Bleaching my hair - do I follow with toner or

[Toly]

Hello,

I’m going to colour my hair from a dark brown to a (hopefully) pale ashy slightly violet blonde.

I’ve bleached it before and managed to get it very light so should be ok with that part but it was a while ago so I was wondering if this would be correct:

A) bleach with 20 vol developer once or maybe twice

B) Followed by either Wella t18 toner OR Wella koleston perfect in 10/16 again using 20 vol developer?

If any hairdressers could advise I’d be so grateful, thank you!

Watch a few Brad Mondo videos first - start with . He says 30 volume developer to go from dark brown to blonde, and T18 isn't a toner.

Thanks yeah I like Brad’s videos. This is the t18 toner I was talking about?

What if it turns out a disaster? There won't be any hairdressers to fix it. I say this with over an inch dark roots on pure white blonde hair. Not worth the risk.

When you say you bleached it before, elaborate? Do you still have bleached hair or has it been cut off by now? Did you dye over it? If you don’t have virgin hair bleaching is more complicated, you don’t want to over process prelightened hair, and box dye is also more difficult to remove so you may not have an even result

Interested in before/after photos when you’re done as it sounds like a massive transformation!

I last bleached it about 10 years ago. I did it twice to get it really pale then I used some kind of toner to make it platinum and I was really pleased with it but got bored of the upkeep. I can’t remember what I used exactly as it was so long ago hence asking again. So my hair is virgin at the moment! I will see if I can find a picture from when I did it before - hold on

This was basically white, and I want a more ashy/violet tone this time

Jeez, you're brave to even consider it. It's pretty much the hardest colour to achieve. Hairdressers make this transition in 2 or 3 steps and they use olaplex during the process to minimise damage. You'll either turn your hair orange and/or wreck it beyond repair.

Wow you did an amazing job- that’s a lovely white

Thanks @Kenworthington! It was such a pain to maintain at the time but I was working a lot then and I have more free time these days! I’m also fine with cutting it short if I wreck it too much so I’m pretty relaxed about it tbh

Wow you did such a good job, I think you’re the one that should be giving us advice

Haha thanks but I’m aware it could be a disaster this time! I’ve just ordered everything so will update when I’ve done it

This is what I’m going from by the way, no colour on it at all and have a few greys now too...

You definitely need Olaplex 1,2 & 3 and a lot of patience between steps. Don't rush it.

That Wella toner does work as long as your level is light enough, but it really doesn't last. You have to top it up the whole time, like every other wash, and use purple shampoo all the time, otherwise you'll go brassy. It's also really drying so you should do regular conditioning treatments and use Olaplex 3 with each normal wash.

Wow your old bleach look is something I've never quite achieved and my base is similar to yours- i think you got this, I'm braving up to bleach & purple soon

Don’t do it, u less u have someone to help apply to the back, keep an eye on the heat, and you have plenty of product to reapply (several days later when the burns have healed)

Shameless place marking for the after pics! Good luck your braver than me!

I was coming on to suggest watching some Brad Mondo videos also. Never heard of him before this week but somehow me & my teen seem to have been sucked into a vortex & cant stop watching. I know nothing about bleaching but i ca tell you dont bother using T18, section, don't comb the bleach through ( hair too fragile), apply to roots last. Off to watch some folks doing rainbow dye😁

Moonshinemisses, you missed bleach is not shampoo, don't lather it.

And how many times does he say, OMG, it's going to be terrible, your hair will fall out... Oh. Oh, it's actually not bad. I like it. You look great.

@DrNorthern would an actual permanent colour be better do you think? Like Wella koleston 10/16?

Yes I will be very sure not to do my roots first!

And I am getting some Olaplex

I wanted to go platinum blonde a couple years ago and was too cheap to pay a salon £300+ to do it, so bleached it at home.

Exactly as you are saying though - with the Wella T18 toner.

When I then went to a salon for root maintenance she was really impressed I did it myself.

Good luck! I attempted my own roots today and it went okay. Well I can't see the back properly but I think it's okay, and if it's not I can't see it anyway not anywhere near as hard as this though, I've got dark blonde hair and I did them lighter. Good luck

I think toner is the right option, you just have to be prepared for the upkeep! X

Thanks @Lovebug06 glad your roots went ok!

And that’s encouraging @Livingoffcoffee!

Maybe I should film it in the hope that Brad Mondo might critique my technique