How to Bleach Hair at Home - Bleach Blonde Hair Without Fear
Thinking of having an at home hair bleaching party? Or, thinking of going blonde but don’t know how to bleach hair at home? We can help, click to read on.
Interested in knowing what your favourite shade will look like on you? Don’t forget to use our Virtual Try-On feature to see what shade best suits you. Find out more on our Virtual Try-On homepage at the end of this article, or by clicking on one of our products with the 'Try It On' icon.
Our top ten tips for home hair bleaching
We’ve all done it. We’ve all sat there, watching some lucky someone’s beautiful blonde locks dancing playfully in the sunlight and thought, could I have that? Could I lighten my hair at home and achieve that gorgeous bleached blonde look?
Well, the obvious answer is yes. And, bleached blonde hair, or super-blonde hair as we probably should call it, can look amazing, especially in the sunlight!
Think Debbie Harry, Pamela Anderson, Madonna, Marilyn. You don’t get more iconic than that. It’s true that blondes, especially super-blondes, are often the butt of jokes, but there’s usually a little envy driving the mockery. Blondes really do seem to have more fun.
But how do they do it? How do Debbie and Pam get it right when you suspect you might get it so horribly wrong. Employ a team of stylists and colourists? Sure, there is always that option, but there must be ways of doing it at home without spending a fortune and coming out smiling?
So, we’re here to tell you how to bleach hair at home, perfectly. In fact, super-blonde hair is surprisingly easy to achieve if you use the right home hair dyeing kit, but before you run off to the pharmacy, consider these invaluable tips…all 10 of them:
- Know your colour and tone
- Know your blondes
- Know your products
- Assemble your ingredients
- Invite some friends round
- They can see the back of your head better than you – patchy bleach blonde is not on trend.
- They can Instagram the process for posterity.
- Read the instructions
- Set a timer
- Is your hair ready
- Look after those locks
- Avoid the lines
Whenever you dye your hair at home, it’s absolutely essential to know your existing hair colour, level and tone before you start. Hair level charts give a general colour name and number and tell you which pigments contribute to your colour, but they do vary by brand, so check the website of the brand you’re intending to use.
Once you know what colour and tone you are, you need to decide which hair colour and tone you wish to change to. Easy? Not really. There are so many different shades of blonde – light, beige, golden, ash, bleach, platinum or even strawberry – and each comes with a different tone. When bleaching your hair at home, a common bleaching mistake is ending up with orange or even greenish looking hair. So, know what you have, know where you’re going. Know, known as opposed to “No, NOOOO!”
At-home bleaching normally requires more than one box of products. If you aren't using a fully inclusive bleaching kit, then be sure you understand what you’re missing, apart from the bleach. You’ll usually need a bowl to mix the product, a dye brush, bleach powder, developer, and toner. A toner is key, without it, your cool blonde may end up a rather brassy yellow. At Garnier, we’ve made your life easier by offering at home hair bleaching kits for you to achieve your golden locks. Check out our bleaching kits below!
You wouldn’t bake a cake without eggs. Before you start, make sure you have everything you need close at hand. Towel, bleach, toner, bowl, gloves. Check. You can’t just wing it.
A ‘bleaching’ party can be a blast, but perhaps best not to add alcohol into the mix. You need your sensible head on. Apart from it being fun, the good thing about having friends is:
Of course, you’re excited, but only fools rush in. Take your time, work out what the steps are and always do a strand test, which will indicate how long you should leave the bleach in. The strand test can also show you if your hair doesn't react well with the bleach. If your hair turns orange, maybe think again unless you want that Lucozade look.
A rookie mistake is to leave the bleach in till your hair looks blonde. Every dye needs time to develop but bleach is powerful stuff. It could seriously damage your hair and might even burn your scalp. Scalp rot is never a good look. So, follow the recommendations and do that strand test.
Dyeing and constant home hair bleaching damages hair. It’s not a great idea to be a serial dyer. Seriously, hair needs time to recover, so don’t even consider bleaching hair that is already bleached. If you only need to touch up your roots, then only bleach your roots.
Your hair is precious. Be good to it. You really do need to invest in proper hair care after home bleaching, such as a deep conditioning treatment that will restore nutrients. Otherwise, it will dry out fast and look very sad. Use shampoos and conditioners that are specially formulated for bleached or coloured hair to preserve the colour and help keep your hair nourished. Regular use of deep conditioning treatments will also help to keep your hair nourished, smooth, and soft.
A very common at-home bleaching mistake is leaving lines caused by other dye or home hair bleaching sessions. Always remember that the ends of your hair, split ends particularly, absorb bleach more readily, so a trim before you go blonde is always a good idea.
If you want to watch our video on the steps to bleach your hair at home, please click here.
Remember: Before you dye your hair at home you must always complete an allergy test 48 hours in advance! For more information on how to do an allergy test watch our short video here! That’s it, now you know how to bleach hair at home and ten of our best tips. If you know more, we’d like to hear them.
