You have probably heard professionals advise that hair should not be lightened more than three shades. That is bad news for those of us who were born with naturally dark hair, yet want blonde or red hair. Yes, I am one of the naturally dark-haired majority.
I remember the first time I asked to get blonde hair at a hair salon: I was turned away for that very reason. This was during the height of the hairband days and I remember wondering why rock stars could have blonde hair then? Surely not all were born that way.
Since then, I've had two friends who were hair stylists and I've learned a lot from them. Yes, you can lighten just about any hair by using a two-step process. The first step involves a color remover (bleach). This strips hair of color pigment and turns it lighter. How light? That depends on the type of lightener (brand, powder, cream), how dark you are and how long you leave the product on.
Since that process does damage hair, the recommendation is to not go lighter than three shades. Then you add the color that you really want. And no, a box of blonde hair color from a grocery store will not make your hair look like it does on the box without this process. Even if you do this process, you'll never exactly match the box.
What also surprised me is that red is harder to obtain than blonde for someone with dark hair and normally involves a two-step process as well (just like going blonde). Yet, I found a wonderful product that does it for me and it only involves one step: L'Oreal Excellence HiColor Intense Red. It's sold as a "professional use" product, but you can find it at stores like Sally's Beauty Supply and even on eBay and Amazon.
You do have to buy the proper cream developer with it. I use Volume 30, the kind they recommend. Not into red? They make one-step blonde hair color products too.
I remember the first time I asked to get blonde hair at a hair salon: I was turned away for that very reason. This was during the height of the hairband days and I remember wondering why rock stars could have blonde hair then? Surely not all were born that way.
Since then, I've had two friends who were hair stylists and I've learned a lot from them. Yes, you can lighten just about any hair by using a two-step process. The first step involves a color remover (bleach). This strips hair of color pigment and turns it lighter. How light? That depends on the type of lightener (brand, powder, cream), how dark you are and how long you leave the product on.
Since that process does damage hair, the recommendation is to not go lighter than three shades. Then you add the color that you really want. And no, a box of blonde hair color from a grocery store will not make your hair look like it does on the box without this process. Even if you do this process, you'll never exactly match the box.
What also surprised me is that red is harder to obtain than blonde for someone with dark hair and normally involves a two-step process as well (just like going blonde). Yet, I found a wonderful product that does it for me and it only involves one step: L'Oreal Excellence HiColor Intense Red. It's sold as a "professional use" product, but you can find it at stores like Sally's Beauty Supply and even on eBay and Amazon.
You do have to buy the proper cream developer with it. I use Volume 30, the kind they recommend. Not into red? They make one-step blonde hair color products too.
