How I Dyed My Hair Platinum Blonde! (AT HOME!)

Platinum hair has been trending for the past few years and I've been obsessed since day one! I've been building up the courage to actually go for it and I finally did! Since I always dye my hair myself, it was quite the experience, definitely my craziest hair dyeing experience ever. And it's not over yet! I'm still in the process of toning, but I've finally gotten to the point where it looks normal, so I decided to make this post!

 

The Hair Dyeing Process

Sooooo I was at the grocery store sometime around Spring Break and I was walking through the cosmetic aisles and I stumbled upon the hair dye... which is never good for someone as reckless with their hair as I am. I looked at all of the pretty colors and my eyes eventually landed on the platinum hair dye. So I bought one package and went for it!

I started by using L'oreal Feria Absolute Platinum boxed hair dye. It's basically the same as using bleach, but less harsh (Maybe? Or I'm just telling myself that?). First of all, if you're going to use this, you will probably need to use more than one box! I used two boxes each separate time I dyed my hair and I have medium length, medium thickness hair. So keep that in mind.

I also used actual hair bleach from Sally's Beauty Supply for two of the times I dyed my hair. They were packages of powder that you mix with cream developer. I really don't see a difference between using the box dye and the actual hair bleach, but that's probably personal preference.

When my hair was in the awkward yellow phase

Altogether, I think I've dyed my hair six times since March. I decided to take at least a week break in between each separate bleaching process to give my hair a break. Yes, my hair looked pretty weird for the first few weeks. My hair was yellow with coppery undertones until the fifth bleaching. It's more white than yellow now which is such a relief.

Next thing I'll be doing is toning it. I'm using a blue toner from Sally's. For platinum blonde hair, you'll need to use a blue or purple based toner to cancel out the yellow in your hair.

My Advice

• If your hair is darker, you are going to have to dye it A LOT of times. My hair is dark blonde and I still had to dye it six times... so think about that if your hair is dark.
• KNOW YOUR HAIR! Trust me, I have dyed my hair many times so I know my hair and how much it can handle. If you're not sure if your hair is strong enough or you're not confident you can dye it yourself, I recommend consulting a hairstylist and maybe even getting it done professionally.
• This WILL damage your hair. I have put my hair through a lot, but this was by far the worst. My hair is a completely different texture now than it was before. I can't even brush it when it's wet. Make sure you take that into account.
• If your hair has been dyed red recently (within the last few years) you will probably have a lot of coppery undertones in between the roots and ends of your hair. The only way to fix this is to keep bleaching until it breaks.
• You want to make sure your hair is bleached as light as it can go, pretty much the color of the inside of a banana peel, before you tone it. If you use toner and your hair isn't light enough, it will turn your hair a weird grey color.
• Sally's Beauty Supply is a great store and the workers can be very helpful if you're not sure about how your hair is doing. Don't be afraid to ask them for advice. 

  

My Hair Care Routine  

I have never had a hair care routine before. I knew after bleaching my hair that it would be necessary to have one, so I did a lot of research. I'm still perfecting it, but this is what I've got so far.

First, I try to go as long as possible between hair washes. Washing your hair too often dries it out and after bleaching your hair this much, you don't want to dry it out any more than it already is. I usually wash my hair about every 3-4 days, and I am working on training my hair to be washed only once a week.

When I do wash my hair, I cover it in coconut oil and let it soak for as long as I can beforehand. Sometimes I'll soak it overnight, other times just for a quick five minutes before my shower.

After I rinse the coconut oil out of my hair, I use this coconut milk shampoo and lather it all over my hair and rinse. Then I use my purple conditioner and let it sit for a few minutes. Once I've rinsed out the purple conditioner, I go back in with the coconut milk conditioner and I comb my hair while this is in, to make sure my hair will dry without any knots, then I rinse. I try to let my hair air dry unless it really needs to be dried quick.

In the future, I hope to find a nice hair mask to use, and I also plan to switch from a purple conditioner to a purple shampoo. For now, this process works on my hair and keeps it feeling as healthy as it can when it's been bleached six times!

This is a pretty lengthy post, but I wanted to be sure to go into detail about my experience because I know reading other experiences on the internet was a life saver when I was going through it. So, how about you? Have you ever thought about going platinum? What is your craziest hair experience? Let me know in the comments!

Thank you for reading!

-Rebecca