Home highlights/bleach advice - is it ALWAYS a really terrible idea?!

[JodieHarsh]

Yo!

Right. I have naturally mid/dark blonde hair which has been highlighted on and off for about 15 years.

About 6 months ago I henna'd it. It was natural henna (ie containing none of the metallic salts that make it impossible to bleach over).

The red is amazing and beautiful and I love it, but it's giving me the heebie-jeebies because I don't look like me. It is seriously creeping me out. so I am going to go back to blonde.

I have done a Colour B4 treatment which has taken me down from full on Florence Welch to a sort of ginger copper colour.

I'm going to do another Colour B4 tomorrow.

I will then probably need to get highlights or do it myself. Does anyone here do their own blonding job? Is it always a terribly bad idea? Has anyone ever done it over natural (Lush) henna? Recommendations ever so gratefully received!

(I don't have the time or money to get a full head of highlights before I go to some parties and stuff at the weekend)

I just found something called Casting Creme Gloss but it says something like 'lasts 28 shampoos', which makes it sound like it's not a proper bleachy permanenty thing....

Castings won't work - it's semi-permanent so it won't lighten your hair - it will only make it darker unfortunately.

I believe your not meant to bleach over henna. It can react badly. You have to wait for henna to grow out.
I home highlight. My friend does it on me with a bleaching cap. Usually comes out well although last time it went a bit stripey.

I did some home highlighting for the first time recently as I was desperate to brighten my roots before holiday. It was pretty scary to do, however I was happy with the results. It's possibly worse for you hair, as I have a similar hair colour to you and don't need bleach to lighten my hair in the salon. Perhaps you could try a small piece of hair underneath where it won't be seen?

If you are blonde naturally, home highlighting can be fine if you are careful. As Krumbum says though, do not think its advised to do itover Henna.

I home blonde my mousy dark blonde hair. I use eithe nice n easy or John Frieda colour mousse in light ash blonde, and it always looks fine

Oh good morning! Thanks for this everyone.

Yes the received wisdom is not to bleach over henna because a lot of henna contains metallic salts. Add bleach to that and BOOM, you have had a full of frazzled mush and have to have a crop.

As far as I am aware Lush henna doesn't contain any metallic salts so I should be fine. I'd do a pretty sturdy strand test first of course.

Good to know Casting Creme is no good - I shall discard that idea!

I think I would need to do a sort of block colour rather than highlights though, thinking about it, because then I'd still have a lot of ginger showing through between the blonde. pushme is the stuff you use all-over colour or highlights? And does it damage your hair??

I really wouldn't!! i'd leave it copper until it grows out a bit. I was brown(home dyed my natural colour) and had shoulder length hair in great condition. I took the daft notion to go lighter. I colour b4ed twice and was left with an auburn colour which was lovely...not content I got my hairdresser to bleach it to lift the red tones leaving it gingery orange(which was awful) and my hair was really damaged. I then bleached it again after about 2 months and the worst happened. It snapped off at the shoulder. Had to get it cut to above my ears as it was like cotton wool and I couldn't run my fingers through it. In short, my hair was totally fucked.
I then have got it dyed back to brown and have had my hair cropped for six months in order to cut out all the bleach. So a year and a half later i have chin length brown hair which is in an awful "growing it out" haircut.
Not trying to scare you but be prepared for it to snap off and if you would rather have hair..I'd stay florence colour (which is lovely btw..)

Why don't you ring your local hairdressing school they may be doing summer courses, I used to get a full head of foil highlights plus wash cut and blow dry for £20!!

My friend highlighted my hair with one if those home kits, turned out ok but the caps never get close enough to the roots so it's was a bit pointless. I've now gone a lovely shade of brown because I'm fed up with the blonde but secretly wish I was blonde again

Gah Clara that's quite a cautionary tale Your poor hair!!!

I can't really risk a total disaster as I'm being bridesmaid in 5 week for a really posh wedding with a really controlling bride s I ill have to be really careful. It sounds a bit like you can't bleach if you've done colour B4??

I'm coming to the conclusion I'd be better off going to the hairdresser and at least having a chat...

I'll be doing colour B4 again today and I've bought some blonding/clarifying shampoo and conditioner which maybe with daily use might brighten it...

Tango that's a good idea! Or I could look out on Groupon/Wahanda for a voucher...

Ooh I was about to post a similar thread. I usually get a full head of highlights, costs me about £100 every couple of months and I'm just not massively able to justify the cost ATM as a skint SAHM, used to earn decently but now playing housewife and DH wants me to stay blonde I can just about afford it but would rather spend it on clothes and handbags tbh.

How do you find hairdressing schools? Am tempted to try Nice and Easy, will it look shite and orange if I try a light ash blonde on my mousy brown hair?

Comeon that's exactly my reasoning - I really need to get a decent leather bag for my laptop and I can't justify that AND spending £100 on my hair. Harrumph!

I think for now I'll do Colour B4 and try some natural lightening to shift the last of the henna stain - apparently honey and conditioner left on all day can help. but I'm a natural blonde & I don't think stuff like honey would have any effect on darker hair...

The things we do for beauty, eh! (Mind you, could be worse - the Greeks and Egyptians used to use their own piss to lighten their hair )

If you get highlights, ie peroxide ones DONT use nice and easy, they make your roots go gingery and the bottom of your hair go blonder so it looks silly plus when you go to get highlights again you always look like you have roots because the top is nicely highlighted and the bottom is one block colour. Been there done that.

Ring your local college, google hairdressing schools in your nearest bug town or city, some salon also have a trainers night once a week and give you it cheaper if you let their juniors practice on you, I always got the best hair dye and cuts at the schools because the teachers are so fussy.

Yikes that sounds likely with my hair Tango , thanks for the cautionary tale. I was thinking if t doesn't work I could just go crying to the hairdresser and ask them to fix it but I see what you mean. I am also currently hindered by baby so sitting in a salon for 3 hours not easy.

Using my own piss however...

It's gonna be hard to get the orange out.
But use bleach all over. Then give it a while and use lots of protein hair treatments. You will probably need to bleach again. After that if it's still yellows then buy a a really good toner. Tone your hair with every wash, it helps remove brassiness. And carry on deep conditioning and using protein packs.

my poor poor hair.... :( sorry to detract from the conversation... just lamenting my lost hair.

Really interesting to read all your comments as I have been having these thoughts too. I've always highlighted my mousey dark blonde hair and am a bit fed up of paying ove r £100 every 6 weeks! And also sitting in the salon for 3 plus hrs when I have a young baby as it can be difficult to organise, meaning I get left with roots for some time, and would rather be spending time with him and my dh! I've been contemplating dying but scared it will leave me with yellow roots / hair.

Does anyone dye their previously highlighted blonde hair with great results? Sorry I hope I'm not hijacking.

I thought I would update you all - thanks everyone for your advice and warnings etc.! Krum, really interesting about toner, that will be my next step I think.

I will put quite a bit of detail down because there is so much conflicting and vague advice on henna removal and I have searched the web to almost no avail, so if I get it all out here, some other poor soul might find it and get some tips!

Just for background:

My natural hair colour is almost exactly like this, though perhaps slightly warmer.

I'd had highlights, so it was like more like this, though a bit less stripy. I'd like to go back to a cross between this and my natural colour.

6 months of henna and I was pretty much this colour. Utterly gorgeous, right? But I have pale bluish skin, dark blue eyes, almost invisible eyelashes and tiny fair eyebrows, so I started to look like death.

After 2 applications of Colour B4 I was more like this colour which is great if you're born with it and have the freckles etc. but looked shocking!!

I went ahead and bought some John Frieda Precision Mousse in Light Natural Blonde.

I did a strand test like a good girl, and it looked as if it had made quite a significant difference - lighter and much less red.

So with much trepidation, and tugging on a hair about every 5 minutes to check for weakness and breakages, I put it on. I can confirm that it is terrifically easy to use.

My scalp stung a bit, probably because I had already done 2 other strong treatments in the last 3 days, but it wasn't too bad. I rinsed it out, conditioned and dried it, and miraculously and TOTALLY against what everyone says about bleaching over henna that condition of it is absolutely fine. It was shiny, bouncy, even and glossy.

HOWEVER - it's still bloody red!! It has toned it down a great deal, so it's less Ronald McDonald and a much more even natural sort of auburn, almost as light as strawberry blonde but not quite. It's kind of like this

I am hoping, if I use blonding shampoo and conditioners every day, within the next 6 weeks it should tone down/lighten to this sort of thing, which is not too far from my natural hair colour and I could live with, and which won't give too weird a two-tone effect!

So that's my henna removal saga. Ladies and gentlemen: do NOT touch henna unless you are pretty much prepared to be a redhead for the rest of your life! And yes, I include Lush caca!

You could go dark, I went light brown after being fed up sitting for hours getting highlights. Love my hair now!

The blonde home dye kits just don't work on highlighted hair, I said up thread they just lighten the highlighted bits and turn your roots ginger. It's because they don't contain bleach. You could get a bleach one but then your hair might end up pure peroxide blonde.

By the way poor poor Clara How is your hair now??

Rugby have a look online at reviews of John Frieda Precision Mousse. It almost always gets the full thumbs-up. And if I didn't damage my hair - after highlights, henna, two coats of Colour B4 and a whole bottle of John Frieda lightening spray, I'm sure it won't do you any harm at all! Go for it! It's only about £6.50 in Boots at the moment!

Tango the packaging of the dye I used said it contain hydrogen peroxide - isn't that bleach?? Disclaimer: I don't know what I'm talking about

I think it's the ammonia though that actual lightens it, and most if those home dye kits are ammonia free... I think... Might be talking out my bum here but all I know is that it didn't work on my highlighted hair which has mousetrap brown roots :o

jodie you live and learn eh? I did love the red you were though it's a real pity you didn't think you suited it!

Mousetrap???? Ffs meant to say mousey

Arf at mousetrap

Yes, it was a gorgeous colour, and people would literally stop me in the street and say how beautiful it was.

But there were two things: 1) I realised if I carried on, layers of henna over the years are so difficult to shift that I would have to eventually have a pixie crop to get rid of it, and 2) I just didn't recognise myself!

All my life I have had long blonde hair with a side parting, and now (well: a week ago!) I had a collarbone length bob with a short fringe in flame red. Add that to the fact I have started to look older than my age I literally did not recognise the woman int he mirror and it started to make me feel really unhappy...

I honestly don't know how people cope with total makeovers!!