How to bleach hair to white at home without damaging it? We already know that bleaching is a process that can greatly damage our precious hair. And more if we apply the product to ourselves. So in this post I tell you step by step how to get to the white without damaging the hair in the attempt.
In my personal case, I wore white hair for about a year. In the cover photo you see the shade of white. Before and after that I wore it platinum blonde. To achieve the shade you see, I did the root bleaching every 3 or 4 weeks.
The truth is that it damaged my hair a lot. But the good thing is that I was able to learn a lot from that experience and today I can tell you how to wear white hair without damaging it excessively.
As you know, bleaching will always damage the hair. And more if we take it to the extreme as in this case. But it is also true that we can do little things to minimize the damage. As I always say, there is no magic ingredient, but the sum of doing many small things well can make a difference.
This post will serve you whether you want to bleach at the root until you reach the white or if you just want to give yourself highlights.
How to dye hair to white
Technically we cannot “dye” white. What we have is to bleach the hair at the root. For this we will need bleaching powders (there are also bleaches in liquid format) and developer. Later we see what products we will need exactly.
Obviously you can’t lift the hair to white without dyeing or bleaching. For the hair to reach white brightness we need a bleach and hydrogen peroxide (a developer).
How to get white highlights
To get the white highlights we will need the same hairdressing products as to bleach at the root. On the one hand, powders and on the other, developer.
Steps to bleach hair to white at home
To get the hair lightened until we reach white we will need to go through the entire range of hair colors. This range can be from black in the case of darker hair, through reds, browns, oranges and yellows to white.
Here are the detailed steps to bleach hair at home step by step. If, in addition, we want to bleach until we reach white, the process will be very similar. We will simply have to wait for the hair to reach the end of the oxidation process, which is very pale yellow or white.
The hair can reach white, but it usually happens that the hair is burned when it reaches that point.
Hair goes through different shades, from dark brown to white, in the bleaching process.
To reach the white we must reach the very pale yellow and then nuance that yellow with a toner or tint.
- Mix bleaching powders with developer volumes
The ratio for mixing developer and powders is 1 measure of bleaching powders per 1.5 measures of peroxide (developer).
Mix the two ingredients in the mixing bowl until a paste is formed.
My favourite bleaching powders so far are Schwarzkoft’s Blondme Bond Enforcing because they repair hair during the harsh bleaching process.
Schwarzkopf Professional BlondMe Bond Enforcing Lightener 9+ Dust Free Powder
- Bleaching powder formulated to achieve up to 9 levels of lift.
- Protects the hair fibre for minimised hair breakage.
- Neutralises yellow undertones.
2. Apply bleaching
Apply bleaching to hair. Either through highlights, all over the hair or just the root.
3. Wait 45 minutes.
As a general rule, bleaching takes 45 minutes to climb 10 to the white color you are looking for. This is the most delicate step, so please be very careful, as hair can suffer seriously.
It is difficult for all sections of hair to reach white at once, so try to remove them as soon as you see that they are pale yellow. This will prevent the hair from breaking or becoming elastic. Do not worry that it is not yet yellow, for that we will qualify later.
Remember also that virgin, blond and fine hair lightens faster than dyed, thick or dark hair.
4. Remove discoloration
Remove bleaching from the hair by lightening it with water. You can do it in parts instead of removing everything at once.
You don’t need to use shampoo. We don’t want to dry our hair even more using detergent products.
5. Nuances discoloration.
To get from pale yellow to white you should use a very soft tint with hardly any color.
A violet shampoo left to sit or a colored bath with a super lightening neutral blonde (not ash), should be enough to go from yellow to white.
Here you have some ideas on different ways to tone up your highlights.
Suggestion dye to tone up your highlights:
Fanola Tinte “No Yellow Color” 10 ICE Blonde Platinum ICE
- Tintes permanentes para mezclar o matizar.
- 14 tonos disponibles.
- Para matices, mezclar con agua oxigenada de baja graduación.
L’Oréal Professionnel violet shampoo suggestion:
L’Oréal Professionnel Série Expert Yellow Neutraliser Silver Shampoo
- Shampoo to reduce yellow undertones and brasiness.
- For neutralised and shiny blonde hair. Removes unwanted yellowish tones.
- Suitable for light blonde, white and gray hair.
How to bleach hair to white with developer
To bleach the hair we will always need bleaching powders. developer is not enough to lighten the hair until it reaches white.
In addition, using only developer in the hair is not recommended as it damages the hair fiber a lot. And, on the other hand, the color that remains is usually a very ugly orange or yellow.
developer should always be used mixed with dye or with discoloration.
What volume of developer to use? That will depend on whether you’re looking for a peroxide to dye or a developer to bleach your hair. As a general rule, to lift to the target what would work best would be the water of 40 volumes. But I leave you an option for water of 30 and another of 40.
As developer of 30 volumes the one I would recommend is Welloxon from Wella. Here we already need the water to work a little more to lift the color. Therefore I have chosen this water because it protects the hair fiber while lightening the hair:
Wella Welloxon 9% 30 Vol Developer
- 9% 30 Vol hydrogen peroxide.
- Balance between gray coverage and lightening.
- Suitable for mixing with bleaching and permanent colour.
As 40-volume developer, we definitely have to choose one that will protect our hair. That’s why I chose Schwarzkoft’s Blondme Premium Care Developer as a recommended product. It is a developer that in addition to being top in terms of effectiveness repairs the hair fiber. It is one of the best products on the market as far as bleaching is concerned. Although, of course, it is still high lifting, and we must be careful when using it.
Schwarzkopf Blondme Premium Care Developer 12% 40 Vol
- 40 vol premium developer.
- Integrated Dual Bond Technology to protect hair.
- Optimal performance to achieve maximum lift.
White and blue bleaching agent
When we are going to bleach the hair we can find two types of bleaching powders: white and blue. There are no differences in color. Both white and blue bleach can help us bring our hair to white. The difference lies mainly in the brand. The most common bleaching powders are usually blue in color.
Bleaching black to white hair
Bleaching hair to white is probably one of the most complicated coloring processes, and you will need patience to achieve it.
Be prepared to have to apply two colorations because surely a single bleaching process is not enough.
However, if your hair is black but it is natural, that is, you do not wear previous dye or coloring, a single bleaching may be more feasible. Natural hair lightens more easily.
How to bleach hair to white at home without mistreating it
To avoid mistreating the hair during the bleaching process we must work from three fronts. First, the pre-coloration treatment, then we must use a treatment during the process, and finally, after the bleaching.
Pre-bleaching care
In this post I give you ideas on how to take care of your hair before bleaching, but basically what you should do is: trim the ends, avoid chemical treatments and apply masks and oils as much as you can.
In addition to that, there are very useful hair treatments that can be used for the bleaching process. You might have heard of it already, but the Olaplex one is specifically designed for this and is one of the most popular ones out there:
Olaplex Nº3 Perfeccionador Capilar Mascarilla
- OLAPLEX es la marca líder en cuidado capilar conocida por revitalizar el cabello teñido y dañado químicamente.
- Apto para todo tipo de cabellos.
- N°3: aplicar y dejar actuar 10 minutos antes del champú.
Olaplex during-bleaching treatment
As a novelty, the Olaplex brand has released a product that is not applied before or after but during bleaching. Its purpose is to reduce the damage of the oxidation process but without modifying the color.
This is step 1 of the Olaplex routine. Its use is restricted to professionals, but the rest of the range is available on Amazon.
For example, the number 0, intensive bonding treatment is used as a pre-coloration treatment:
Olaplex Nº0 Tratamiento intensivo de fijación de enlaces
- OLAPLEX es la marca líder en cuidado capilar conocida por revitalizar el cabello teñido y dañado químicamente.
- Apto para todo tipo de cabellos.
- Aplicar paso 0 durante 15 minutos y sin aclarar aplicar paso número 3.
Post-bleaching treatment of Olaplex
As a post-coloration treatment Olaplex has several products. The best known are the conditioner, mask or serum. This seems especially advisable to me because it is a product that is left in the hair. It is not a product that lightens like a mask or conditioner. And for me that makes a huge difference in how your hair looks and feels to the touch:
OLAPLEX No. 7 Aceite Reparador De Enlaces Capilares
- OLAPLEX es la marca líder en cuidado capilar conocida por revitalizar el cabello teñido y dañado químicamente.
- Apto para todo tipo de cabellos.
- N°7: aceite para usar como producto de peinado.
If for your hair it is a little late already, in this post, I explain how I recovered my hair after being heavily damaged by bleaching.
In this video I tell you about the colour routine I follow to get my blonde. It is in Spanish, so please turn the captions on!
As you can see, bleaching the hair to white at home without mistreating it is possible, but you must be very careful with the products you use, do not exceed the exposure time and perform a correct treatment before and after bleaching.
Much love,
Deliria Rose
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