Thread: Peroxide!

Hi all,

I would like to know the best way to get the peroxide-hair look (not for me, it's for a play). The person's hair is naturally black and we are trying to find a way to dye it so that it will have that blonder-than-blonde look. Any advice? Is this something we will have to go to the salon for?

lots of bleach and heaps of blue toner. May have to bleach it several times so have a really good conditioner on stand-by

Seems like a drastic thing to do for a play. Has she considered wearing a wig? Just a thought!
Rosette

It's for a guy, and believe me, he *really* wants to dye his hair. (A wig wouldn't work for the part)

If the guy's hair is short, this may not be such a concern, but 2 of my friends (with fairly short hair) had their hair bleached professionally from dark to blonde last year. It took many months to get it platinum blonde without lots of damage (and one of them was stuck at an unflattering orangey shade for a while) and both have had to go back to their natural color now as the maintenance was causing their (previously gorgeous, thick and shiny) hair to break off near to the root, leaving little bald patches! Much as I adore the platinum look, I'd be wary of risking it! However, to answer your question - I'd really recommend leaving any major hair color change to the professionals. If not, using a toner to counteract the warm tones in dark hair is an absolute must, otherwise the hair will go orangey blonde.

I'd go to a professional.
(I'm concerned about his scalp)

I agree!!! I would go professional. I change my hair color often. I have had those moments where I wanted my hair to be one color and it turned out to be another color. Then I had to "damage control" my hair which was not fun.
The good thing about going to a professional (at least the ones I go too) they are honest and tell you yes this will look good or no it will not.

sidebar-I did the peroxide thing when I was 11 cause my dad wouldn't let me dye my hair. I told him the sun did it ..l;,

If you choose NOT to go to a professional, get some Sweet N Low and put it into the solution. Believe it or not, this will help with the scalp issues. (The things I learned from being a Buffy fan! Thanks James!)

{{{HUGS}}

It's called a double process blonde, and you REALLY want to go to the salon, at least for the first time.

Which reminds me, I need to get my roots done really soon (I've been going from near black to platinum for about a year now).

Full head bleach with 6 percent peroxide. Expect multiple applications and to have to take a whole day. If his hair is really black, the chances of getting white blond/platinum first time are low (you'll probably get right down to cream at the roots but black hair has a ton of yellow in it). And yes, toners.

It's really a salon job, *unless* he doesn't mind it looking punky and streaky and yellowy, which can actually look good on some people, and if the hair is very short. I know a LOT of guys who self-bleached quite effectively in the 80s. Of course they were largely insane and used things like household bleach, which I do not recommend. If you're going to try doing it yourself the important thing is to do the midlengths first, then the ends and roots. Roots will come down like a rocket. The rest, way slower. You can speed it up a bit with clingfilm and heat. You also need to keep it moist, be aware of banding etc.

It will feel like slime for a while, and then like straw, and the scalp itches and burns like hell and it's a mighty undertaking. I've had a full head bleach once. It is hell on earth if you're dark.

Thanks, everyone. I'm going to check at the salon to see what it costs. I'd rather have him safe! ..g.: Any ballpark figures, to sterlingspider or others who have done this? Thanks for the DIY tip, too, Tahira. We'll see how it turns out.

Zum - yes, I think his hair is a real black. That was my real concern with getting the white-blond look.

Originally Posted by BreaMorgiane

Thanks, everyone. I'm going to check at the salon to see what it costs. I'd rather have him safe! ..g.: Any ballpark figures, to sterlingspider or others who have done this? Thanks for the DIY tip, too, Tahira. We'll see how it turns out.

Zum - yes, I think his hair is a real black. That was my real concern with getting the white-blond look.

My regular hairdresser is an instructor at her salon's cont. education classes so the majority of my blonde-ness has been free as a guinea pig. It sounds chancy, but generally they don't let beginners do a double process and they watch them like a hawk the whole time so you actually end up with a good result (or at least I have).

The few times I've paid full price though it's been about $50 just for the root touch up so it's not exactly the cheapest thing (hence why I'm going back to brunette in April despite looking AWESOME as a platinum blonde).

When I was a hairdresser, two of my colleagues did the full-head platinum thing. They did each other's retouch every three weeks. Looking like Kim Novak is a *massive* commitment.

I expect though to see a revival of yet another 80s trend, which was short spiky blonde hair with deliberate regrowth. People would get the full head bleach and leave it six, eight weeks, then get the whole head done again. I know one friend used to hate it when hers was freshly done!

While I am starting to really miss my natural haircolour (mostly I miss being able to wear white, oddly enough) I can tell this is the kind of thing that I will look back on wistfully for years. I think I'd need to double my income to consider doing this full price for any kind of time period though.

I don't think it's going to quite match up to how much I miss having aqua blue hair, but it'll be close.