I have already warned hubby he is probably going to have to help if I am going to do it. He wasn't thrilled but agreed.

I am naturally a brunette and I probably want something very similar to my color, which is another thing that scares me.

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Sarah & Stella, thank you so much for advice.

Stella, what is a "bleach bath"? I've never used bleach in my life, I'd be scared.


Amy, so your hair is naturally brown, but right now you are blonde because of
the highlights, and you wish to go darker? Right? If that's the case, be careful,
I read/heard somewhere that if you put brown color on dyed blonde hair it might
turn green. You have to do it at a salon because they need to add red to the
brown, or something along those lines. Just research before you do like me and
just buy two boxes at Walmart. It's always best to go to a salon if you can, at
least for the first time, so they do it properly.

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A bleach bath is a way of lightening your hair gradually, to minimize damage. It is basically bleach mixed with a low volume peroxide (I use 20 vol) then diluted further with shampoo, about 2 parts shampoo to each part of the bleach mixture. This is then applied very quickly to the hair, rather than the slow application of regular bleach which inevitably leaves the parts that get done first over processed. It is only left on for up to 15 minutes, then rinsed off. If coconut oil is applied before the bleach bath, it causes very little damage, and you can bleach bath once a week until the hair is the desired shade.
I would only use bleach baths as a last resort though, colour removers are safer and gentler.

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Stella you are so savvy regarding color. Does it have anything to do with your work?

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Not at all, I'm just a keen amateur! I don't trust hairdressers at all, so have always done my own hair, both cut and colour. I did train as a Beauty Therapist many years ago, before I did my degree, and learnt a lot of hairdressing theory then.
I am a college lecturer by profession

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Very interesting!

Well, thank you for sharing your knowledge, I learned a lot.

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Post a pic so we can all tell you how good it actually looks! C'mon!

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Aw LS I bet it looks good! Would love to see a pic.
I have been thinking of going a strawberry blonde, to see how it looks for something different.

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