Thinking about going blonde

FiancB · May 2015

But I have chocolate brown hair. Obviously, going to a pro is key here but any other guidelines I should follow? I'm still worried it'll end up looking like earwax. And I just moved here so I don't really have a particular hairdresser that I trust. I've dyed it red and I've gotten highlights but I've never attempted to go super light.

Kahlyla · May 2015

Me too! Like you, I have dark brown hair, and like you, this will be first attempt at going this light. I was planning to bring some pics and basically say, "this is where I'd like to end up". It may take a while to get there, but I'll be happy as long as they can keep it cool and ashy in the process.

I was planning to ask for a balayage/quasi-ombre technique, because I do really like the look and I also think it will be less jarring. I guess I have no real advice yet but I'll update if you do the same, hehe!

lacqueredlover · May 2015

Start with an ombre if you're nervous about it. At the most, I was 3/4's blonde (I'm naturally a dark brown.) DEFINITELY go to a professional because it requires a lot of bleach to lighten dark hair and it may take a few sessions to get the exact color you want.

theartistformerlyknownas · May 2015

I would start with highlights, and keep adding more as you get more comfortable with it. Or if you want to jump in headfirst, do a LOT of highlights but still let some of the low poke through to look natural. (I really super hate ombre, sorry. Looks like a badly grown out dye job to me.) And make sure you identify whether you should go cool/ashy or warm/golden with the toner. It makes all the difference in looking like you got into a fight with a highlighter, or just spent several months in the tropics.

Here's my before and after with lots of foils, but still a little brown peeking underneath and at the crown.

ashley8918 · May 2015

lolo883 said:
I would start with highlights, and keep adding more as you get more comfortable with it. Or if you want to jump in headfirst, do a LOT of highlights but still let some of the low poke through to look natural. (I really super hate ombre, sorry. Looks like a badly grown out dye job to me.) And make sure you identify whether you should go cool/ashy or warm/golden with the toner. It makes all the difference in looking like you got into a fight with a highlighter, or just spent several months in the tropics.

Here's my before and after with lots of foils, but still a little brown peeking underneath and at the crown.

I agree. Start with hilights.

I also think ombre looks bad.

lacqueredlover · May 2015

Yeah badly done ombre's do look like a dye job growing out. I loved mine when I had it (it's my profile pic actually.) Guess you guys all think it's ugly but I freaking loved it. Now I have a tortoiseshell look and am going more blonde for summer in a few weeks.

It's whatever you're comfortable with. I usually suggest going from super dark brown to ombre first because it's not as much of a shock and you can keep the area around your face darker while you get used to it. IT's also not as damaging to your hair than dying it all at once.

All in all though, talk to your colorist. They can help you decide what will look best on you and how to achieve it with minimal damage.

bethsmiles · May 2015

Ditto PPs who said to start with highlights. I have naturally brown hair and did blonde a few years ago. I did a ton of highlights over going just straight blonde and am happy I did. It looked more natural.

Personally, I'd try out a new hairdresser with something less dramatic before going blonde and read a lot of reviews!

TrixieJess · May 2015

FiancB said:
But I have chocolate brown hair. Obviously, going to a pro is key here but any other guidelines I should follow? I'm still worried it'll end up looking like earwax. And I just moved here so I don't really have a particular hairdresser that I trust. I've dyed it red and I've gotten highlights but I've never attempted to go super light.

Find a GOOD hairdresser who specialises in stripping and highlighting. Taking your hair up more than 2 levels requires a deft hand and someone who knows what the hell they are doing. If you have colour already in your hair, that adds a complication as well. You will have to go through several stages and it will take about 5 hours depending on your length.

I used to hair model and I naturally have very dark hair, I've been every spectrum on the colour chart. Also, some people's hair takes colour better than others. Keep that in mind too.

Good luck and show us pictures!

ashley8918 · May 2015

lacqueredlover said:
Yeah badly done ombre's do look like a dye job growing out. I loved mine when I had it (it's my profile pic actually.) Guess you guys all think it's ugly but I freaking loved it. Now I have a tortoiseshell look and am going more blonde for summer in a few weeks.

It's whatever you're comfortable with. I usually suggest going from super dark brown to ombre first because it's not as much of a shock and you can keep the area around your face darker while you get used to it. IT's also not as damaging to your hair than dying it all at once.

All in all though, talk to your colorist. They can help you decide what will look best on you and how to achieve it with minimal damage.

Okay, so I had to google this, because I had no clue what it was. What is the difference between this and regular highlights?

FiancB · May 2015

Thanks, guys! I had a groupon that I was going to use but I should probably just go for the best I can find, huh.

Also, opinions on dark eyebrows with blonde hair? My eyebrows are fairly thin, if that makes a difference. I think it looks fine but maybe I'm crazy.

lacqueredlover · May 2015

ashley8918 said:

lacqueredlover said:
Yeah badly done ombre's do look like a dye job growing out. I loved mine when I had it (it's my profile pic actually.) Guess you guys all think it's ugly but I freaking loved it. Now I have a tortoiseshell look and am going more blonde for summer in a few weeks.

It's whatever you're comfortable with. I usually suggest going from super dark brown to ombre first because it's not as much of a shock and you can keep the area around your face darker while you get used to it. IT's also not as damaging to your hair than dying it all at once.

All in all though, talk to your colorist. They can help you decide what will look best on you and how to achieve it with minimal damage.
Okay, so I had to google this, because I had no clue what it was. What is the difference between this and regular highlights?

It's multiple colors, different volumes of lightening so that it's not just one shade of highlights in with your base color. IT also starts down much lower than regular highlights, not at the scalp. IT's more of a color than a technique like highlights are, it's all more warm toned whereas highlights can be any tone and it gives a more blended look than highlights or even babylights do.

lyndausvi · May 2015

I have naturally dark hair. I just went back to highlights in the fall. I got a few more a month ago. I like going lighter gradually.

sarahufl · May 2015

I have really dark hair and I once let my friend highlight it. Looked great, till we went to touch it up a few months later and it turned this awful orange color.

Go to a pro

lovegood90 · May 2015

I have dark brown hair and went blonde for about a year just because. I went to a pro and she refused to use bleach on me because it would ruin my hair. So she got me to a nice strawberry blonde colour, however after about a week it would turn to the colour of straw.

I'd personally recommend what PPs said about ombre or something similar. It depends on your hair though, but mine just refused to be blonde!

FiancB · May 2015

This is what I look like, if that helps any.

I'm really not confident with this sort of thing. I have no idea what shade would look good on me or whatever. When I go to a hairstylist and tell them to do whatever they think will look good, they don't seem to believe me.

chibiyui · May 2015

I've been doing red,..... Underlights? Low-lights? Enh, something kinda like this.

Anyway, starting with Highlights is a great way to ease into it, But the best thing is, if you don't like it, you can dye it back to something dark. Hair color isn't permanent. So find some bitchin pintrest pics and take them to an awesome stylist and talk with them about it.

theartistformerlyknownas · May 2015

lacqueredlover said:

ashley8918 said:

lacqueredlover said:
Yeah badly done ombre's do look like a dye job growing out. I loved mine when I had it (it's my profile pic actually.) Guess you guys all think it's ugly but I freaking loved it. Now I have a tortoiseshell look and am going more blonde for summer in a few weeks.

It's whatever you're comfortable with. I usually suggest going from super dark brown to ombre first because it's not as much of a shock and you can keep the area around your face darker while you get used to it. IT's also not as damaging to your hair than dying it all at once.

All in all though, talk to your colorist. They can help you decide what will look best on you and how to achieve it with minimal damage.
Okay, so I had to google this, because I had no clue what it was. What is the difference between this and regular highlights?
It's multiple colors, different volumes of lightening so that it's not just one shade of highlights in with your base color. IT also starts down much lower than regular highlights, not at the scalp. IT's more of a color than a technique like highlights are, it's all more warm toned whereas highlights can be any tone and it gives a more blended look than highlights or even babylights do.

My stylist always uses 3 or 4 shades when she highlights me.

[Deleted User] · May 2015

FiancB said:
Thanks, guys! I had a groupon that I was going to use but I should probably just go for the best I can find, huh.

Also, opinions on dark eyebrows with blonde hair? My eyebrows are fairly thin, if that makes a difference. I think it looks fine but maybe I'm crazy.

I naturally have straight-up BLACK eyebrows and light brown/dark blonde hair. When I was younger my hair was white-blonde and I still had black eyebrows. So, if it can happen naturally than to me it's no biggie. If your colorist makes your blonde hair look natural, I don't think it will be jarring at all. If you're thinking platinum blonde that might be another story. If you are concerned, ask your stylist to lighten your 'brows a bit, but I wouldn't bother. PS: You're gorgeous!!!

sarahufl · May 2015

FiancB said:
This is what I look like, if that helps any.

I'm really not confident with this sort of thing. I have no idea what shade would look good on me or whatever. When I go to a hairstylist and tell them to do whatever they think will look good, they don't seem to believe me.

My hair is roughly that color. Be careful with just straight up bleach because you may end up orange. I think varying levels of color would work.

thisismynickname2 · May 2015

My opinion is to lighten the eyebrows, but they don't need to match the hair exactly. Many people are rocking the brows, a la Cara Levigne.

Also, general advice- not only go to a pro, be realistic with yourself with your skin tone. (Edit: I'm not saying don't go blonde; my point is that there are tons of shades and it may take time to find the right shade.) I'm a natural blonde and never dye my hair. My sister has naturally light brown hair and insists on keeping it blonde. Her skin tone is more olive than mine and her color blonde almost never looks right. I swear she's better as a brunette or auburn but she insists on keeping it blonde. Before my wedding she had it refreshed by a professional and it complemented her skin tone then (looked great), but normally, not so much. I only see her a few times a year so maybe it has to do with fading.

STARMOON44 · May 2015

This is so not the point but your hair is so pretty brown! I vote keep it

. Personally dying my hair completely changed the texture in really nasty feeling ways and 2 years later it still hasn't grown out.

FiancB · May 2015

Aw shucks.

I do get told I look like Kat Dennings a lot so maybe I'll kind of go with how her hair looks in The House Bunny.

I had the idea of progressively getting highlights a while ago, but I am lazy and don't go in often enough. I don't think I've had a haircut in a year

Obviously if I want to maintain blonde for any length of time I need to change that, but most likely I'll dye it, maybe touch it up a time or two, and then go back.

Would it be smarter to go with semipermanent or permanent?

theartistformerlyknownas · May 2015

FiancB said:
Aw shucks.

I do get told I look like Kat Dennings a lot so maybe I'll kind of go with how her hair looks in The House Bunny.

I had the idea of progressively getting highlights a while ago, but I am lazy and don't go in often enough. I don't think I've had a haircut in a year Obviously if I want to maintain blonde for any length of time I need to change that, but most likely I'll dye it, maybe touch it up a time or two, and then go back.

Would it be smarter to go with semipermanent or permanent?

There's no such thing as semi permanent bleach - once your hair is lightened, it'll need to be dyed or grown out/cut off to go back to dark.

FiancB · May 2015

Oh yeah, I meant follow up dyes. Because generally they bleach it and then dye it with something more ashy, right?

theartistformerlyknownas · May 2015

FiancB said:
Oh yeah, I meant follow up dyes. Because generally they bleach it and then dye it with something more ashy, right?

Not necessarily. They can lighten with varying degrees of "lift" - it's not necessarily bleached white to start with. Depending on how they lift you, you may not need toner.

When I went back from blonde to brown (so I didn't have to maintain blonde through pregnancy), she used semipermanent color so while it started out pretty dark, since it was dyed over the highlights has gradually lightened more toward my natural color, so it grew in with lots of variation and depth and no visible roots.

Look on yelp for a colorist with great reviews, or ask someone you know with great color for a referral. Maybe you could even go in for a trim and get a quick consult on what s/he thinks it would take to get your hair where you want it.

dolewhipper · May 2015

My natural color is the shade just before black (2), and I bleached it to the shade just before platinum blonde (11). If you want to go that light you WILL have to go through steps such as red, orange, gold, then finally blonde. Because I didn't go to an amazing stylist who knew what she was doing, I had to cut a lot of my hair off as well because it was so damaging. I loved my blonde hair, but it didn't make sense when my hair was literally falling out at the crown of my scalp.

I think doing a lot of highlights all over will give you an idea of what you're looking for. A good colorist shouldn't have to tone you; if they are, they're being lazy (or your hair lightened too fast and they didn't realize). Have you ever dyed your hair at all or is it virgin hair? If it's virgin hair keep in mind it will never get back to the color you have right now.

larrygaga · May 2015

My only real advice is maybe the contrast between your lovely dark brows and light blonde hair would look goofy. I would try to either lighten your brows while at the salon or buy some makeup to lighten them.

Not to full blonde, but maybe a coordinating softer brown.

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