Guide to Bleaching & Coloring Your Jet Black Hair. Part 2: The Bleaching Session

So lets pick up where I left off..
If you missed Part 1, click here.

Anyways, once my hair got back to it's usual sheen, I opened up my new Manic Panic Flash Lightning Bleaching Kit. They provide the full kit that includes everything you might need for a bleaching session. 

The kit includes:

1. The Bleaching Powder
2. Liquid Developer
3. Mixing Tub
4. Applicator Brush
5. Gloves
6. Hair cap
7. Directions Leaflet

Unfortunately, I don’t have pictures of me bleaching my hair (was way too excited) but you basically just need to mix the bleaching powder and developer until it forms a creamy mixture. I went a step further by using aluminium foils to make sure that everything remained neat & tidy. Here’s some tips:

1. Use the gloves. The skin on your hands will thank you for it.
2. Do a test patch. Take a small amount of hair, preferably the inner parts of your hair so that if anything bad happens, it won’t be so painful to part with the few strands of hair. NOTE: Any half decent salon should also do the same. I have no idea why it’s not properly implemented in Malaysia’s salons when it’s a policy in most salons in the US!
3. Don’t empty the whole of the bleaching powder and develop it right away. (This was a mistake I made. *Sobs*)Use half first to see how much you really need. I found that I don’t need the whole packet even if I wanted to bleach my whole head!
4.  The instructions say that it’s safe to leave the bleach in your hair for up to 90 mins. It’s true. But if you’re not comfortable with that, use a hairdryer and blast some heat on your hair (this works even better if you have wrapped your hair in aluminium foil as it’s a great conductor of heat) The heat helps to speed up the whole bleaching process.
5. With that said, if you wanna bleach your whole head, take note that the bleach works faster on your roots due to the heat coming from your scalp. So make sure you do your tips first and do your roots later.
6. Be sure to check the progress of your hair every 15 mins. Once your go off the edge, there’s no coming back peeps!

After about 60 mins, I rinsed off my hair. And the results: Dirty Blonde Hair! The exact color that I wanted! More amazingly, my hair remained the same quality as before! 

It didn’t feel like straw. Considering the fact that my first round was such a disaster, this was a nice surprise. I was expecting some sort of damage.. But I went on with caution anyways and made sure I really took care of my locks. 

Better safe than sorry right?

Anyways, after bleaching, your hair becomes porous (the same effect you’ll get after swimming in swimming pools) so that’s the best time to color your hair! But if your goal is to go blond, simply condition your hair to seal your hair shafts. 

TIP: Although it’s really tempting to shampoo the bleach out, DON’T! Just make sure you’ve rinsed your hair thoroughly and condition/mask it for repair. Shampoo will simply strip away what’s left of the natural moisture in your hair, leaving it drier. 

NEXT CHAPTER: THE COLORING SESSION

I hope these tips help!

XOXO,

Reina Lum