by: Heather M. Bechtold

 

Either you’ve retired the goth look and you’re itchin’ for something new, or you’ve just decided it’s time to find out what all the fuss is about. So how do you go from black (or very dark) hair to blonde hair without disaster?

Yes, it’s scary just thinking about it. If something were to go wrong, you could end up

A. with a head of radiantly orange hair
B. bald
C. or so frazzled you have to cut 6 inches off your ends to redeem yourself

But never fear, it IS possible to go successfully from black to blonde. Trust me, for I am living proof.

 

I have always loved my dark hair/pale skin look, and never ever imagined myself as a blonde. Until I was cast for the part of a ditzy, 50’s, Marilyn- Monroe-style model in a play. And yes, God forbid, I signed a contract agreeing to dye my hair if it became necessary to my role. Of course I never for one second thought I’d get THAT part. But there I was, forced to go blonde, and scared shitless. My hair was black—and I mean BLACK. No, not naturally black. But, even worse, dyed.

If you have naturally dark hair, it’s a lot easier to bleach it without too many problems. But if you’ve got a black dye job, you’ve got quite a task ahead of you.

 

First things first, I definitely recommend going to a professional and very experienced color specialist. This is what I did, and I eventually became a blonde. However, it might break your bank. The salon that I went to called what I had done “corrective coloring”, which they charge $45 per hour for. It took four stylists FOUR HOURS to make me a blonde, and it wasn’t a fun experience for me. Luckily, they gave me a bit of a discount since it did take so long, but it still cost me over $100. If you don’t have this kind of money, it is possible to do this yourself. Please do keep in mind that what you’re doing is actually stripping your hair of all color. Bleach is a very strong chemical, and will cause some damage to your hair. It takes several steps and a lot of time to make this transformation, so dedicate an afternoon to doing this when you have no other commitments. Now, that said, just follow these steps and you’ll be a blondie in no time! (Well, after a few hours, anyway….)

 

1. You’re going to need bleach. That’s right, I said BLEACH. Not permanent blonde hair dye, not “Born Blonde”, or any of those boxed dyes that promise natural-looking blonde hair. They do work, but only on chicks who started with a lighter color—particularly if their hair is still its natural color. What you need is some straight hair bleach. It’s thick, it’s nasty, it burns the hell out of your scalp—but it’s the only way to go.

2. Applying the bleach to your hair is a little bit tricky. You’ll do best if you have at least one other person there to help you. 2 is better, and the more help you have, the easier this will be! Start at the ends of your hair. Ends hold tight to color, and will take the longest amount of time. From there, work your way up, but leave your roots until the rest of your hair is almost done. I repeat, LEAVE YOUR ROOTS UNTIL THE REST OF YOUR HAIR IS ALMOST DONE!! If you apply bleach to your roots right away, you’re going to end up with white roots and orange hair. Not a pretty sight.

 

 3. Like I said before, bleach is nasty. You’ll find out just what I mean soon enough. It burns like a sonuvabitch—your scalp, your eyes, your skin—wherever it’s applied. As you’re putting it on, use a damp towel to wipe any bleach off of your skin. It can be seriously painful. As for your eyes and your scalp, there’s really nothing you can do to alleviate that wretched burning pain. Obviously it has to be up against your scalp, so you’ll just have to cope the best you can. The fumes will get to your eyes, especially if you wear contacts. So if you do, remove your contacts before you begin the process. If not, just try to keep your eyes closed and your fingers crossed.

 

4. While the bleach is working on your hair (not the roots, of course… you wouldn’t be so daft as to apply the bleach too soon, now would you?), it’s your job to help it with stripping the color out. This part is especially important if you’re hair’s been dyed that dark color. With your fingers (for the love of god, wear rubber gloves!!) pull from the top of the strands all the way to the bottom. Now, don’t pull so hard that you cause bald spots, but do it pretty firmly. The point of this is to pull out the dye. It really does make a huge difference, so don’t skip this step. As your hair begins to lighten, it’s probably going to turn bright orange at one point. Pulling the dye out will help it lighten up from that nasty neon-pumpkin color.

5. The bleach will probably need to stay on your hair for quite awhile. When you no longer see any changes taking place in the color, and you think it’s gotten as light as it’s going to go, it’s time to rinse. For some of us, it’s not quite that easy. When I went through this, the bleach had to come off when I couldn’t stand the burning any longer. When you think you’re just about 20 minutes from rinse time, apply the bleach to your roots. They’ll lighten up very quickly, regardless of your natural hair color. When it’s time, rinse the bleach out as thoroughly as you can.

 

 6. At this point, you just might have orange hair. I know I sure did. But don’t worry, it WILL turn out decently if you do it right. When you get to this point, it’s time to color your hair. Up until now, you’ve been stripping it of all color, and now you need a tint. So choose a permanent shade of blonde that you’d like to use. Since your hair will tend to be a bit orange, darker ashy shades of blonde will look better since they’ll cover up that nasty color and tone it down. Now you’ll just follow the instructions on the box of whichever blonde color you choose, and voila! You’re done! Or almost….

 

7. Depending on your hair type, you may have a lot of damage, or you may have very little. I’m very fortunate to have extremely soft/shiny/healthy hair, so even after this entire process, my hair was in pretty good condition. In fact, the stylists were amazed at how soft my hair still was after all that abuse! But even if yours turns out still soft and relatively un-damaged, you should use a deep conditioner for at least the next two weeks, if not for the duration of your blondeness. Biolage is just about the best deep-conditioner on the market. It’s very thick and creamy, and you’ll have the softest hair of your life. If your hair is pretty frazzled after the process, deep-conditioning will help but you’ll probably want to do more as well. In the shower, use a heat treatment such as Tresemme’. It comes in 1 oz. Tubes and is self-heating. It will help with split ends and the overall condition of your hair. After your shower, use Instacure by Matrix. It’s a great product, and it will do all sorts of great things for your hair. It’s a leave-in conditioner which will work to repair split end, increase shine and manageability, restore your hair’s strength and moisture balance, and even soothe your sore scalp! After just a few days using these or similar products, your hair will be looking good.

Going from black to blonde is a lot of work and a drastic change. Above all else, be sure this is what you really want, and you’ll be happy with your results.