The summer after high school, I decided that I wanted to make a big change: I wanted to dye my pitch black hair blonde. Little did I know, it was not as easy as I thought it was.
I was able to do it in the end though. If you’re planning on changing your hair from dark to light, here is what to expect.
1. It is not an immediate transition
First, do not try to dye your hair from dark to light yourself unless you have a lot of experience doing so or know someone who does. Boxed hair dye will not work for this; it will just turn your hair orange.
Go to a reputable that has patient stylists who will work with you and your hair.
Do not go into your first salon visit expecting to come out with the exact shade of light hair that you are going for. Dying your hair from dark to light is very damaging. If it is done all at once, your hair could fall out.
Try to find salons that use Olaplex, which is a system of hair coloring that makes it a lot less damaging to bleach hair. No matter what, you will be bleaching your hair; too much bleach can damage your hair and make it fall out.
The process of going blonde is usually done in steps. For me, it took four salon visits before my hair was the shade of blonde that I wanted it to be. I went from black to a light auburn, then a light brown followed by a darker blonde and, eventually, my desired shade of light blonde.
2. It is expensive
Dying dark hair to a light blonde is very costly. This is why many people try to do it at home, but going to a salon is worth the expense. Most of the time, when people try to dye their hair at home, they wind up having to go to a salon anyway because something goes wrong.
Make sure that you have money saved to dye your hair. Mine wound up costing hundreds of dollars in the end, and you will likely need at least two visits.
Salon visits are not cheap by any means, but they are worth it. Also, try to deep condition your hair a lot during this process to minimize the damage.
3. Be patient with the process
Your hair will not look bad if you go to a salon—I can promise you that. You will never have a color in your hair that does not look presentable, but you may not be pleased with your hair during the process before you reach your desired color.
Most of the time, your hair will be some shade of red, brown or highlights. Just be patient and know that these colors are leading to the color you will love; you will not have them forever.
You may be pleasantly surprised as well by how much you could like those in-between colors. When my hair was light auburn, I liked it a lot more than expected—so much that I considered not going any lighter.
Also, expect to have to cut off some of your hair. This may not always be the case, but bleach can cause breakage, so stylists often suggest cutting off some hair.
4. It is very worth it
It may sound like going from dark to blonde hair is a bit of a nightmare—and it can seem like one mid-process—but, in the end, it is worth it to have the light hair color that you have always desired.
When you walk out of the salon after your last visit, and you are extremely confident with how your hair turned out, it is definitely worth the time invested. Do not be scared to tell your stylist exactly what you want and speak up if it’s not—after all, it is your time, money and hair!
Do you have any tips for anyone planning to go from dark to light hair? Leave them in a comments section below!