Dying Hair from Black to Blonde: Is it Doable?

Dying your hair is one of those fun ways that you can change your look. With more recent trends, you’ll see non-traditional colors anywhere from pink to gray. Personally, I like to stick to the more “normal” colors. As a person with black hair, dying my hair blonde hasn’t been one of the greatest experience leaving me with a head full of rusty orange hair. Although it may seem impossible, I know it is, because I’ve seen it! That’s when I became determined to figure out how it is done.

First of all, for black hair, it’s not as simple as using a box of hair dye, it needs to be bleached. It’s a process that can be costly, time-consuming, and leave you with an undesirable color (just for a short period of time though).

STEP 1: PREP THE HAIR

Bleaching the hair will dry and damage it. Getting your hair to the blonde stage requires several bleaching sessions. It is important to get the hair in the best possible state before the process. Deep condition the hair every 2-3 days for a week before bleaching. Also, avoid heat styling tools a few weeks prior to minimize damage.

STEP 2: STRIP EXISTING DYE IN HAIR

It’s very unlikely that you have virgin hair that has never been dyed before. Remove any dye by using a hair color remover. The more color you can remove from your hair, the less bleach you will have to use. It will also give you better results.

STEP 3: DO A STRAND TEST

Doing a strand test helps to determine how long you should leave the bleach on and how sensitive your scalp is. Choose an area that can be easily hidden, and make sure to clip up any surrounding hair so that it does not touch the test strand.

STEP 4: APPLY BLEACH TO THE HAIR

Section the hair into four parts. Apply the bleach to one section of the head by taking a thin layer and covering both sides with the product. Start by applying to the top layer of the section and work your way down before moving to the next parted area. Continue this process until the entire head is covered with bleach.

STEP 5: DEVELOPING AND RINSING THE HAIR

Allow the bleach to develop for about 30-60 minutes while checking every 5-10 minutes. After the processing time, thoroughly rinse out the bleach. If the scalp becomes overly irritated anytime during the process, wash the bleach out immediately.

STEP 6: TONING THE HAIR

After bleaching your hair the first time, it will normally turn black hair to orange. Black hair lightens to red, then orange, and finally to yellow. Toning your hair with semi-permanent hair color will help neutralize the brassiness until you can bleach your hair again to get to blonde.

STEP 7: REPEAT

As mentioned, bleaching black hair to blonde will require several sessions. You want to wait at least a week to allow your hair to rest and build up natural oils again to minimize overly damaging your hair. During the waiting period, deep condition the hair to restore it to the healthiest stage as possible. After the downtime, repeat steps 4-6.

STEP 8: MAINTAIN BLEACH BLONDE HAIR

After all that hard work to get blonde hair, maintaining it is necessary to keep it looking best. Bleached hair tends to fade over time. Use a purple shampoo to regularly tone your hair every few weeks.