It feels like only yesterday when I started experimenting with bleach and embarked on my Blonde Ambition journey, but it has been almost 3 years since and I've never looked back. People ask all the time how I do it and how I survive all the damage to my hair... what with all the bleaching and coloring. I'm gonna tell you how.


First of all, I don't get it done professionally, so I save up on costs. It's imperative to do your own research if you want to go the DIY route. I buy my own bleach powder (in tubs) and do all the processing at home. Honestly, I ask for help from people at home with the application because I don't have eyes at the back of my head and thank goodness they're more than willing to help me out in my hair projects.

Another thing I would like to point out (and this comes from experience!), do not ever try to bleach your hair consecutively. You're already killing it the first time, so you have to give it some time to rest like I said in my last Blonde Ambition post regarding how I bleach my hair. Previously I used to think having slow-growing hair was a curse, but now I count it as a blessing because my roots don't show up for some time, meaning it takes a while to warrant any touch-ups. So yay!

Again let's review... So usually after bleaching your hair, you get to a level 6, 7 or 8 depending on your hair color. You will be tempted to bleach it 1-3 more times to get to a 10. DON'T DO IT! I repeat, DON'T DO IT! Bleaching it again right away will damage your hair significantly. And I mean you'll get broken strands, itchy scalp, super dry hair... it's going to be a nightmare! So you need to wait at least 2 weeks to bleach it again in my opinion... and maybe do a 9% instead of a 12% developer. But then again, I'm no expert, just a hair color enthusiast. You can take my word for it... or not.

BUT WAIT... THERE'S A SHORTCUT!

If you can't wait to get to a 10... then by all means, go ahead and try to tone your hair!

Bleached Hair vs Toned Hair

How to do that? It's simple... just use a purple shampoo or a DIY hair toner. What I love about making my own is that I can treat my hair with KERATIN at the same time. It is very important to do so after bleaching. And I mean, it's a MUST!!! Now I'd like to share my most recent bleaching and toning experiment.

Available at Pretty Angel Shoppe

I used the CELLOshine Henna Wax Color as a treatment for my bleached hair then mixed with the purple semi-permanent color to create my own hair toner. Just like this:

Home-made purple hair toner

Apply this to newly bleached hair to tone down the brassiness (that yucky orange color!). Leave it there for a good while. How long? I don't know. I just leave it on 'til it hardens on my head. LOL! It's up to you really.

Do-It-Yourself Hair Toner by MyMaria

It's that easy!

But if you're like me and blonde doesn't excite you as much anymore, then it's time to level up to GREEN hair! With level 10 hair, you can even use food coloring and it works... for a day or two. But I want something more semi-permanent that would last a week or more. So onto the next step...

Available at Funky Streaks

So maybe it's not green-green but I wasn't planning on becoming Joker. I was aiming for a more mermaid-ish color and Manic Panic recently came out with this new refreshing minty green shade called Sea Nymph that was just perfect for what I wanted to achieve. So yeah... what do you think?

That moment when you take a mirror selfie and all you see is #Tatsumaki staring back at you... 💚 as always, don't be deceived by looks... I may look well, but there's nothing like receiving your x-ray results with a confirmed diagnosis of pneumonia on your birthday. 😌Still very thankful for another year of life and blessings because if there's anything that a disease will remind you, it's that life is precious and you got only one! Gotta take care of this vessel so I can live a looooong and good life. Happy double 3 to me! 🎉 #bastaigatsikat

A photo posted by ✨💖💜MyMaria💜💖✨ (@bastaigat_sikat) on Apr 18, 2016 at 7:25am PDT

Photos above were taken indoors. And here is how it looks under natural light.


When sporting colored hair, I find that shampooing hair will allow the color to fade quicker so instead, I use the Keratin Hair Reconstructor One-Minute Treatment for Sensitized Hair which I got from Pretty Angel Shoppe at every wash to keep it smooth and healthy. Only when my hair is super flat and sticky, then I would wash it with Pantene Pro-V Aqua Light Clean Rinse Shampoo followed by the CELLOshine Henna Wax reconstructive treatment.


After a week of vacationing with sun, sand, and saltwater, I wanted to turn my mermaid hair project up a notch. And so it's time to cool down with a nice BLUE shade, hence, my favorite Manic Panic Atomic Turquoise came to the rescue!


The outdoor photo in natural lighting (above) vs the photo taken indoors (below) seem to look the same and not much of a difference in color. What do you think?


What about you? Are you planning on changing hair colors for the summer or have you done so already? If you have (or haven't yet), don't forget that using Keratin and other reconstructive treatments for the hair is VERY IMPORTANT... or you'll end up with dry and damaged hair. There are many affordable products out in the market that you can buy and use at home. You don't even have to go to the parlor to maintain a healthy, shiny... and beautiful colored hair!

Truth be told, going blonde wasn't one of the sporadic decisions I've made in my life because I had actually given it a lot of thought beforehand. It's not like dyeing your hair to a different shade of brown because as soon as your hair grows, those dark roots can be a tad ugly in contrast with your blonde mane. I'm blessed (cursed?) with hair that grows super slow, so that means it would take at least a month of growth before it looks obvious that it would call for a "retouch" of those roots.

It's 2015 and I'm still blonde!

You can read about my Blonde Ambition journey HERE, HERE, and HERE. First of all, you need to remember that it is a process. Blonde hair doesn't happen in one go, especially if you're a brunette. Because if you do that, you might as well shave your head since you'll be left with nothing but a mop of dead hair. Apparently, bleaching your hair is essentially killing it already.

TIP: Buying powder bleach in bulk comes out cheaper.

Because I'm all for DIY (do-it-yourself) projects, I found two ways to get rid of those dark roots without professional assistance. You can do these right at home. First, there's the typical bleach. I prefer using the powder one (the blue-colored powder) over any gel/cream/liquid/whatever is there. Some would add hydrogen peroxide to their mixture but I don't. I only use either a 30 vol. or 40 vol. (9% or 12%) developer/oxidation lotion for my solution. Bleach is the easier and fastest way to lighten your hair but know that you take the risk of damaging your hair.

Using powder bleach to touch up those dark roots.

Do remember to wear gloves when you apply this to your hair because bleach is pretty strong and it burns the skin. (It smells like pee, too!) Which is why it isn't really advisable to apply it on your scalp and you have to wash it off in just a matter of minutes. The results, however, are always satisfactory, at least for me since I have fine hair and it doesn't take much to get it colored.


Sometimes my hair gets too yellow or too brassy over time, so in order to get that particular shade of blonde which I like, either Pale Golden Blonde or Light Ash Blonde, I'd have to use my own homemade purple toner/shampoo/conditioner. (Read This!)


Another way to touch up those dark roots is by using the lightest hair color you can find such as the Palty Sparkling Blonde hair color or the above pictured super affordable Best Lure Joynna hair color in Fade/0.0 which costs only Php 40 from my local beauty supply store. Same drill as the bleach by mixing it with a 30 vol. or 40 vol. (9% or 12%) developer/oxidation lotion.

Using the lightest shade of hair coloring dye for dark roots.

For its price, you'd expect the cheap hair dye to smell like crap but not this one! I also tried the Best Lure Joynna hair color in Lightest Ash Blonde 11.1 and it really doesn't have any of that strong off-putting scent. In my experience, it doesn't leave hair dry but still don't forget to use conditioner or treatment when you wash it off. I like to use Cream Silk daily treatment + conditioner every day when I take a shower. But once a week I shampoo my hair and I reach out for my favorite shampoo/conditioner, which as of the moment is the white Palmolive one that's made for dull hair.


It gets my hair clean and doesn't leave it dry at all. It also seems to make my blonde hair shine all the more. And isn't that the whole point of having blonde hair?

Giving Rapunzel a run for her money.

One of the advantages of going blonde is that I can play with all sorts of temporary/semi-permanent  hair dyes, too. Bottomline is it's just more fun being blonde. Period.


Additionally, there are also a few more products that I use to keep it healthy and full of life. Devoid of its natural color, one would assume my hair is practically dead. But it doesn't have to be that way thanks to these products that I've discovered through SampleRoom and BDJ Box.


These are lightweight products that are suitable for fine hair. The Lucido-L hair supplements, the Curling Milk and the Treatment Oil, are products I never thought would do my hair any good. But I absolutely love them! For styling purposes, I needed just 2 drops of the Curling Milk to give my hair volume. I apply it on my damp hair then blow dry the heck out of it using nothing else but my hands. It's also a great setting lotion.

 
The same goes for the Vitress hair cuticle coats for times when I'm feeling glamorous and want a bit of wave/curl to my hair while protecting it from further damage with all the heat. The Cynos Moroccan Argan Oil is what I use after bleaching my hair because it does a superb job at preventing dryness. The rich argan oil easily brings it back to life and makes it shiny and soft, too! The Dove daily hair vitamins breathe life to my hair easily with no effort at all and leave my golden mane looking so naturally soft and shiny as you can see in the pic below.


As you can plainly see, for over a year now, I've been sporting this blonde hair and there's still no sign of brittleness nor split ends! (Or maybe it's too light that I can't hardly see it?) Can you believe it's been well over a year and a half since I got a pixie cut and my hair is still this short?!? So in conclusion, with the right products, one can get super shiny natural looking blonde hair that would make any Barbie jealous and without having to sell and arm or a leg, too. Tee hee.

French braids are so pretty.

Now that my crowning glory has grown a bit longer, I can start experimenting with different hairstyles again! Looking forward to more hair adventures this 2015 and also thinking of doing pastel hair soon. What do you think?

☞ CLICK HERE to read the first part of my Blonde Ambition and how it all started.☜