How to Dye Your Hair Back from Black to Blonde

Dyeing from black to blonde involves multiple steps.

Dyeing your hair to a much darker color can transform your look and boost your confidence. The flip side is that dying it back to its original color is a tedious process. Going from black back to blonde, for example, requires thorough conditioning prior to actual coloring. Failing to take the dyeing process step-by-step can result in fried and discolored hair. Take your time--even several days--to complete the process, and you will be back to normal in no time.

Things You'll Need

• Scissors
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Low pH hair conditioner or cholesterol cream
• Hair dryer
• Latex gloves
• Blonde hair dye
• Lemon juice
• Skin lotion

Instructions

1. Cut your hair. Trim your locks yourself, or have them trimmed by a trusted hairdresser or barber. It's easier to dye shorter hair.

2. Strip your hair of black color using a natural process. Heat up a bowl of extra-virgin olive oil. Put on latex gloves and carefully work the oil into your hair with your fingers. Apply oil to all areas of the hair. Let the oil sit on the hair for 10 to 15 minutes before rinsing. Rinse with hot water. Heat from the oil will open and expand hair follicles.

3. Strip hair color with an over-the-counter product--a low-level pH hair conditioner or cholesterol cream. Follow product instructions and saturate the hair. Put on latex gloves and scrub the conditioner into follicles and the scalp with your fingers and nails. Rinse with hot water. Carry out step two and three to strip as much of the black as possible before dyeing.

4. Dye your hair with a product in a shade of blonde that contains bleach. Protect your hands with latex gloves and apply the dye across the front of your hair line and along the part of your hair. Work thick lines of dye into your hair every 1/4-inch for total saturation. Work the mixture thoroughly into the hair. Allow the dye to sit for the recommended time printed on the package instructions, and rinse with warm water. Be sure to rinse all the dye out of your hair.

Tips & Warnings

• Carefully read and follow instructions on all the packaged products you buy.

• Wear a protective smock over your clothing when you dye your hair.

• To remove dye from your skin, combine three to four drops of lemon juice into a splotch of skin lotion, and then rub the mixture on your face or hands where dye may have dripped. Lemon juice has a peroxide effect that will lighten and eliminate the dye color.

• Do not apply oil to your hair if it is too hot to touch.

• Be sure not to get any of the chemicals you are using in your eyes.

References

• Mooky Chick: How to Dye Your Hair Blonde
• Hair Coloring Guide: Hair Color Removal
• Garnier USA: Nutrisse Hair Color Videos

Resources

• Read this Article in Spanish
• Garnier USA: Going Blonde: Ten Golden Rules