How to Dye Your Hair Blonde

Dying your hair blonde, even if it is naturally brown, can be done at home.

Having golden locks can be had by going to a beauty salon and having your hair dyed blonde. The only problem with having your hair professionally dyed is the cost and time commitment associated with such a service. Using a box of hair dye, available at grocery, retail and drug stores can give you the color you want for a fraction of the cost.

Things You'll Need

• Box of blonde hair dye
• Rubber gloves
• Mirror
• Spray bottle with water
• Towels

Instructions

1. Trim your hair before dying to remove all damaged and split ends. This will help ensure your hair is in good condition prior to coloring it.

2. Wash and condition you hair the day before you will be dying your hair blonde. Do not put on any styling products or additional leave-in conditioner. You want your hair to be clean, but you also need to allow your scalp to recover from the process of scrubbing so that the blonde hair dye will not damage your scalp.

3. Mix the hair dye right before you will be applying the blonde hair color because once you activate the ingredients, the hair dye will only be usable for up to 48 hours. Wear rubber gloves when mixing the hair dye. Combine the peroxide and color together. Use a higher-volume peroxide, found at beauty supply stores, for darker hair. Higher-volume peroxide will lift hair to lighter shades compared to traditional hair-dying peroxide. Also use a high-volume peroxide if you have more than 50 percent gray coverage. Pour in to a pointed-tip applicator bottle and shake well to blend.

4. Comb through your hair to remove all knots and tangles. Part your hair naturally or where your style normally is. Put on rubber gloves before applying the hair dye. Apply the hair dye to your roots first, as they are the darkest part of your hair. Leave the hair dye on according to the manufacturer's instructions. You may need dye gray and dark hair for a longer period of time to allow the peroxide mixture to lift the hair to a lighter shade of blonde. After you have left the dye on your roots for at least half of the total processing time, pull the remainder through to the ends of your hair. Leave all dye on your hair for rest of the processing time.

5. Rinse your hair in lukewarm water and gently lather the hair dye. Wash your hair with a gentle shampoo to remove any remaining blonde hair dye traces from your scalp to prevent irritation. Use a heavy conditioner to saturate your hair.

Tips & Warnings

• Touch up roots as needed with the same mixture. You do not always need to pull the blonde dye through to your ends every time you touch up your roots.

• If you have dry ends, mist the ends of your hair with water before pulling the blonde color through to the ends of the hair.

• Know what the different terms for blonde dyes mean: ash blonde has no highlights associated with it and is more matte in color; light or golden blonde will have golden highlights and possibly pull red if you have dark hair.

• Always wear gloves when using blonde hair dye as the higher-volume peroxide can damage or irritate your skin.

• Flush eyes with cold water immediately if hair dye gets in to your eyes.

References

• "Marie Claire" magazine; Master Class: How to Dye Your Hair; Lizzy Dunlap; October 2010
• "Marie Claire" magazine; Find Your Best Hair Color; Genevieve Monsma; April 2011
• "Marie Claire" magazine; Same Girl, Different Hair; April 2011
• "Good Housekeeping" magazine; Best At-Home Haircolor

Resources

• Read this Article in Spanish