I've never dyed my hair, what do I need to know?

[giantangryrooster]

I usually get highlights done at the hairdressers. Now I'm wondering if I dare try to make them myself. I've googled and googled and there is so much advice. Now what do I basically need to know? Top tips?

(and please remember if it goes tits up, it's because of your advice (or lack of) .

[Flowerpot868]

I highlight my own hair all the time! I use Jerome Russell BBlonde kit in maximum. It's a cap. It's not perfect but it looks great esp for a fiver! Top tips - get someone to help you with the back (fiddly), don't massage the bleach onto the cap (it leaks through the holes and spots), paint it on the hair. Don't paint bleach on hair that is already bleached. Keep an eye on it, wash it out when it's white or it'll go ginger. Then you can either put a semi permanent light colour on it (like light ash blonde nice n easy) or leave it - I leave mine. I use purple shampoo once a week to keep it ashy. I recommend! But as I say it's not perfect, a hairdresser would do much better placement around your face etc and I do have the odd patchy bit if you look closely.

[Flowerpot868]

*i mean if you wash it out too soon when the hair still looks orange/yellow it'll dry gingery. Wait for it it hit white. But wash it as soon as it hits there!

[Chachacha90]

Some hairdressers do - I have seen them on YouTube and Instagram doing their own foils, although these are always sort of subtle 'babylights' refreshes, rather than a full head of highlights. This can only end badly OP!

Yeah I meant a full head, just trying to give some perspective ykwim

[giantangryrooster]

@Flowerpot868

*i mean if you wash it out too soon when the hair still looks orange/yellow it'll dry gingery. Wait for it it hit white. But wash it as soon as it hits there!

Oh dear

[neveradullmoment99]

@MikeUniformMike

I've had home highlight from a kit (Wella etc) many times and they are fine.
You need someone to do them for you - to pull the hair through the cap.

Follow the instructions to the letter.

Other tip - wear old clothes and use an old towel.

Me too!! My hair turned out lovely! If its a few here and there then why not?
I used a kit. You just used a special applicator and lightened a few strands where the light would catch naturally. I loved it.

[SoManyActivities]

@Flowerpot868

I highlight my own hair all the time! I use Jerome Russell BBlonde kit in maximum. It's a cap. It's not perfect but it looks great esp for a fiver! Top tips - get someone to help you with the back (fiddly), don't massage the bleach onto the cap (it leaks through the holes and spots), paint it on the hair. Don't paint bleach on hair that is already bleached. Keep an eye on it, wash it out when it's white or it'll go ginger. Then you can either put a semi permanent light colour on it (like light ash blonde nice n easy) or leave it - I leave mine. I use purple shampoo once a week to keep it ashy. I recommend! But as I say it's not perfect, a hairdresser would do much better placement around your face etc and I do have the odd patchy bit if you look closely.

Do not wait until its white!!!

Also, Jerome Russell bleach, nooooooo! At least use a decent bleach like Wella Blondor or Schwarzkopf BlondMe (I use the latter and it's unbelievable how much better it is than the stuff you can buy in Boots).

[SoManyActivities]

I guess it depends on your natural colour as well - naturally lighter hair lifts so much better than dark hair, so you can get away with the box bleach more easily. Maybe with pate coloured hair you might be OK

[Anordinarymum]

OP as someone who has used hair dye at home for years I can tell you that you need to see a hairdresser for highlights. End of.

[Giganticshark]

Watch Brad Mondo

[giantangryrooster]

@MikeUniformMike @neveradullmoment99

Is it the 'wella hair streaking kit lightner'?

[giantangryrooster]

@Anordinarymum

OP as someone who has used hair dye at home for years I can tell you that you need to see a hairdresser for highlights. End of.

I know, I know, one can only dream (and not about pate) .

[Flowerpot868]

This is my hair with bblonde. I pulled every front piece through the holes and every second around the back/sides/crown. No toner on it as I find bblonde is a non-orangey bleach anyway. It's quite high volume though so could maybe be damaging on others' hair. Mine doesn't feel damaged/dry although it has been straightened there and a wave added through so perhaps a little more shine than if I dried it naturally. I've tried other box bleaches that didn't go well. Would be interested in trying the professional bleaches from Sallys though, like those mentioned above.

[MikeUniformMike]

That's the one. NDN years ago always used it and she did mine. It looked fine.

A teenager I know had her mum do her highlight fairly recently and it looked lovely. I didn't ask which kit they used.

These blondes had naturally light brown or mousy hair.
I have used sun-in type sprays too but they can give a reddish look to the hair.

[giantangryrooster]

MikeUniformMike Thank you, think I'll buy a wella one and wait for dd to come home .

Flowerpot868 i think your hair looks lovely, mine is a bit darker though. Orange or green would be a disaster .

[MikeUniformMike]

The kits where you brush it through or use foils are a bit hit and miss I think.

When DSis and I were in our teens we would use H2O2 from the chemist

[giantangryrooster]

Oh dear @MikeUniformMike, when I was a teen, we got told that using H2o2 would dry out your hair leaving it so brittle it would break .

[MikeUniformMike]

It did! We were blonde though.

[MikeUniformMike]

We also used lemon juice on sunny days.
Sun in was hit and miss. It was ok on mine, but I remember one girl having orange hair from it.

[dementedpixie]

I think sun in just wasn't strong enough for darker hair so it couldn't strip out the red tones and left the hair orange. I remember using it back in the dat

[dementedpixie]

day*

[giantangryrooster]

Ha MikeUniformMike . Perhaps I should try the lemon juice and ketchup etc. When I think of the £150 i spend on the hairdresser each time, I guess I can just as well build up some courage... If it worked for you .

[MikeUniformMike]

It was very subtle - I've never had highlights with foils and have been my natural colour for about 20 years, but have occasionally used semi-permanent dyes.

The lemon dries out the hair. I wouldn't recommend it.

£150 is a lot of money. I'd nip down to Savers or Wilko and get a kit.

[giantangryrooster]

Nah, I'm Scandi where I live, it's the going rate for a hairdresser . I'll just order the wella and wait for dd. But thank you so much for your help .

[MikeUniformMike]

Let us know how you get on.