diy: how i went platinum at home

After keeping my platinum hair for almost 8 months, I decided it was time for a change. I really enjoyed it, and am so happy I took the plunge back in April.

Because I'm always looking for fund my shopping habit save money, I DIYed everything, and thought I would share it in a better and more concise form than my previous posts. By doing it myself, I saved about $700.

A large amount of the changes that come with platinum hair is also how people treat you, and your perception of yourself.

   

 Platinum hair is not for everyone. I'm not gonna lie, it's a ton of work - in terms of getting your hair there and keeping it alive.

For everyone with dark hair - you'll need a ton of bleach. I bleached my hair 4 times (you can see individual photos here), with each bleach session lasting about 1 hr. I'm not entirely sure if that was safe, but my hair was not too damaged initially.

To protect my hair, I waited a couple days after a wash, so I had lots of natural oils, and rubbed olive oil in as well 30 minutes before dying.

 I smelled like a walking tub of popcorn, but we've all done strange things for beauty. 


While bleaching, you need to keep the bleach moist so it can stay effective. I'd recommend using a shower cap, but I didn't have one, so I improvised by wrapping a plastic bag around my head. 

Try to keep minimal amounts of bleach from touching your skin, and wash it off immediately if it does on accident. You'll probably get a few breakouts on your hairline, as the bleach sits there when it's on your hair as well.

Once your hair has reached a pale yellow color, like the inside of a banana, you'll have to tone. I used Wella Color Charm T18 , which worked pretty well. You mix it with developer, and it comes out yellow, but eventually turns purple. This'll counteract the yellows in your hair to make white (color theory).

   

To maintain the health of my hair and color, I used Generic Conditioning Shampoo and Shiny Silver Ultra Conditioner, as well as Ion Effective Care Treatment and Aussie 3 Minute Miracle. Because my hair was so dry, I didn't need a lot of shampoo, and cut down to a dime sized portion, leaving it in for a minute. I used more conditioner, and left that in for 3-5 minutes.

I alternated between Ion and Aussie, sometimes mixing them together. The repair treatments I left on for 3-5 minutes as well.


Obviously, my showers became a lot longer, as I had to stand and wait for the products to become effective. I always turned off the water and did some arm circles (because when else am I going to voluntarily exercise except when bored out of my mind and stuck in the shower), and timed myself by listening to Pandora - 1 song = ~4 mins.

My damaged hair also took ages to dry. Beforehand, it would be dry within 1-2 hours, and afterwards, it would take between 4-5 hours to completely dry. My hair also became gum like, and elastic-y, falling out if I was too rough with it.


The most difficult part for me (and ultimately why I changed my color) was the roots. You're "supposed" to get them done every 6-8 weeks, but I didn't have the energy nor the time for that. Instead, I stretched it to every 4 months (16 weeks), but as you can see, my roots became very noticeable.

Oddly, dying my roots was more damaging to my hair than the first round. It's tough to match the color exactly, and you don't want to go over the "line" of your previous bleach, because that will weaken your hair and it will break at that point.

So guess what happened to my hair? That's right, it broke off 2-3 inches away from my roots, giving me these weird mini bangs that still won't stay down.

Because my hair was so damaged the second time around, I chose to skip the toner and simply use purple shampoo. You can see how yellow my hair was initially, and after a few months of consistently using shampoo, it's become a nice, white color - with a few brassy patches still scattered.

Even with all the struggles and damage, having platinum blonde hair was the best. Initially, I did have to deal with some who thought I was trying to be Caucasian and more catcalling as well, though there were also many compliments from people I admire, and conversations started with strangers over my hair.

I've always been more on the reserved side, though I think I'm an ambivert, and having this "instant conversation starter" was really beneficial to me. I became used to the curious stares, and I feel like it encouraged me to be a bit more bold than I'd usually be. People didn't just lump me into a stereotype, because there wasn't one that existed for "blonde Asian who is somewhat good at school and likes fashion".

My friends also appreciated being able to quickly find me in a crowd - which says something when you're only 5'3".


Now, I no longer have platinum hair, and although I miss it at times, I'm glad I didn't keep it any longer. I was beginning to feel like it was too big of a part of my identity, almost like I was scared that without it, people wouldn't treat me the same, or find me as "interesting". When one of my friends dyed her hair the same color as mine, my first reaction was being anxious that I would no longer be as "unique".

I was afraid to fade back into oblivion, and I wanted to stay recognized. But I also didn't like how attached I was to a physical feature - at the end of the day, it's who we are, not what we look like, that really matters.

After 8 months as an unnatural blonde, I can definitely say that we have more fun. 

Would you ever consider going platinum blonde? What's the most unusual hair color you've seen or had? 

Let me know if you have any questions about anything!

xx

Angelina

p.s. a post about my new hair color is in the works (: