Bleach Bath tutorial - with pictures!

[Janineb]

I agree. It'll also just mask the colour and make it look less brassy than it is, but it won't do all that much to tone, if anything. Use it after and use a cheap shampoo for the bleach bath.

[Emmer1321]

I didn't think about it masking the color, duh, lol. I'll just stick to my cheap suave shampoo.

[jenibluebell]

Thank you for this its brill
Im attempting my first bleach bath next week following posts here
Xxx

[misfitmorgan]

Do you absolutely have to use shampoo to do a bleach bath? I co wash only and havnt had shampoo on my hair for about 4years. My hair has never gotten really greasy and frizz's which is one of the big reasons i co wash only. i would prefer not to use shampoo if possible and prefer to use a co wash, no idea how this would work though. My hair is 2B but because it is so very very long the weight of my hair pulls out a fair amount of the curly/wave so i might naturally be a 2C.

[Janineb]

It doesn't really make any difference at all. Shampoo is just there to dilute the bleach, it's the bleach doing any damage! I tried conditioner once and it just made it more difficult to work with in my opinion. But it certainly didn't change the amount of damage done by the bleach (which is minimal with the bleach bath anyway).

[misfitmorgan]

Thanks much!

[Lrraa]

Thanks for this tutorial! I'll be attempting my first bb soon. But I was wondering if anyone could help me with a maximum time to leave the bleach in? I bought bleach powder and a 9% (30 vol) developer, but neither specify how long to leave it in for. The woman at the shop said I could "easily leave it in for an hour" but I doubt that as it seems quite long.. And also, do I need to use clarifying shampoo or does a different shampoo work as well? This because nowhere in my country seems to stock clarifying shampoo :s

[Odette]

So I most likely have to do this after the colour remover, not really sure as I have no idea how the colour remover will work out. Regardless, I have quite long hair and I'm unsure how to do the bleach bath with long hair. Is there a tutorial of any sorts how to do this with long hair?

[lauralei13]

Make sure not to do your bleach bath immediately after your colour remover, you need to give it a few days and wash your hair a few times in between or the colour remover's effects can be undone by your hair re-oxidising.

What are your concerns about doing it on long hair? Is it about which parts to do first? (Usually do your roots last, the heat from your head makes the bleach work faster)or how to section it? (or something else?)

[Odette]

Yeah, I was planning on that. As I don't know what the colour will be after the first round of colour remover, I have to wait anyway as I have to decide to go further with the dark shades version or to get the one for medium-light shades. For that same reason I don't know yet whether I have to bleach bath at all. The colour remover I use has surprised with how much colour it removed. It never goes back to my true hair colour as the peroxide in box dye has an lighting effect.

But for your question: Actually both. I know I have to do my roots last because of the heath, but I'm not sure how to sections it and what to do first. Thanks in advance! ^^

[lauralei13]

That's right, it will always take you back to the lightest your hair has lifted to, so even dark dyes lift the colour slightly!

I guess it depends on how thick your hair is and if you are doing it yourself or have help. I usually tie the top of mine up and part the bottom section down the centre as though I'm about to make pigtails and do the lengths by pulling them to the front, then I let the top part down and do the same with that, but my hair is quite thin!

[Odette]

I have a medium thickness, with lots of layers, thanks to some hairdresser who butchered my hair and bangs. I usually see tutorials with long hair but absolute insane treatments (40 vol. smashed in to it, multiple bleaches in one day...) or good tutorials but way shorter hair. I understand what you mean and that will probably work due to the massive amount of layers! Thanks!

[Elastic Heart]

I am eternally grateful for this tutorial! After butchering my hair with straight bleach I had essentially decided to just keep it dark, but after getting it lighter than expected with ColourB4 I decided to have a go with a gentle bleach bath to see if it would lift to blonde-ish. I am now a light blonde! And it's in good enough shape I'm even considering another bleach bath (after a lot of conditioning, of course - this girl has learned her lesson!) to see if I can make it to platinum-ish. I also found out that my roots lift from natural light brown to pale yellow with just a bleach bath, which is awesome! That will save both hair health and money. Daenerys-hair here I come.

Does anyone have any idea as to how long I should let it work? My darkest bits are at a gold stage, whereas the rest is yellow-gold and yellow, with light yellow at the roots and some stripes. I want it to get to yellow at least, preferably a pale yellow, but as long as I get rid of the gold bits I'd call it a day if my hair health requires it. As I use a box kit I don't know exactly what strength the peroxide is, but I'm assuming 20 or 30vol as it took my light brown hair to pale yellow when diluted. I know it's individual and all but a pointer would be nice. Last time I bb'd I left it on for fourty minutes for two/three shades of lift, but then I had lots of stubborn orange in it, so it might be overkill when it's this light already.

[maligreen]

Thanks so much for this tutorial! I'm not brave enough to try it yet but I'm going to keep reading and thinking