Tips & Tricks: Dying Your Hair (and My Personal Experience)

Hi, everyone! Yesterday, after much deliberation, I finally went a little "crazy" with my hair. I'm pretty reserved with my hair; I've never dyed it before, so this was a big step for me. I'm so happy with the way it turned out! Thank you, Nicole, for the wonderful job!

She used hair lightener (aka bleach, which is essentially peroxide) to give me some highlights, since my hair is blonde to begin with. I feel like it brightened up my hair color as a whole, and made my hair look a bit more summery. You can get a big tub of hair lightener powder and a large bottle of activator (the creamy liquid used to activate the chemicals in the hair lightener) for very cheap at Sally's Beauty Supply, or any other beauty supply store. The activator basically turns the powder into a paste, making the hair lightener easier to work with and activates the bleach in your hair. There are varying degrees of strength in activators, and the one she used was level 20. Anything higher than 20 has the power to lift or deposit color. It's crazy what simple chemicals can do, isn't it?

Both the hair lightening powder and the activator last a long time, since you only really need a scoop or two of powder and a little activator per highlight job. Though, bleaching your hair can be quite drying (and also make your hair more tangly), so I wouldn't do it very often.

Tip: Buy yourself a detangler. It'll make the process of blow-drying and combing through your hair (both during the process and from then on) so much easier. No one likes scalp pain! I like to use the WEN Replenishing Mist  but you can use whatever you like.