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Thursday, March 24, 2011

How I bleach my hair and a Kat Von D blue smokey eye!

It was getting close to the time for me to go bleach my regrowth and I was debating on whether or not I should take pictures and show you guys how I do it and what I use (I didn't know if anyone would care).  I checked my e-mail really quick before I was going to go do it and I had a message from "She Likes to Pretend" asking me what I use to color my hair.  Well, you asked that at the perfect time because that convinced me I should take pictures and post what I use. 

I naturally have dark blonde/light brown hair:
This is my hair with just highlights, but it had a lot of regrowth
And I like my hair a bit lighter but was so sick of having to pull my hair through a cap to get highlights myself that I just wanted to be able to paint something on my regrowth and be done with it.  Now I have never had good luck with box blonde dyes, I always have ended up with orange hair... not attractive.  So I did a lot of research online as to how to get my hair blonde without being orange.  All I could find were videos telling me how to go from black hair to blonde and stuff like that.  Well, I don't have black hair.  So after a bit of trial and error, here is what I have found that works for me.
*Just so you know, I am not a hair professional... not in any sense of the word.  If you want to try my method, you can do so at your own risk.  I'm just telling you what works for my hair.

What you will need:
~Bleach (I use Clairol Professional BW2 Dedusted Extra Strength)
~Developer (I use 30 Volume Creme Developer for the bleach and 20 Volume Creme Developer for the toner)
~Toner (I use Wella Color Charm Extra Mild Toner in T18 White Lady)
~Shampoo
~A good conditioner
~A hair tie
~Mixing bowl
~Something to measure out the developer (I use an old cough syrup measurer because 2 tablespoons equals 1 ounce)
~Brush for painting on color (with a pointy end to help you part your hair)
~2 mirrors (so you can see the back of your head) or a friend to do it for you

I go 2-3 weeks in between colorings depending on how badly I feel it needs to be done.  So here's what my roots look like after 3 weeks:

First, since I like the underneath of my hair darker than the top, I tie up the part of my hair that I don't want colored (I just get a general line, I don't need the part to be perfect).

If you have never tried to take a picture of the back of your head, you should give it a go sometime... it's quite difficult haha
 Next I mix the bleach with the 30 Volume Creme Developer (half of a packet and 1 oz. of developer).  I buy the packets of bleach and use half of a packet every time I color my regrowth because that's all I need.

I got this at Sally's for about $5

Again, from Sally's.  This is about $3.25

And I apply it only to my regrowth, starting at where I part my hair and working sideways to my ear.  Then I flip the hair back and continue down the other side to my other ear.  And now is when the 2nd mirror comes in handy.  I need to do the back of my head so I position my mirrors so I can see what I'm doing and apply the bleach to my roots on the back of my head.  And now we wait.  So I checked it after 15 minutes from the time I finished applying it and here's what it looked like (still too yellow):
10 minutes later it looks pretty good (I probably could have waited a little longer but I was being impatient and just wanted to be done):
To wash the bleach out, I shampoo twice.  I use Goldwell shampoo for color treated hair and then I apply a deep conditioner (Aussie 3 minute miracle) from roots to ends and leave it on for a bit, then I rinse it out.  After I wash out the bleach, I always look like a CRAZY person, with my roots all yellow and the rest of my hair a little darker, it really looks not good.  Now let me just tell you that this will probably be the only shot of me without makeup that you will EVER EVER see haha!

you can't really see how yellow it is because of the flash
 So now I mix the toner (1/2 of a container to 1.5 oz. of 20 volume developer):

From Sally's, it's about $5

From Sally's too, this is $4.79


And I apply it all over my head, this doesn't need to be as neatly done as the bleach.  After I'm done getting it on my roots, I comb it through my head and pull it back into a ponytail.  Now, do not be alarmed as your hair turns a nice, dark purple haha.  Here's what it looks like after 25 minutes:
And then I wash that out, only shampooing once.  To condition, I focus on the ends and don't bring it all the way to my roots.  And now this is what it looks like:
You can still see a tinge of purple, but I'd rather have purple tinted hair than yellow hair!
And here I am all made up and hair straightened:
Now, to maintain this color, I use the "Generic Brand Conditioning Shampoo" (from Sally's) which is a purple shampoo designed to keep brassiness out of hair.  I use it every time I shampoo and leave it in for about 4 minutes (I listen to music in the shower so I just leave it in for a whole song).  If I do not use this shampoo, my hair definitely goes brassy again.

 And now here's my makeup for the day!  A nice blue smokey eye using the Kat Von D True Romance Eyeshadow Palette in "Metal Orchestra" (here's a link to the palette if you wanna check it out: http://www.sephora.com/browse/product.jhtml;jsessionid=431Q3RWJLY4HCCV0KRTQIGQ?id=P225385&categoryId=C18697 ).  I have this palette and also her Tattoo Chronicles palette and I definitely perfer the Tattoo Chronicles palette because those shadows are a little less chalky and apply a little more smoothly, but this palette is beautiful too.
Here are the swatches from the palette (over NYX JEP in "Milk"):

From left to right the shadows are:
First Class, Techno, Thrasher, Dagger, Lucifer, Glock, Razor Gray, and Slayer

The colors I used are Thrasher and Dagger (Slayer, all the way to the right, is a cream shadow and doesn't look so nice on the eyes).  And I used MAC pigment in "Vanilla" as my highlight.  3 colors.  That's all this look is.

So I hope I've helped someone out there who has blonde hair and just wants to go a little blonder.  It's a little time consuming but for me it's worth it.  Even if I had to buy all of these products every three weeks, it would only cost me $18 to do it (the developer lasts quite a long time!!) which is worth it to me!  I hope you have a beautiful day!!!  Thank you guys for reading this!!! 

25 comments:

  1. this is a FANTASTIC tutorial!! I always wanted to know how to bleech hair and you made it so easy to understand and you look amazing without makeup on AND then with the makeup..HOLY SMOKES!! just beautiful!! love it!!

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  2. BTW I forgot to ask..does the bleach tingle or hurt when it is on??

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  3. I want to try blonde hair soooo bad but my hair is very dark and the last time I tried going blonde, it was catastrophic..lol...love the makeup!

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  4. omg this is the best post ever!!! I mean, this is so great! What a great teacher you are! You took such awesome pics, and whoa, you have some patience! It looks waaay too complicated for me, but hats off to you!!

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  5. I'm loving the step by step instructions/photos :) it's such a gorgeous colour when it's done

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  6. @Jess: Thank you so so much! I'm so glad you found it helpful especially since I wasn't sure if I should do a post like this or not!!! I haven't had any tingling or stinging or anything when I bleach my hair. Every once in a while a spot will itch but it's never been uncomfortable for me.

    @Meme: Haha, I've definitely heard horror stories of people with dark hair going blonde!

    @Amalia: You're the best! Thank you so much!

    @Make-Me Up: Thank you!!! I appreciate it!

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  7. Thank you so much for your thorough post! I did read it on Friday, but had a busy day and night. Well I got my hair done and I hate it...because they didn't bleach it to get it lighter. I did not understand their method. I wish I would've just bleached it myself like you and gave that a shot. I wanted beige blonde and I got red brown. Needless to say I'm pissed. Next time, it's this method for sure!!! Thanks a bunch.

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  8. Oh yeah and I have the same Kat Von D palette and I just can't seem to use it. I'll probably take some hints from you cuz your makeup looks awesome.

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  9. @ She Likes To Pretend: I'm sorry that you're not happy with the way your hair came out, I know how disappointing that can be! Well, if you do your hair the way I do mine I hope it works out for you! I don't really find myself reaching for that palette too much, but when I do a look with it, I really like it!

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  10. Wow! Pretty make-up! You should work for M.A.C or freelance on your own! Actually found you blog because I want white blond hair tho! very helpful! thanks!!

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  11. I'm glad you found it helpful! Thank you very much!

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  12. I've been bleaching my hair for years now, and I always have the weird Super light blond tips, brassy blonde in the middle, and white roots, I do color correction, I dye my hair blonde, I tone my hair, and nothing has worked... until I came across this post. My hair looks so wonderful now! I used Ivory Lady(T10) instead of White Lady and it didn't turn purple, I was so worried! but when I rinsed out the toner and did a hot oil treatment(sooo necessary for me anytime I do anything to my hair) I found my hair to be a beautiful light blonde, not the bleachy blonde I've had for the last four years, but a beautiful natural light blonde. No longer will I have to go to the salon for my roots! you've saved me tons of $$$ already love.
    thanks a million!
    <333

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  13. @Caitlin: I am soooo glad that it worked for you!! You just made my week!

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  14. Thank you very much..excellent tutorial!

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  15. omg!!! this is fantastic.. you are super genious. i try the same tonor is almost like cristina aguilera hair

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  16. Wow! How awesome! You are a beautiful and strong woman. Without an ounce of cattiness or pompousness about liking to look good. Own it, girl! How is the cancer prognosis? I'm so glad I found this. (Googled BW2 and also have Wella toner in 'lightest beige blonde').

    I'm a single mom, Psych/Soc double major, and fine dining server - but at one point tried aesthetician school (also had a 6 month obsession with MAC pigments). Love when I have the $ to order treats from Sephora as well.

    Anyway, just had to comment, which I very rarely do. You deserve your wonderful family and I'm so glad i read this today. <3 amanda

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  17. Absolutely LOVE the eye shadow. That takes talent!

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  18. you look better without makeup. younger

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