From this:
To this:
Done by myself, in my bathroom, for around $75 including all supplies (color remover, bleach, dye, conditioners) and tools (mixing bowl, tint brush, caps, gloves) used.
Originally I had thought about going to the salon, but the minimum estimate she could give me was $200 depending on what they had to do, with no guarantee any of it would a) work at all and b) not damage my hair so much I'd need to cut it all off. This was at the salon at Ulta, where the employees joke I should leave a sleeping bag since I'm there so often. I have gone from black-to-blonde in a mall salon before, which we did over several visits of gradual bleaching, which left me with a stripey blonde/orange/red mess during the several months-long process, though I was in art school at the time and could easily play it off like "yeah well I wanted it that way." I had pretty much given up on it and resigned myself to black hair forever because I knew it would be a world of trouble to even attempt to do it myself, though I have done all sorts of things to my hair myself including bleaching platinum blonde.
But then a few weeks ago on youtube, I watched Leesha's (aka xsparkage, who does great beauty reviews and tutorials) video where she talks about using Color Oops and Color Zap brand color removers to go from dark brown to bright red at home. Which led me to much googling, review reading, and video watching, all while taking notes. I settled on ColorFix, the one in the bright yellow box from Sally's. It got stellar reviews on several sites and videos, and it seemed to be the answer to all my problems.
I started with hair that's been box dyed permanent black for about 5 years. My natural color is a blah light brown with 50+% gray at this point. Other than being dyed, it was in pretty great condition. I didn't do much to it but dye the roots every 8 weeks or so. I swear by those $1 V05 shampoo & conditioners, rarely use styling products, and air dry about 90% of the time. I use a big curling iron on my bangs daily, and once in a great while use hot rollers all over. Other than that it just goes in a pony tail and gets chewed on by dogs at work.
So first I did two applications of the ColorFix from Sally's ($13.99 a box - I got 2 boxes that would have allowed for 3 applications), following the box instructions. This stuff is supposed to remove most kinds of permanent dye by actually reducing the size of the dye molecules so they can be rinsed out. Yeah, not so much, also the smell is not pretty. It worked only on about 2 inches of my roots, lightening them to a medium auburn, and leaving the rest still black. I would say this stuff would likely work if you've only dyed your hair a time or two, but not on years of layers of black dye.
I was pretty much going to give up and dye it black again at that point, but Peter convinced me to just try bleaching it myself. I did some quick research online about brands, then we went to Sally's and got the 1 lb tub of Ion Color Brilliance Powder Lightener and the 32 oz bottle of 40 volume Ion Sensitive Scalp Developer. They happened to be on sale - the powder was $11.99 (down from $19.99) and you got the developer free with it. My hair is pretty long and thick and I knew I would need a lot to cover it evenly, and I'd say I ended up using about half what I bought. I mixed it not quite 1:1, more like 4:5, adding an extra scoop of developer for every 4 of powder to make it a bit creamier. I'd bleached before using those Manic Panic and similar brand kits, and the Ion stuff is by far superior and the only kind I would use again. The powder is blue and very fine with an almost fluffy texture, and when mixed with the developer the texture is like whipped cream, stays pretty moist, and is not at all gritty. The smell was fine, and though it did sting a bit when a long, bleach-covered strand of hair would smack against my neck and I couldn't clean it off right away, it was nothing unbearable and there was no lasting redness.
I did two applications using a wide brush, applied strategically for even allover lightening. This was nerve wracking because it took like 45 minutes to just get the bleach on all my hair, which means the areas I did first were done processing as the ones I did last were just starting! So I divided my hair in 6 sections and worked back to front the first time, then front to back the second time, stopping to check for hot spots, dry areas, and what not along the way. The first time I stayed about 1 inch from the scalp, and the second time I got closer but not quite on the scalp, so I had no problem with white roots. By some hair miracle, all of this actually worked, and that took my hair to a pretty even strawberry - orangey - blonde. I have one hot spot in the back underneath that is a little too blonde where I left it twisted in a clip for too long during the first application (I was a lot more careful the second time).
Then I just did a full head application of Loreal Superior Preference in Intense Red Copper RR07 (2 boxes at $8.99 each from Target) to bring it to a more normalish shade. It really freaked me out for a few days as it was lighter and more coppery than I originally planned for when using the ColorFix, but now that I'm used to it, I love it!
The condition now is pretty much what you would expect when you bleach the hell out of your hair - the strands are thinner and more prone to breakage (which I actually have not had a lot of so far), and when wet it has that slightly 'gummy' texture and tangles easily. It takes hours and hours to air dry. I've been dealing with this through liberal application of Aussie 3 Minute Miracle Deep Conditioner, and Suave Kids Detangling Spray, which I bought largely for the cartoon octopus on the bottle, and the fact that it was $1.88 for 10.5 oz at WalMart. Also, it smells like green apple. I'm just being very gentle with it for the time being, but from past experience my hair does actually bounce back from bleaching pretty well. That is to say, it doesn't feel at all like straw, its not dull and frizzy, its not falling out, and it will only get better, so I'm happy. These pictures are with nothing really in it, just a few sprays of detangler from yesterday since I didn't wash it today. I will get the ends trimmed in a few months, and I just trimmed my own bangs today.
Having said all that, I am not a professional nor would I really recommend doing what I did. I do know that some pros won't even mess with lightening black hair, and people do some crazy stuff on their own. I tried to read everything I could find about it, but in the end I just kind of crossed my fingers and hoped for the best. I would say I got very, very lucky! And I love my hair!
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