What made you start bleaching your own hair instead of professional?

The answer to the first question is money!  I've gone through phases in my life for a range of reasons of simply not having enough cash to afford a hairdresser.  When I started dying my hair aged 14 I certainly couldn't.  As a student I also cut my own hair (but it was all one length so I could get away with it).  I now just go to the hairdresser for a cut (I've got lots of layers and things in it now) - but will keep to colouring myself. 

I'm not sure about practicing - you can if you really want to - but to be honest I've always just gone for it.  I've also only started using a tint brush in the last 2 years (I'm 40) - before that I used to just slap whatever on with gloved hands.  Not good advice I know - but it worked for me! 

I always take the view - what's the worst that can happen?  Assuming you don't damage your hair to the point of it breaking off, then I don't see that it can be too bad.  My fall back position is if it goes horribly wrong I'll slap some black dye over it again to cover everything up! 

Good luck!

I've always, always coloured my own hair at home using box dyes.  Then I met this website 🙂 when I was going blonde and basically there was really no question about doing my own on a regular basis.

I've just been doing roots now, and I'm still perfecting my technique, but last time, I found that using an applicator bottle instead of an application brush was better for me.  Although I had to cut a bigger hole in the applicator bottle because bleach can get thick and block up the hole!  The application seemed to go a bit more quickly, and it felt as if I was colouring my hair instead of trying to brush the solution onto the roots and not get the sectioning just right.

Although I find that bleach is without a doubt much more difficult to work with than the box dyes I used to always use.  And the longer my hair gets, the more difficult it will be as well.  Well-oiled lengths helps prevent tangling when sectioning.

I'd say no need to practice, just plan the steps in advance, have a good look at your hair before you start and know exactly where you're going to apply, then just work as quickly and calmly as you can!

Try using a thick conditioner to practice, it is a similar consistency to bleach and you can see where you have put it. It is also much easier to practice on other people before trying to do your own hair.

I did it mainly because I could not find a salon that I was comfortable with, I went into several and had consultations and asked questions and just was not happy at all. I hate the salons here, I can't even get a decent trim. Had to walk out on my last trim with a stylist because the poor woman was shaking like a leaf with nerves!

I had bleached hair for friends before and it had turned out well so I figured it can't be that much more difficult to do my own.

I would say the biggest difficulty with bleach is applying it quickly and evenly. For your first time doing it you might be better off doing your hair in sections, as in mix your bleach, apply to one section, let it develop then rinse, mix more bleach and do another section.

price for me and not trusting what volume a hair dresser would use on me to get my roots to match

time yourself applying and sectioning because you will need to cover every part of your roots evenly and thickly plus have enough time left over for them to process enough so they match your lengths when toned. i usually spend about an hour (before even cracking open the bleach kit so when im done sectioning i can dye instantly and quickly) sectioning my hair into 20-30 conditioner/reconstructor mix ponytails wrapped up in cut sections of plastic bags so my roots are clearly visible even at the back of my head as i hate overlapping and getting my hair everywhere as loose hair being flipped about slows me down

For me, it was because a hairdresser had caused enough damage to my hair in the past that I had to cut 4 inches off. I didn't know much about hair at the time and trusted her to do her thing.

Now, I still go to a hairdresser I trust to do my roots, and she tells me exactly what she's doing, what developer she uses, etc. I can do my roots myself, but I like to go to the salon because I overlap sometimes and don't want to cause any damage. I'll never be not scared of damage, it'll always be a worry for me, but I feel like that's a good thing since worrying about it keeps me from frying my hair.

Certainly wasnt scared, because I was a professional.
To be fair I have learnt more out of the salon.

And of course I still have a Salon Services trade card, so I get trade price still.

My own hairdresser refuses to do it. She admitted I have more knowledge and leaves me to it.

A hairdresser wrecked 2/3rds of my hair and gave me a chem burn when I thought that going white is possible.

For the longest time I did my own but last week I went to a hairdresser to help me out. I basically needed someone to do all these messed up parts so I made a clear list of instructions of what to do, what to mix, what vol, how long and made sure to keep a very close eye on it.

She gladly cooperated with my and the result was better than anything I could achieve on my own specially because of all the odd lengths of roots and stains, though I did forget how does bleaching and not washing it off after 15mins in panic feels like 😛

Cost, basically. My hairdresser is great and took me from Colour B4ed dyed black hair to almost white, but he did it properly - over months, not days. But it cost a fortune!