Use a natural shampoo and conditioner. Avoid products containing sulfates, which dry out your hair. Avoid chemical-laden hair sprays, gels, straightening products, and other hair products. Don’t apply heat to your hair with a straight iron, blow dryer, or other heating appliance.
A 3% hydrogen peroxide solution. Any higher than 3% and you risk hair loss when applying. Not fun! A clean, empty spray bottle. You can buy a new one at the drugstore, or use an old one. If you use an old one, wash it out thoroughly. If you’re going to store the peroxide, keep it in a dark bottle and away from light. Hair clips. Cotton balls. A towel. Gloves. Aluminum foil, if you plan to do highlights. Shower cap, if you plan to bleach your whole head of hair.
Condition well with a good natural conditioner. Bleaching your hair with peroxide can dry it out, and conditioner will protect it during the process. Let your hair air-dry instead of blow drying it. Pat it dry with a towel to keep it from dripping, comb it out gently, and let it dry for about thirty minutes. Hair that is a little wet will take the hydrogen peroxide better.
It is important to do a strand test because hydrogen peroxide may result in damage to your hair.
If you want a very even bleach, the claw clip method is highly recommended. It takes more time, but it looks more professional and it offers more even highlights. Leave the first section of hair that you want to treat down. You’ll unclip further sections as you go.
Wrap each hair section in a piece of tin foil to keep the peroxide from getting onto the rest of your hair. Repeat this process with multiple sections of your hair for all over highlights, or just do a few sections towards the front of your face for face framing highlights.
To avoid a blunt, horizontal line through your hair, apply the peroxide to a different spot on each strand of hair. You should still aim to apply it somewhere near the middle of the strand. You can go as far up the strands of hair as you want, but make sure to begin the application at your ends. This way the tips will be a brighter blonde and the color will fade to a darker shade as you move up towards your roots.
After you have finished applying the peroxide, put on a shower cap to keep the peroxide from dripping or touching your clothes.
Use your strand test to help you determine how long to leave the peroxide in your hair. You may only need a few minutes, or you may need the full 30 minutes. When you are ready to rinse, remove the tin foil or shower cap if you used them.
Add another coat of deep conditioner to your hair. Massage it into your scalp to ease any dryness or irritation the peroxide might have caused. Rinse it out with cool water. Allow your hair to air dry, then style as desired.
Your hair will become much lighter if you repeat this process in smaller doses every day for a week than if you use a whole bottle of hydrogen peroxide on your hair one night. The final color also depends on what color your hair was to start out with. If your hair is very dark, your peroxide-saturated hair might seem a bit more orange at first. Keep continuing the treatment and your hair should seem blonder.
It is best to use heat if you have bleached your hair with peroxide before and have a good idea of how it will turn out. If you are not sure, then avoid using a hair dryer. Go slow instead and see how the peroxide affects your hair as it air dries. [3] X Research source
