How many times do you have to bleach dark brown hair to get it blonde?
Remember, it's probably going to take at least two or three sessions within a month to transform dark hair into pale blonde or white. Let your hair rest for two to three weeks between sessions. Bleaching is tough on your hair. Resist the urge to bleach again immediately if you don't like what you see!
How many lightening appointments are needed? Most brown-haired clients will require at least two appointments to reach their dream blonde shade. If they're going from dark brown or black hair to blonde, it may even take a few more.
The process usually takes two rounds of bleaching, but for darker hair colors, it can take three or four rounds.
Healthy dark brown hair may only take 60 to 90 days to go blonde, but stylists may recommend 6 months to a year if the hair is damages or if you're going to an extremely light shade of blonde like platinum.
Getting from brown to blonde hair requires bleaching — and the darker your starting shade, the more work may be required to reach your desired shade of blonde hair. If you have dark brown hair and want to go blonde, don't expect your hair to magically transform into a beautiful blonde color after one sitting.
Hair stylists are constantly asked if a client can go from brown to blonde in one visit to the salon. Whilst it will vary from one person to the next, the answer is often no.
- Stage 1: Black/Brown. ...
- Stage 2: Dark Brown. ...
- Stage 3: Light Brown. ...
- Stage 4: Dark Blonde. ...
- Stage 5: Medium Blonde. ...
- Stage 6: Light Blonde. ...
- Stage 7: Icy Blonde/White: Almost an invisible blonde; hardly any pigment should remain at this stage.
Bleaching dark hair is much more of a process than bleaching lighter hair—the darker your hair is, the longer it takes to lift. Make sure you have a few weeks to bring the look to life, as the safest way to do this is in multiple sessions (think two to three weeks to make platinum magic happen!).
Brown hair will first turn orange, then yellow, then pale blond when it's bleached. If your hair is very dark brown to begin with, it may take longer to turn pale blonde than medium to lighter browns. After 20-40 minutes, you may notice that your hair is not lightening anymore.
Unfortunately, there's no magic hair dye that will take super dark strands to white blonde in one day. For brunettes, it can take a few trips to get the perf platinum shade, and in between, you might have to rock a brassy orange shade for a few weeks while your hair recovers.
How long does bleach stay in dark brown hair?
Use a purple or blue shampoo twice a week to avoid brassy tones. A shampoo that is violet toned will work to neutralize warm tones in your hair, such as yellows. A blue shampoo will neutralize orange tones.
It can take anywhere between 15 and 30 minutes per session. 30 minutes (Ideally, try to split the process into multiple sessions.) 30 minutes (Most challenging hair type which may need a minimum of two sessions.) 10 to 15 minutes (Thinner cuticle layer that tends to bleach faster.)
Generally speaking, hair dye won't lighten previously-colored hair. Why? Because it's not designed to! Hair dye is created to simply add color to your hair, not to lighten or remove color.
You might have washed your hair too early. For being effective, bleach needs to rest for at least 40 minutes in your hair. Sometimes, applying bleach on a very dark hair color can make the bleach look reddish or orange. Possibly, you have used less than enough quantity of bleach.
When used with bleach and foils 30 volume works fast and may incur the risk of over-processing. This developer is more ideal for open-air processing. 40vol developer can be used with permanent hair color and high lift color to give 4-5 levels of lift depending on the power of the color and the texture of the hair.
To go from brown to blonde hair and to lighten brunette strands in general, you will need to have your base color lifted with bleach. The American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) suggests choosing a dye within three shades of your natural color to help maintain the health of your mane.
Make sure you use a heat protectant because blow drying, straighteners and curling irons will cause a lot of damage. Try to use a gentle, low setting with them and of course any other tools you use, like your hairbrush, should be really gentle and less prone to cause breakage.
You can lighten your dark brown hair with natural ingredients such as green tea, honey, cinnamon, henna, or coffee. You can opt for a lighter brunette shade or go for funkier shades like purple or blue to change up your look.
First and foremost, ICY, PLATINUM, GREY OR SILVER is certainly the most difficult hair colour to achieve. This is the most difficult tricky colour on any level. This applies to platinum, icy and white as well as any silvers, greys, or dark slate grey.
Do I shampoo after bleach?
After the first week, you can introduce shampoo back into your life. Use a gentle low lathering, sulfate-free shampoo the first week after bleaching. Make sure your shampoo does not contain sodium lauryl sulfate or sodium laureth sulfate; these are powerful degreasers and are just too harsh for over processed hair.
Avoid washing your hair for at least 2 days before your bleach wash as your natural oils protect your scalp and hair from damage. Wear a front-opening shirt or robe (not your finest – any stray bleach wash drops will lighten material). Wet your hair and towel dry it before preparing your bleach wash mix.
Coloring your hair in a salon by a professional stylist on average can take anywhere from 2 to 6 hours, and can even extend to as long as 8 hours depending on your hair's condition, length, natural color, and intricacy of service.
Pay attention to the main differences between colouring, lightening and bleaching: Lightening - used to lighten natural hair. Lightening can be defined as a process of artificial reduction and dissolution of pigment in hair. Bleaching - allows lightening already coloured hair.
It is recommended to go not more than four levels up in one session. After two-three weeks, you can go four more levels up to get the lighter hair shade of your choice. Going drastically from dark to lightest can fry your hair and make it dry, brittle, and weak.
To determine your level, take a section of hair from the crown of your head and hold it out where you can see it, away from the rest of your hair. Then, compare it to our level chart, with level 1 being the darkest (black) and level 10 being the lightest (light blonde).
This level of hair is a light platinum blonde, with very little blonde/yellow tones if any; however as you get into the white blonde range of this level you can do just about any color in the world! Pastels will turn out best on a level 10 base or lighter, since these shades are quite light.
Natural brunettes often end up with a brassy orange hair color after bleaching because darker hair colors have red and orange pigments or undertones. If you're unable to bleach those darker pigments effectively, your hair color might not be able to reach your ideal shade, resulting in a brassy orange tone.
Only when your hair has dried completely will you be able to really see how well the bleaching session has gone. Remember, it's probably going to take at least two or three sessions within a month to transform dark hair into pale blonde or white. Let your hair rest for two to three weeks between sessions.
The first step is bleaching out pigment and the next step is to tone and color, all of which takes a few hours, depending on the condition of your hair and its natural color. This writer can personally attest that going from black to platinum took a whopping nine hours (teachable moment: bring snacks).
Can dark brown hair go platinum?
1. Decide If Platinum Blonde Is Right for You. Platinum blonde isn't a subtle switch up if you have dark brown hair so it's natural to wonder if you can pull this icy shade off. But, platinum isn't as selective in who it suits as you would think — it's almost a universally flattering shade.
Developer Choice Going Lighter With Bleach
For up to 3 levels lift, use bleach with 20 Vol developer. For greater than 3 levels lift, use bleach with 30 Vol developer. For second time bleach applications, use only 20 Vol developer. Otherwise you will damage the hair excessively.
Bleaching is an aggressive (and at the same time) delicate process for your hair. You can bleach your hair twice, but not twice in a row on the same day as it may cause hair breakage and hair fall. You may even lose hair in clumps, and each time you touch your hair.
Try not to bleach your hair twice a week. Wait for about 4 to 6 weeks before bleaching it again. This waiting period allows your hair to rest, rehydrate, and recover from the effects of the first bleaching session. Before the second bleaching session, continue to oil your tresses and undergo conditioning treatments.
Because going platinum blonde usually means at least two rounds of a bleach process (and potentially a third or fourth process depending on how your hair reacts to bleach), it's even more damaging than the usual blonde highlights.
Leaving bleach on your strands for more than the recommended time can lead to damaged hair. This is why it's essential to follow the directions on the box, as well as wait at least 14 days between bleaching sessions.
Bleaching your hair three times in one month is definitely not recommended because bleaching is a process that is super harsh for your hair to endure and the more often you bleach your hair, the more damage it will cause.
Lighten Orange Hair
But don't bust out the bleach again too soon. You'll need to wait at least a week or two to restore your hair's natural moisture balance to avoid significant damage. So be prepared to rock that orange mane for a while! You can give round two a go once you've made it through the waiting period.
30-volume developer lifts up to 3 levels, so it's ideal for going blonde. 40-volume developer has the highest strength and is only recommended for professionals.
What causes hair to turn orange? Reasons include high-mineral or chlorinated water, frequent sun exposure, high-sulfate and high-chemical products that can strip the hair, or simply lifting out melanin in a color treatment and revealing naturally existent undertones.