To bleach or not to bleach? - Flashlightning
Printed From: HairBoutique.com
Category: Hair Talk
Forum Name: Hair Color
Forum Description: The tricks and tribulations of changing your hair color
URL: https://talk.hairboutique.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=44664
Printed Date: October 05 2025 at 1:43pm
Topic: To bleach or not to bleach? - Flashlightning
Posted By: aubergine
Subject: To bleach or not to bleach? - Flashlightning
Date Posted: June 28 2006 at 12:42pm
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Hey there again! So my boring dark brown hair is really beginning to annoy me. I've wanted my hair rich, medium/dark red for AGES! The only reason I've been putting it off is because I've bleached my hair once before and didn't want to do it again so soon. Well, it has been 8 months since I bleached my hair and I'm predicting that means it's 8 inches down my head by now. 8 months is a long time for boring brown I think you'll agree, especially when your natural haircolour is light blonde! I'm not looking to get my blonde back at all - I don't miss it - it didn't suit me. I just want my hair to be able to grab dye again - namely rich red yum yum. I started just touching up my visible roots recently (front, sides, parting) instead of all my roots, letting the rest of my hair grow out a bit to strengthen. It's going well...but I want this red hair so much. I seriously can't afford the salon to dye it for me (only cut it) and thought if I did the colour myself I could get an awesome professional cut to go with it. So, what bleach to use? Does it even matter? I've heard good things about Manic Panic's Flashlightning, should I just get something cheaper, or should I go more expensive?!! What bleach do you use and what volume should I use for the result I want? I don't want to get it to white or anything, and I don't want to have no hair left too! What do you think? Will this work on my hair that had been bleached before (to orange), been dyed dark brown lots...and is finding it hard to take up dye at the moment? Any opinions and help would be appreciated  |
Replies:
Posted By: aubergine
Date Posted: June 29 2006 at 2:58am
| help! :) |
Posted By: KarenNJ
Date Posted: June 29 2006 at 6:32am
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Hi Aubergine, I'm thinking! lol. I started to respond last night, but I don't know how much help I can be. I haven't used Manic Panic colors, but they look fun. They tend to be a little... hmm... "bold"? If I was 20 years younger, I'd be all over it.  Anyway, it sounds like you're leaning toward bleaching... maybe to get a "white" or very light base? But my first instinct would be to strip out the existing dye (colorfix, etc.) and then use your permanent red with a vol. 30 developer. Since red is difficult to get into the cuticle (larger molecules) the vol. 30 developer should open the hair shaft enough to accept the color and hang onto it. (Personally, I wouldn't waste my time with vol. 20.) The more damaged your hair becomes with bleach, the harder it is to get a color into the cuticle. The cuticle doesn't really close as it should, so while it's porous and soaks up a lot of dye, you don't get any pretty colors to stay very long - the color washes out because the hair shaft is too damaged to close up and keep it in. I think that may have been your problem why you couldn't get red 8 months ago. Of course, strand test, deep condition, less time on the ends, and all that. If you can't get red to hold with the vol. 30, you could try vol. 40, but I'd be very careful with that. You may be able to get good red results on the regrowth, but not the ends. So think about whether you're ready to lose that length when you go for the new cut. Well, those are my thoughts. Good luck! ------------- Strand test, strand test, strand test! |
Posted By: aubergine
Date Posted: June 29 2006 at 9:50am
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Thanks Karen. I'll probably get my hair cut before the dye job so that the colour will be more even...and I will be going what I call short! My ends are just so dark now they need to go haha. Your suggestion of 30vol and permanent red sounds interesting, rather than just bleching it all at once. But my hair is so dark I just don't think even 30 will lift it enough...and I'm not going near 40 on my own! I could Colorfix it but it never works for me anymore, my build-up is too much, and I can't get hold of it without getting it from america which is expensive and long. Once I have my hair cut (probably in a good few weeks - holidays) I'll post again and see what I feel like. Thanks again Karen :) |
Posted By: KarenNJ
Date Posted: June 29 2006 at 7:38pm
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I understand. Yes - you definitely need to get that dye out first. Then (and only then) I'd do the red with vol. 30. Just be careful about bleach damage. I'd hate to see you end up with a cuticle that won't close... and back to square one. Ugh. I'll keep my fingers crossed! ------------- Strand test, strand test, strand test! |