Please hairdressers can you help?

[thebestever]

Hi there
I'm very keen to try to do a few highlights on my hair but I really can't see what products I need to buy! I usually have bleach put through and I just want to do a handful along the top and sides to brighten myself up a bit.
Sometimes my hairdresser uses a high lift toner but I thought I'd just do bleach.

I'd like to get the proper stuff (from Sally Beauty or maybe amazon) but I can't work out which bleach and which percentage peroxide I need!

Can anyone possibly advise me? I do y have my hairdressers number otherwise I would ask her.

Then I guess I will need a bowl, a brush and the foils (or can I use kitchen foil cut up?)

Thanks so much in advance!

[EngagedAgain]

I'm not a hairdresser, but I think it's a bit of a risky thing to attempt if you never done anything like it before.

[browzingss]

Not enough information

What’s your natural colour and how light are you intending to take it? Have your lengths been previously lightened?

The safest way would be using a higher developer on your regrowth and a much lower developer on the hair that has already been lightened. Eg 20 and 10.

Also you’d certainly need a toner regardless

[thebestever]

Thanks browzingss.

My hair is dark blonde and I have bleach highlights every six weeks. I was only planning on doing a handful just to brighten things up. I do have 30% vol peroxide and I bought this product (pic attached) after reading a few threads on here. But I'm not totally sure what to do with it - do I alternate between bleach and this stuff?

[thebestever]

Here's my roots

[Chochito]

Your hair colour looks good, OP! I don't think your highlights have any visible roots.

I would suggest buying the Lee Stafford hotshots sachet (they come in 4 packs in Boots and no doubt other similar shops, and the bigger supermarkets), if you can get hold of them. Otherwise other MN-ers can recommend similar products.

To get a really effective result, wash your hair with your normal shampoo, then wring out excess water with your hand (you don't need to use a towel or anything, just so your hair is not fully dripping wet), bung on the contents of the Lee Stafford sachet - they are very generous, someone with short or very fine hair could just use half - and just massage it into your hair, it foams up a bit and the foam is purple so avoid your best white towels (it should wash out but to be on the safe side). Check in the mirror that you haven't missed any spots - concentrate on your scalp. Cover it with a shower cap and play on your phone read a book / paint your toenails / shave your legs / tidy your bathroom for 20 minutes. Then rinse it out and add your usual conditioner.

It's basically just a toning shampoo; it makes your roots less visible and your overall colour cleaner and brighter.

[browzingss]

I’m not a hairdresser, sorry. I do visit mine regularly as I also went blonde from brown at the salon.

I know enough that my biggest concern with your 30 vol is if you overlap it onto your blonde. Your blonde hair is light enough and doesn’t need to be processed further, you run the risk of breakage at the point of overlap and I’m sure you don’t want your hair snapping off that high up.

So if you highlight/bleach your hair, you need a lower volume developer on your blonde hair. You should also buy a toner.

If you use that hi lift stuff, you would essentially give yourself a root tint application at home, applying it all over your regrowth. It should make your roots look a few shades lighter so the contrast isn’t as stark. However it might look a bit warm, as you’re lifting your brown hair with tint alone, which always ends up a bit brassy as it doesn’t lift as much/remove your natural undertones as bleach would.

[thebestever]

Browzingss and chocito, thank you both very much. Plenty to think about and maybe I should just stick with the roots and call it balayagebinan few weeks! Very much appreciated.

[thebestever]

Thought I'd update, with pics. This worked very well in the end.

[Chochito]

Wow, well done, how did you do it?

[thebestever]

I used the hi-lift toner which I posted about upthread (its a number 11) with 30 volume peroxide. I just did the roots and then left it on for 45 min.

When I washed it out I used purple shampoo, and it's a lovely bright blonde. I had to hold my nerve as it went through the orange stage though!!