Bleaching my hair. Can you help?

Before I ask what I need to, don't tell me not to this or to go to a salon, my mind's made up. :]

Alright, I'm doing a couple of pink streaks in my hair, therefore, bleach is a must. Do you think 40 volume would be ok to use for this, or should I try and get 30? I have really dark hair but 40 vol. is the easiest thing for me to get right now. I'd also love it if you could give me just any other tips on how to do this as well. It's a really small job and I don't see the point of going to a pro anyway.

Thanks.

Bleaching my hair. Can you help?

I had pink streaks in my dark brown hair a few years ago and the best results came from a packet of Loreal bleach (it's a like a shiny blue packet w/ the powder in it). Mix that with the 40 developer and apply with one of those color brushes, or i used to use a toothbrush even sometimes. I used foil to seal each streak %26amp; keep the bleach from touching any hair aside from the ones I wanted to bleach. leave the bleach in for like 10-15 %26amp; then rinse it out well. I would then apply Jerome Russel "Punky Colors" which I absolutely love (try flamingo pink)... leave it for however long it says on the container, then once you rinse that out, you might just want to apply a color safe deep conditioner for a good 5-10 minutes just to seal it all up. Good luck!

Bleaching my hair. Can you help?

40 vol is going to lift the most. However, for pink highlights to show, you're going to need to lift a LOT. And doing that by yourself, without professional help, can be dangerous. You don't want to discolor you hair if it doesn't lift evenly(especially if your hair is artificially very dark - GET professional help - cause if it's dark from hair color, it won't all lift the same color), or worse, you don't want to fry your hair and end up with breakage. Just suck it up and call a professional. If you only want a couple, salons usually have prices for a partial highlight - though, know that's only going to be about 5 or so foils - probably less than 10. I know this isn't what you wanted to hear - but it's better than paying for color correction or waiting for your hair to grow back out.

Bleaching my hair. Can you help?

I have always used Manic Panic bleaching kits. You can get this at sally's beauty supplies or a hot topic. They work on really dark hair. I also recommend picking up a really good conditioner when you are there. Try Biosilk for after care!

Bleaching my hair. Can you help?

Yeah 40 Volume will be quicker and make it lighter, BUT it is also terribly damaging to your hair. I mean lightening is bad enough but your asking for a real bad hair day with this one. I have had friends with dark brown hair do it with 20Volume, you can then place a plastic cap over your head to create a little heat, which will also speed up the process. But dont stick your hair under a dryer either. It does not have to be completely white to get a good pink in there, well I guess it depends on what kind of pink. A good friend of mine lightened to about a yellow orange, and had this HOTT Magenta on top. It was really nice.

Bleaching my hair. Can you help?

go to sally's beauty supply, tell them what you want to do, they'll look at your hair color and suggest the best bleaching products, $10.00 max! and if you dont wanna do that then get a 50 -80 volume, the darker the hair the higher the volume

Bleaching my hair. Can you help?

If you are bleaching, yes, use a 40 volume with a bleach like Clairol Basic White or BW2 (found at Sally Beauty). If you are doing only streaks, then after you apply the bleach, wrap each streak in a bit of aluminum foil so that the heat that is generated by the bleaching action is intensified and bleaches you out faster. Also, if you want it to work even faster than that, apply heat with a blow dryer or sit under a very hot lamp. Hope that helps.