Expert tips on how to do it right, without damage.
While we love a good DIY beauty treatment, bleaching your hair at home does not fall into the same category as your beloved #SelfCareSunday face mask. This is one process that is typically best handled by professionals at the salon. Yet, times are a-changing and many beauty treatments that were once thought to be salon- or spa-only are now being attempted at home, including bleaching your own hair.
Fortunately, there are ways to go lighter — and do it safely. (And by safely, we do not mean using Clorox; that bleach is most definitely not meant for hair!) So for those who just can’t resist going the DIY route, we turned all of the tips, tricks, and expert advice you need to know about how to bleach your hair at home without damage.
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First things first: Is bleaching your own hair a bad idea?
Not if it’s done properly, Valles says. “When you are in the salon, colorists are careful to not leave in any hair lightening products for too long or use high volume developers that can cause damage,” she explains. “If you’re doing it at home, always carefully follow the instructions on the package.” That said, if you have dark hair and want to go platinum, you can’t reach that level of lightening with one round of bleach. Valles advises working your way up through different levels of blonde with enough time, ideally a few months, in between each bleaching to let your hair heal.
You ideally want to start with healthy hair before bleaching. Valles typically looks at the hair to make sure it’s not too dry, overly chemically-treated, and doesn’t have a ton of split ends. One way to prevent damage is to bleach just your roots instead of your whole head. “The roots are virgin hair that has not been chemically-treated,” she explains. If you’ve never chemically-treated or colored your hair, consider yourself lucky; you have a better chance of not damaging your hair if you decide to do a DIY bleach job.
