Hey so I have this dillemma. I was dyeing my hair on my own. I have naturally a dark brown hair. and I was dyeing it this darker brown color. This woman said I was naturally a 3, maybe even a 2?? Not sure what that means. Anyhoo Ive always thought I look much much better with blonde hair, and all my friends and family agree. Dark hair just washes me out so badly. Well since my hair was so dark I was better off going professionally for a weave.

Now Im sick of paying high prices for a weave that doesnt fully satisfy me. I want MORE blonde! So I was just going to bleach it all, and touch up the roots at home. I am moving soon to somewhere where (i've lived there before) it was so hard finding a stylist to do my hair in the first place, and for a reasonable price. Everyone was waaay too much money so I want to be able to do my hair on my own.

I went to Sally beauty today to buy some bleach and toner and the woman who worked there told me not to because I had such naturally dark roots, and because I already have so many highlights. So...after all I didnt buy the bleach, but I still want to. Someone gave me the idea to have a friend bleach it for me the first time (she is about to finish beauty school anyways) and then after that I could touch up the roots. Well, I just want people's opinions on this subject Because the woman said that I could NOT just bleach my whole head that I would have to do a weave, forever. And another person said to go ahead and bleach it all. WHAT?!?!? Im so confused. I want my hair like the pic in my avatar. Pam Anderson.

Oh, here is a recent pic. Try not to look at the roots too much, its about 2 months old and since then Ive gotten my roots touched up, and A LOT more blonde put into it.  I am so tired of getting my hair done by someone else, I just cant afford the $80 weave every month. I would rather pay like $8 twice a month to touch up my roots. Or should I try a golden blonde hair color? HELP!!!

It's hard to tell by that picture but using Goldwell's Level System from 2-10 with 10 being the lightest I'd say your natural roots appear to be a 5. I wouldn't recommend bleaching your previously colored hair as you run the risk of damaging it. You could bleach the regrowth then tone the hair and the ends but you hafta know what your doing. Bleach can burn your scalp if applied wrong and if you don't know what your doing you can over-process your hair. NEVER, EVER put powdered bleach with 40 volume developer on your scalp as it will cause chemical burns. 

You should talk to your friend and goto her school as a model and have the bleach and color done while she is under the supervision of a licensed professional especially since in school most students only learn the very basic laws of color. The hands on for her would be helpful to her and you would have the experience of a trained professional overseeing the process vs having her do it in your home without the supervision of a licensed professional without paying the high cost of having this done in a salon. It's your safest and most cost-effective way to get good results with minimal risk.

G'luck

When the woman mentioned your hair being a number 3 or a 2 she meant the color of your hair.  Here's a little explanation I posted as a reply to someone else that might help you out.

The volume of the developer indicates how many shades the hair dye will lighten your hair.  A 20 volume developer can only make your hair 2 shades lighter, a 30 volume developer can only make your hair up to 3 shades lighter, and so on. 

Color is categorized by numbers, 1 being the darkest and 10 the lightest (though it can go as light as 12). 

1 - black, 2 - darkest brown, 3 - dark brown, 4 - medium brown, 5 - light brown, 6 - dark blonde, 7 - medium blonde, 8 - light blonde, 9 - lightest blonde, 10 - platinum blonde (almost white)

You say the color you chose was B51, the 1 indicates that it's an ash color (brown is the color of your hair, and ash is the reflection your hair will have).  So in other words, 51 is a light ash brown.  The B is probably used to help consumers see that it's a high-lift dye.  Any number that comes after the first is simply indicating the reflection your hair will have (or at least should have).

1 - ash, 2 - silver, 3 - golden, 4 - copper, 5 - red violet, 6 - red

So, say you want a medium golden brown, you would opt for a 53.  Of course the end result also depends on your starting haircolor.  If your hair is black, it could be either a blue black or a red black.  If you want a golden tone to it and your hair is blue black, you should stick to golden tones, however, if you don't want a golden effect and your hair is red black, then you should stick with ash colors. 

I really don't think you have to bleach your entire hair to get that blonde.  You would need the right products though, since your friend is finishing beauty school she probably knows best (and has access to quality products as well, though e-bay has sellers too), so do ask her.  Nowadays hair dyes technology is so good, that you can make a dark brown hair like yours (level 2 or 3) to a lightest blonde (level 9) without even having to bleach it first (at least that's what I saw a hairdresser say, haven't seen it happen yet).  From what I could tell from the picture, I think your hair is either a number 3 or a 4 (go to any store that sales hair dye and has those little pieces of hair to show what the color is supposed to look on hair, then compare it to your natural haircolor to know more accurately).  Here's a little article on Hollywood blondes and how they achieve beautiful, blondest hair, hope it helps.  Good luck. ^^

http://www.eonline.com/Gossip/Answer/index.jsp?fdnavgos2 - http://www.eonline.com/Gossip/Answer/index.jsp?fdnavgos2

My two cents...don't have your friend bleach your entire head. 

Here's what she needs to do and it's a lot of work.  Separate out all the previously bleached highlights (she can wrap those in foils so they don't get damaged), don't rebleach those PLEASE. 

Next use colorfix, it's the most gentle (other color removers FRY your hair), to remove any previous permanent color from your hair.  Then apply the bleach to those areas only and bleach to the stage you are wanting to tone at, probably pale yellow.  Then unwrap those previously bleached highlights, make sure the hair is all the "same" pale yellow tone.  Then tone it all. 

For touchups you'll only need to bleach the roots and tone the hair. 

Good luck!

Rebekah

Personally, I wouldnt bleach yourself.  It is so hard on you hair.  I would say you are a lot darker than a 5 or a 6??  I would say a 3 & 4.   At least judging by your roots. 

Bleach can do some terrible things...hair falling out.  I did myown roots on my own in highschool, and the whole back of my hair broke off...I had to get it all cut into a chin length bob   As much as I loved being pale blonde (jessica simposon)  it wasnt worth it.   Since then I get my hair PROFESSIONALLY streaked and colored.  My hair is healhty and I dont have to worry.

Good Luck in whatever you decide   I am sure it will look great!

"I was wondering if maybe just going a couple shades lighter than my natural hair color and putting just some highlights on the very top layer."

I think what you have now looks nice.  You could just get a streaking cap and start doing these highlights yourself.  I think you could get by with only doing your hair once every 6 weeks too, if you don't mind  a bit of roots.  Remember to never overlap with the bleach, and to touch up the highlights to use the "loop method" described on the Robert Craig web site.  Scroll down to where it says "Cap Frosting and Highlights Instructions" to read about how to highlight hair.

http://www.robertcraig.com/ultrablond.html - http://www.robertcraig.com/ultrablond.html

What you are proposing above is called tone-on-tone.  NO matter what you decide, it's a lot of work to do it yourself.  You could just start dyeing the base color for root touch ups and doing highlights on top of that.  Then add some strands of the base color into the ends in order to blend the bleached highlights with the base color.   

I think your hair is probably darker than you think, I agree with Tinkerbelle about the level of your hair.  However, we don't know the tone.  Probably you have a lot of warmth in your hair, red.  So I'd use a green based dye to get rid of the warmth, unless that's what you want. 

By the way, I think the only way to get a nice "yellow" light golden blonde for you would be to bleach to "that level" and then tone.  A lot of work, but not impossible. 

You really need to decide exactly what you want to do before getting started with anything though. 

Good Luck! Hope this helps.