Okay so I have been on a mission to get white blonde/silver hair now for about four months.
What you need to know first.
If you like your hair, don't do it....
If you have long beautiful healthy shiny hair this isn't the look for you... You have to be willing if all else fails to chop all your hair into a pixie cut and dye it back to your natural colour while the bleach grows out, if this isn't something you can imagine or bring yourself to do - Hold the bleach!
If you don't like maintenance, either at home or at the hairdressers, don't do it...
If you are not willing to put in the time/money and effort for regular updates of this look, don't do it. If you do not have the money to do it, don't do it.
Do a patch test..
I know, I know, do as I say not as I do. I never do a patch test... But seriously if you are going from a darker colour or a red you must do a patch test to achieve this. You will need to know how long to leave the bleach for the initial pre-lightening stages.
If you want it straight away, think again!
This colour is hard to achieve, do not think you can watch a youtube video and achieve it overnight using bleach 1/2 times, and if you are concerned about walking around with yellow hair, don't do it. Chances are your hair will be yellow at the start.
So, my hair started off as a burgundy red colour that had washed out a little.
So I brought in a load of bleach. I used the Jerome Russell Brand from boots, as it came pre-packed with bowl. It was 40 vol peroxide and I left it on for 45 minutes.
This then gave me this golden retriever 'fag ash' yellow colour..
Fetching huh??
Thinking all my hair would fall out if I bleached again I left it fag ash toned for two days whilst I trawled the internet for a comprehensive guide on how to get white blonde hair.
The most useful piece of advice I found was before toning the colour down to a cool ice white or silver I would have to lift all the red out of my hair. (Which is what gave me the yellow tones)
Before I plucked up the courage to mix the bleach again I used 'Touch of Silver' purple toned shampoo and conditioner.
I also researched and bought (but wouldn't recommend for the price in the UK! !) Wella T18 white lady toner which I mixed with clairol 30 vol soy white peroxide.
I got the T18 from amazon and it cost me £10 excluding postage and the bottle is only good for one and use on medium length fine hair.
So I bleached my hair again using the Jerome Russel Powder Bleach and then whacked on the T18 mixed with Clairol's Soy White Complex 30 Vol Peroxide (Amazon).
I found that the Toner with the Soy Peroxide especially because I'd just bleached stung my scalp and left it quite sore for a few hours after rinsing - maybe that is just me though?
The purple shampoo (alone) didn't have a strong enough effect for me. But I waited for the T18 and initially adored it. (Apart from the pain mentioned above!) It banished all the yellow straight away and gave me the cool ash-y blonde tones I was after but not the white. However it washed out quite fast. The yellow didn't really "Come back" But my hair was definitely still a more golden than silver colour.
After this when my roots came through I bleached, again using Jerome Russell, and put just a Nutrisselightest whitest blond package dye I could find, as I was waiting for a delivery of the T18.
This did nothing for the colour but still left my hair a nice cool ashy blonde, but not the WHITE I desperately thought the box would give me!
I went through the toner process with T18 another 3 times, scared really to do anything else and putting up with an itchy red scalp for a while after the applications... before I found my perfect (and much cheaper) combo. Which is... (And gives me my hair colour today)
Jerome Russell powder bleach, Clairol 30 vol soy white peroxide (amazon) which I leave on my hair for an hour and it doesn't burn! (Which obviously being a bit of a wimp, I love!)
While its on my hair, I mix half a teaspoon of directions semi permanent bright purple hair dye (from a local shop £4) with my already purple conditioner. Rinse off the bleach and leave on my purple concoction for about 30 minutes.
I often find as well it is better to mix up too much conditioner and purple hair dye to avoid a 'patchy' look, as you can NEVER make the same mixture twice. So make extra and when you feel the colour is washing out, or your roots are coming through, or you have had a bit of sun exposure to your lovely white hair, use the conditioning masque purpleness!
OR - Just save it for next time.
Good luck
Be patient & let me know how you get on.
Another recommended product I've not mentioned is:-
Bleach London - Resurrect Hair Masque (Just for when its a bit tired)
If you have any questions please feel free to ask.
P.S - If you think - OMG her hair looks a bit damaged... Guess what? I've been continually bleaching for the past four months... Duh, I know it is damaged...
