TUTORIAL ☆ White hair, step by step

I was planning to finish this and post it yesterday, but things got in the way (things like lying on my floor screaming at my stomach to stop torturing me. I ate something bad). So I'm posting it now instead! It's time for...

Iro's white hair tutorial

★ INTRO ★

Each part of this tutorial will consist of a longer more detailed text, then I will make a shorter summary at the end. So you can choose how much you want to know ~

I've had white hair on and off since I was around thirteen. Apart from white I've also had every other color and hairstyle possible, but I've always gone back to white, grey or silver. It's been hell for my hair but I least I know my stuff when it comes to going through that hell and come out of it with a lovely color. Time for me to share this knowledge with you!

★ STEP ONE ★

Bleaching.

The key to any shade of silver, white or grey is proper bleaching. But you can not just bleach your hair five times in the same day and expect it to be done. This will severely harm your hair, and the color result won't even be that good.

The science behind it goes like this; when you bleach your hair every straw ”opens up” and lets go of the amount of color it can until the straw is closed again. This is what's harming the hair, but that's not the point I'm trying to make. The thing is, it takes around 1-2 weeks for the straws to close again.

So how do you bleach your hair to get the best result?

Simple, wait 1-2 weeks between every bleach.

The bleach I use is Schwarzkopf's L101 Silver Blonde Platinum Lightener.

(This comes with a silver conditioner. Do not use this if you want white, not silver/greyish hair)

Apply the bleach, then wrap your head in aluminum foil for best result, follow the instructions on the package.

I suggest you bleach your hair at least twice, even if your hair is very bright. The white dye will stick better if the hair is newly bleached. If your hair is darker, you need to keep bleaching every two weeks until your hair sort of looks like on the picture below.

Apply a good hair remedy after every bleach. There are recepies online if you don't want to buy one. Use a good conditioner with keratine in. Avoid all hairproducts with silicone, as silicone also has a bad effect on the color result.

★ STEP TWO ★

The last bleach.

When you only need to bleach your hair one more time to be done with the bleaching step, it's time to purchase some good toner. The Silver Blonde Platinum bleach comes with a conditioner with purple pigment in that will (eventually) give you silver hair. So you can use this if you want to, but if you want white hair, I suggest you stay away from this.

The white toner I use is Directions White toner.

Bleach your hair the last time, wash your hair with shampoo, not conditioner, and blow dry your hair. Directly apply the dye. Here, don't care what the instructions tell you, leave the hair dye in for as long as you possibly can. I usually set a whole day aside just to dye my hair.

When you wash it, don't panic. Your hair will be purple.

★ STEP THREE ★

Purple pain.

Now, when your hair is purple, you have two choices (depending on how damaged your hair is and how much more it can take before falling off):

Wait for the purple to fade, which it will after a few showers, or bleach your hair one last time.

Mine was way too damaged to be bleached again, so this is how I looked for weeks. Like a sunburned, purple mushroom. With temporarily terrible skin. But I powered through, dammit.

★ STEP FOUR ★

 Voilà.

Once you've bleached or tortured yourself through step three,

your hair will hopefully be white as snow! I've been living with purple hair for weeks, and this is my end result;

If I were to say something to sum this up, it would be that white/silver hair takes patience. A lot of patience. It's hard on the hair so you have to take it slow. But it's a kind of awesome haircolor, so it's worth all those weeks right?

★ STEP FIVE ★

Making it last.

Simple! Mix in some white toner with your conditioner each time you wash your hair and leave it in for a few minutes. This makes it last a lot longer. After a few weeks you'll have to re-dye it though (and possibly bleach it again).

★ SUMMARY ★

Bleach: Wrap your hair in tinfoil while bleaching. Wait 1-2 weeks between each bleach, keep bleaching until your hair is as bright blonde as it can be (see picture). I use Schwarzkopf's L101 silver blonde platinum bleach. Do not use the silver conditioner that comes with it if you don't want greyish hair.

Dye: Right after the last bleach, wash your hair. Do not use conditioner. Blowdry, apply hairdye. I use Directions white toner. Leave in for as long as you can, the longer the better.

Kill the purple: Either wait for the purple to fade, or bleach another time. Depends on how your poor hair is feeling.

Done: yes, you're at the end of your journey!

After work: Mix your conditioner with some white toner every time you wash your hair to make it last longer.

★ THE END ★

That's it! Now, I have to say this is what I do. I can't guarantee it will work for anyone, of course. But a few tips, tricks and guidelines are better than none, correct?

I'm going to make a video about hair too, when I figure out how to use the webcam on my new MacBook ( ´∙ ω ∙) 'til then, have a good weekend! Hugs and kisses ♥