part 2: starting the journey from black to white/silver

NOTE: This is part 2 of a series. Part 1 covers how to make up your mind about dying your hair, I'd encourage reading it if you're still a little iffy. 

After I more or less made up my mind to dye my hair, I slept on it for a day. I would've slept longer on it, but Sally's was having a sale, and it was ending at midnight. Being the bargain hunter I am, I had to make up my mind then. This post will cover supplies, the stages of bleach, and my bleaching technique. 

1. Supplies

Here's what I got:
Ion Color Brilliance Powder Lightener 1 Lb Tub 
Ion Color Brilliance Extra Wide Tint Brush
Ion Effective Care Treatment 12 Oz
Ion Cool Blonde Conditioner
Ion Sensitive Scalp 30 Volume Creme Developer 32 Oz
Wella Color Charm T18
Generic Conditioning Shampoo

I had a $14 discount, so it added up to $56. It took about 6 business days to arrive, and it was very well packaged. All the tops had been taped down to insure there wouldn't be any spills.

Here is where I strongly recommend you to not became overly excited with the arrival of your hair supplies, and attempt to bleach your hair by yourself in a rush because you still have work that's due tomorrow and school in the morning. Can you guess what I did?

2. Stages of bleach

It was terrible. It was horrible and orange in spots and stripey. Because I tried to do it by myself with no help, I hadn't evenly distributed the bleach, and it lightened my hair at different speeds. I couldn't deal with my hair, so I actually ended up playing hooky the next day.

I was still determined to dye my hair though, and couldn't find any temporary "normal hair color" dyes (I still had about a week till spring break). Fortunately, I discovered that spray on concealers for gray hair would work just as well. Also, I would braid my hair while wet and it would dry in loose, mermaid waves, which concealed the uneven-ness very well.

I washed my hair with only the Ion Protein Reconstructor, no shampoo because my hair was so dry it didn't produce any oil.

My second bleach, I had a friend help me, and it turned out much better. I also soaked my hair in Extra Virgin Olive Oil for 30 mins beforehand. I focused mainly on the scalp bc when I Googled "bleach scalp burns", I got quite nervous. Pouring a little on my palm and then running my hands through my hair worked very well.

I was not a fan of the color, but it was much more even than before. I spaced out the first two bleachings with a little more than a week in between, and my hair was still healthy afterwards.

I couldn't really tell if the Reconstructor had helped my hair, but I found my Tigi Moisture Maniac conditioner did a much better job. Again, no shampoo.

I waited 3 days before my third bleach, and this was because I really couldn't stand the color. I followed the same procedure- EVO for 30 mins, bleach, conditioning with the Reconstructor and Tigi.

I noticed when I peeked at my hair, it looked darker than it was once I rinsed it out. Not sure if this was just my hair, or typical.

Afterwards, I used a little bit of toner, but I wouldn't recommend that as it didn't have much impact. I washed with Generic purple shampoo, purple conditioner, reconstructor, more shampoo but leaving it on for 3-5 mins, and then moisturizing conditioner. I probably wouldn't suggest overloading your hair with so many products, but the purple made a subtle difference.

My last and fourth bleach! It turned into a very light blonde, like the inside of a banana. I toned it just using purple shampoo and conditioner at first, waited a day, and then used T18 to tone for ~20 mins. I freaked out because I thought it turned my hair gray/purple, but again, it washed out lighter.

3. My bleaching technique

I didn't take pictures because I'm not an experience bleacher, and there are many helpful Youtubers and bloggers who would explain much better. But in case you are curious how I did it, I'll walkthrough it.

I first covered all parts of my hair on top, from midshaft down. This is because hair closer to your roots will lighten faster due to heat from your head. Then I flipped my head upside down, and moved all my hair so the bottoms were exposed. I coated those as well, minus the roots. Then I covered my hair with a plastic bag, and twisted it up, towel turban style. I tried to make it as airtight as possible.

After about 30 mins, I went back and covered the roots, using the same technique. Each time I left the bleach on for however long I could take it, usually about 1.5-2 hrs. I don't think this is the "proper" way to do it, and it may result in bleach burns depending on your scalp. For somer reason, I was fine, and it didn't damage my hair.

Thanks for reading! For the last part, I'll be covering the end results and what to expect. 

xx

Angelina

Disclaimer - all opinions in this post were my own. I was not sponsored by Ion or Sally Beauty. I will not be receiving any compensation if you buy products by clicking through the link on this post.