommend it.

[afu]

I think the best I can do is just bleach little bit on intervals, use weekly purple conditioner, and deep condition.
Would purple conditioner be as effective as shampoo? I am not too fond of using shampoo as I only co-wash or baking soda wash once a week (and my hair is still clean..), but if the shampoo deposits purple into my hair better than conditioners, then I'd be willing to try it too.


I switched from using purple shampoos/conditioners as i didn't see much of an effect, i instead i bought this:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0012XAQYY/ref=wms_ohs_product

i only use it every few weeks and it is actually amazing, tones the hair beautifully and also makes it really really soft and shiny. Its more expensive than the shampoo and conditoner but lasts ages, i've had mine over a year now and still have loads left

[afu]

also, in case you look at my pic and say 'hmm, that doesn't look platinum', i havn't used mine in about 4 or 5 months!

[sfgirl]

i found the shampoo a lot more helpful than the conditioner, although the conditioner works, just not as well. If you only wash once a week it should stay in longer, so maybe just use the purple every couple weeks?
I'd say just do your roots, and use the shampoo or conditioner.

[Littlewing13]

All said so far is spot on. Also, If you must lighten & you want longer hair, Id highly recommend doing streaks or foils over full colour. That way you still get the look of lightened hair, but some virgin colour can still escape to grow long.

I used to be a stylist, for my long blond clients I would do half/quarter head foils so the lower layers could grow long. If you must diy you can get streaking caps fairly easily, might take a bit of practise though, & look up tutorials first

[clanless]

Thanks everyone.

Littlewing, that seems really hard. I prefer full color hair and not really fond of streaks. I would go to a professional to get highlights done when I can afford. Unfortunately many professionals that I've been to did not do strand/skin tests and I often burned from their bleach. Hopefully I find someone who's patient enough to do tests.

I heard that oiling the hair prior to bleaching helps from damaging hair as much, and that deep conditioning should be done every week.

[clanless]

So, I bleached my hair without coconut oil the first time. My hair didn't die, but my hair was obviously thinner. I kept conditioning with coconut oil, and once I rebleached a week later with coconut oil and argan oil on, there wasn't any visible damage this time. I am sure there was damage, but not felt at the moment. I used Joico K-pack to help soften my hair more, but what truly softened it was coconut oil, I believe. My hair is so soft that I can't stop touching and playing with it! If only I had longer hair, it would be really shining. I can't wait to grow my hair longer.