Healthy Hair Color Tips: Bleaching and Funky Colors

A question I am asked a lot is “How do you keep your hair so healthy?” Well let me first admit that my hair has been through a lot! But being a hairstylist that’s quite normal. We love to change our hair color often! It can take a toll on the strength and integrity of your hair strands. So over the years I’ve figured out what works best for *my* hair. I’m hoping this post will help others that might need some hair care advice, but remember everyone’s hair is different. I’ve been doing hair professionally since 2007, and I’ve seen firsthand the effects various dyes and products can do on hair. So definitely talk to your stylist for a professional opinion because they will know best!

For my own hair, I bleach the new growth (roots) with Wella’s Blondor and 40 volume developer. If I need to strip the color out of the ends of my hair I will use a lower volume that is not as strong. 40 volume on the ends of your hair is a bad idea! Sometimes I’ll wet my ends and shampoo it lightly then lather in some 40 vol bleach. That dilutes it a little and won’t be as harsh on your hair.

I typically let bleach sit on my hair for about 30 minutes under a shower cap. If you plan on doing a bright, funky color then you need your hair as light as possible and may need to sit longer. The best way to explain this is to picture a white piece of paper and different color crayons. The colors will be bright on the white paper, but if you took a darker piece of paper the colors won’t be as vibrant.

Once my hair is light enough, I rinse the bleach out with cold water (yes cold cold) and shampoo it with It’s A 10 Keratin shampoo. When coloring, I don’t use conditioner afterwards. This way my hair is more porous and the funky color will last longer.

Then I gently blowdry my hair until it’s completely dry and plan what color I want to do next. Lately I’ve been doing pastels. To make a pastel dye I squeeze a bunch of conditioner into a bowl. (I use any cheap conditioner since I use a lot of it. Just make sure it’s white. I used a blue one once and it didn’t lighten my dye.) Add some drops of color to your conditioner and stir. If it’s too light then keep adding more color until you like it. Here are some brands of color I use:

Special Effects

Manic Panic

ION Pastel

RAW Color

When you like the color in your bowl, start putting it on your hair. Always start at your scalp and work down the hair strand. Be sure to take small sections and completely saturate the hair. Funky colors will last longer if you really soak the hair in it. Then I put on another shower cap and let it sit for at least an hour. The longer the better! Most funky colors are demi-permanent, which means they don’t have any ammonia in them. They are not as harmful to your hair. Plus most of your concoction is conditioner and letting it sit on your hair for 1 hour+ is awesome. Your hair is so happy right now.

Once it’s time to rinse I use cold cold water again and let it run until it looks clear in the sink. I don’t shampoo or add any more conditioner to it. I just gently towel dry it and then let it air dry quite bit.

When I’m ready to blow dry I first add a quarter size amount of It’s A 10 Keratin Serum. The keratin helps rebuild the strength in your hair after the bleaching. Then I blow dry with a vent brush and flat iron as normal. After that I add another dime size amount of It’s A 10 Keratin Serum to give it a smooth and shiny finish.

It’s important not to shampoo your hair too often. I probably only wash my hair once a week. The natural oils in your hair are great moisturizers for dryness. I swear I am not endorsed by It’s A 10, but it’s also what I shampoo and condition with in-between coloring! I used a lot of products at the salon I worked at, and it’s the one I liked most. A more affordable alternative is the TRESemme Anti-Breakage collection. I’ve witnessed it work very well!

Finally, be sure to get regular trims to take care of any dead-ends, and try to avoid too much sun damage which can fade hair color and dry it out.

I hope this was helpful! Let me know! 🙂

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What type of hair products do you love?

Have you ever colored your hair before?