How to Bleach Your Hair

Before you read my “How to Bleach Your Hair” post, let me just start off with a gigantic WARNING. Read below.

***Bleaching your hair is very damaging in many, many ways. It is very time-consuming and very high-maintenance to manage. It also can get very expensive. It is also a difficult process to go natural again. So please do not bleach your hair acting on an impulse. Think long and hard and do a ton of research prior to bleaching. Then seriously consider seeing a professional to do your hair, it’s the safest and most effective way to go about bleaching your hair. I have been asked for years to share how I do my hair but I have always decided not to post because I fried my hair badly a few years ago and it was a very difficult process to get my hair back to good health. So if you are willing to be very careful and follow all of the below instructions, god speed to ya. 😉

*The links I have attached to this article are photo examples of what my products look like. I have not purchased items off of these websites. For some reason I like getting my stuff from my local beauty supply store even though it costs me a ton more.

Buy 6 packets Satin bleach with 20 developer (just get a big bottle, saves you $ in the end and you won’t need all 6 bleach packets btw but if there is an accident or w/e, you don’t want to leave the house half-bleached lol).

*Note: you can use any brand developer, doesn’t have to be satin. *I will only use Satin Bleach. I’ve tried all the others and this one works for me.

Plan on 2 days of bleaching and not leaving the house…YA. It takes about 10-16 hours! Too easy to FRY your hair, sadly I know from experience!

So I split my hair into 4 quadrants and put each section in a bun. I use a brush like this, make sure the bristles are soft or else it rips your hair out. So best to buy this one in person. Mine doesn’t have a brand on it, sorry!

Get a medium sized bowl, I use a reg sized cereal bowl (don’t use plastic). I do 1 packet at a time, pour pack into bowl and do about 2 tbsp. of developer in, mix well until it’s a slightly pasty consistency, you can add a TAD more at a time if needed, but you don’t want it too runny. Keep in mind the more you stir it will start to get to the consistency you want so don’t keep adding more developer in.

Take the bun out of the quad you’re doing (I like to start with the front hair). Use the tip of that brush to slowly separate a line of hair at a time –you need straight lines and thin lines of hair for best results. If your line is too think the hair in-between gets missed and you can’t tell until after, leaving cheetah-print spots.

Wear gloves.

I recommend using a foil method at first but truly I only do that if I’m nervous about the state of my hair/scalp. I personally paint it strait on to my hair draw a line, flip that hair over and dye the under part as well. Then go through that whole quadrant. The bleach does get on my scalp and my head looks oddly white for a couple days after. – My husband thinks I look like an alien at first.

Now please note you can do a world of damage to your scalp so be careful. I had scalp issues a few years ago, not fun. And please be aware when you do this, you are not just damaging your hair and scalp, this stuff absorbs in to your body… do your own research beforehand.

Try to do bangs towards the last part of your quad and keep bleach off of any part of your hair that doesn’t need it! Some people put conditioner or shampoo on the parts of their hair that isn’t being dyed, too messy for me when I tried it but sounds like a great idea.

After a quadrant is done put in a bun, I wait for the 25 min mark and I start to “line” one dry piece from the quadrants that are next to the quadrant I did and then put back in buns (dry areas). Then wait until 27 min mark and reset the timer for 12 min. (I know these numbers seem random but it’s my process). After that timer is up lean over a sink and wash out bleach in that quad with luke warm water-cold, I immediately add in my cheapy shampoo VO5 just to help all the bleach to come out, little granules stick to the strands of your hair and scalp, you need to make sure it ALL comes out. -I also use this to clean my beauty blender and makeup brushes! Cheap and AWESOME.

Then…. I wash with (yes we are still washing!) the most amazing thing I have EVER used (this stuff give me baby soft hair). This link has an amazing price, I bought mine for $50! Uh! Again I am not familiar with these sites I am linking to.

Let that one sit for 15 min. Rinse out with cold water, towel dry and then spray a lil heat protectant (w/e brand) and blow dry.

Then Repeat with the next section. If my roots are really long or if I start too late in the day, I do the top 2 quads first then the second two the next day.

After the last section of the day following the same wash process in the sink I take a shower instead of blow dry and use a medium amount of purple shampoo. Paul Mitchell and Joico are my favorites.

*Important to mix the amount in your palms for about 30 sec until it’s a light purple color and then evenly wash your hair and immediately rinse. If you don’t follow that, you will end up with blue streaks in your hair.

THEN…yes the process continues! Then you fully deep condition with Amika again but I leave it on for like 30 min., make sure to rinse it out with the coldest water you can stand, it closes the follicle and locks in those nutrients which equals baby soft hair.

Then style as normal, I only use Amika hair care products for daily wash and styling THEY ARE AMAZING. Serum and all …love it so much!

I also like to cut my hair soon there after because some damage happens every time, it’s unavoidable.

May God be with you during this “How to Bleach Your Hair” process LOL. I’m warning you it’s a taxing process, especially with kids and other distractions! Make sure hubby and kids know to block you out of that time frame. The time I fried my hair, it was because I made everybody food and then had to clean up a potty accident! After 45 min. bleach start to eat through your hair, no joke. It stops coloring and will break your hair right off, that’s why I have bangs in the back of my hair LAUGHOUTFRAKINGLOUD. And it was right before our summer vaca to Palm Springs!

Even though I truly don’t wish this hair process on anyone, I hope this “How to Bleach Your Hair” post helps someone like me who is not going to listen to reason and just do it themselves. There are a lot of how-to’s out there but they don’t go over every little detail and I think it’s important to explain every last part of the process. It is too easy to damage your hair.

It might seem expensive at first but doing it yourself ends up being way cheaper every year. My hair is so thick that it’s hundreds of dollars at the salon but monthly right now its only about $40 per month unless I run out of conditioner and on those months it’s about $100.

I also use Bellami extensions sometimes, I have these ones. They were easier to manage and looked great when I had thin hair from fying my hair but I still add a couple clips in from time to time. Frankly though, ever since I started using the Amika conditioner, my hair has been so soft that I rather run my fingers through my natural hair all day long <3

I’ve bleached my extensions once and I think I need to do it one more time. I don’t always wear them anymore though, you can tell when I do bc my hair looks longer 🙂 but now that my hair is think again and not fried anymore my husband can’t tell when I’m wearing them and when I’m not. The picture here to the right is before I bleached them, you can tell they are a bit more golden then my hair at the top.

AND omg the process is so much longer when you have to wash, dry and style your hair extensions on top of all that! I’m telling you guys…it’s a lot! I hope this How to Bleach Your Hair post helps you and if you have any tips that help you get through how to bleach your hair, comment below.