Bleach to Level 8/9 Blonde

How long did you l abe the bleach on and how dark is your hair naturally? I don't know that bleach, but it looks like you need a better one with a 10% peroxide.

T18 is generally for very pale hair, more like level 10-11 to tone it to a pale ash blonde or even white. What result do you actually want?

I would forgo the wella timers all together, they're harsh and you can get as good results with silver shampoo, even on level 8-9 hair.

How long did you l abe the bleach on and how dark is your hair naturally? I don't know that bleach, but it looks like you need a better one with a 10% peroxide.

T18 is generally for very pale hair, more like level 10-11 to tone it to a pale ash blonde or even white. What result do you actually want?

I would forgo the wella timers all together, they're harsh and you can get as good results with silver shampoo, even on level 8-9 hair.

I let it sit on for 25 mins, the last 5 mins I did the roots.

In the past I used to dye my natural hair with L'Oreal Superior Preference Permanent dye in Champagne Blonde and it looked like the pictures below. I want to get back to that shade of blonde - the last two pictures below.

Here's a list of what I've done so far:

Natural hair + L'Oreal Superior Preference in Champagne Blonde (Feb '17)
---decided I wanted to go brunette
Used a red color filler + brown semi permanent dye (April/May)
---after about a month, decided I wanted to go back blonde
Used Color Oops and it turned a reddish/orange-blonde (June)
Covered that with an ash demi permanent and it took out the orange and I was left with a shade a little darker than my natural color (the first pic below)
Then I bleached it today

Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Not sure where I should go from here as I'm new to bleaching.

Ok, color oops isn't great and it's damaging, try color fix. You need to try and remove as much of the dye as possible so you can use that up to three times to get the maximum payoff.

25 mins isn't all that long. Is that the time the package of bleach powder stated?

Ok, color oops isn't great and it's damaging, try color fix. You need to try and remove as much of the dye as possible so you can use that up to three times to get the maximum payoff.

25 mins isn't all that long. Is that the time the package of bleach powder stated?

Forgot to mention that I did the red color filler + brown semi back in May, so the only part of my hair that still has the color filler is the middle section, at the very ends; where it's longer. Since I have a pixie the red color filler has been trimmed from the sides/back.

Were you suggesting using Color Fix to remove the color filler + semi brown, or do you mean use it to remove the ash blonde demi? I used the ash blonde back in June, so that one is still in my hair.

I thought bleach would be strong enough to remove a semi/demi dye, but I'm not sure? Sorry for any confusion, I modified my last post with the months when I used everything.

And yes, the bleach said you could leave it for up to 30 mins. Since I've never bleached before I got a little nervous near the end and washed it early!

Forgot to mention that I did the red color filler + brown semi back in May, so the only part of my hair that still has the color filler is the middle section, at the very ends; where it's longer. Since I have a pixie the red color filler has been trimmed from the sides/back.

Yeah, but you still need to remove it from the hair it's still on before moving on. Or at least, as much as you can.

Were you suggesting using Color Fix to remove the color filler + semi brown, or do you mean use it to remove the ash blonde demi? I used the ash blonde back in June, so that one is still in my hair.

Everything really, you need a clean slate as much as possible.

I thought bleach would be strong enough to remove a semi/demi dye, but I'm not sure? Sorry for any confusion, I modified my last post with the months when I used everything.

It's a common misconception. Bleach isn't designed to remove dye/tint. It can, but it very often doesn't and rarely effectively. That means your hair can be getting lighter and lighter but it's disguised by the dye that isn't being removed. Which means your hair is getting more and more damaged with no result showing.

And yes, the bleach said you could leave it for up to 30 mins. Since I've never bleached before I got a little nervous near the end and washed it early!

That's interesting and not something I've seen before. Makes me think it's not designed for lifting hair several levels, but I might be wrong.

Ah, that makes sense! Thanks!

Ok, so I'll color remove and then see what shade it is then. How long do you think I should wait before color removing? 3-4 days for oils to build up?

You can do the colour remover straight away and one after the other! They're drying, but use a good conditioner and you'll be fine. They need super clean hair as well, so wash with a clarifying shampoo and DON'T condition. Dry it and then you're ready. As it has no ammonia or peroxide the cuticles need to be as clear of dirt as possible so the remover can get under (peroxide lifts the cuticle so the bleach/dye can get into the hair!)

You can do the colour remover straight away and one after the other! They're drying, but use a good conditioner and you'll be fine. They need super clean hair as well, so wash with a clarifying shampoo and DON'T condition. Dry it and then you're ready. As it has no ammonia or peroxide the cuticles need to be as clear of dirt as possible so the remover can get under (peroxide lifts the cuticle so the bleach/dye can get into the hair!)

Ok, so I washed with Head and Shoulders, blow dried, did the color remover, and then followed up with a protein complex and then a deep conditioner for an hour. I can definitely tell that the color remover worked! It's a lot more yellow than orange now - Thank you!! What do you think I should do next? I was thinking color remover again or maybe try purple shampoo?

That's good. But get a clarifying shampoo. Head and shoulders is pretty good for cleansing, but you need to make sure any products are completely gone as some can really linger. I would try another colour remover though.

Once you've done that I think you'll need to do a bleach bath or two to get the shade a bit lighter. You need to leave it a week after the colour remover and really you should leave it until it's been a month since your last full bleach to make sure there's not too much damage from it. At which point purple shampoo should get you there 🙂

That's good. But get a clarifying shampoo. Head and shoulders is pretty good for cleansing, but you need to make sure any products are completely gone as some can really linger. I would try another colour remover though.

Once you've done that I think you'll need to do a bleach bath or two to get the shade a bit lighter. You need to leave it a week after the colour remover and really you should leave it until it's been a month since your last full bleach to make sure there's not too much damage from it. At which point purple shampoo should get you there 🙂

Ok, thank you so, so much for all the help! I'm going out to get some more color remover, clarifying shampoo, and purple shampoo today! Do you know if purple shampoo alone would get me to the shade I want (the shade I used to have with the L'Oreal Champagne Blonde) or would I have to use purple and a dye? I guess it might be too early to tell?

The purple shampoo will be fine if you want ash tones. If what you actually want is warm tones, then you might need a dye, but NOT a permanent one.

Hi again! So I did the color remover a few weeks ago and am ready to start bleach washing. I included some pics of what it looks like now, both outside and inside (since it's definitely more orange outside, but looks blonde inside). I didn't notice much of a difference after doing the color remover for a third time, and the orange color is everywhere, so I'm thinking there isn't any color left to remove and the orange is from the bleach.

So a bleach wash is bleach and 20 vol in a 1:2 ratio and then diluted with white shampoo (I think equal to the amount of bleach/developer mix). Then leave it on for 20 minutes or maybe you'd recommend longer or less time? Do you know how long I should wait before doing the second bleach wash, if I need to?

The bleach wash sounds a bit like the bleach bath, although the ratio is a bit different: instead of 1 part bleach powder on 2 parts developer, it would be 1 part bleach, 1 part developer and 1 part shampoo. At least with my bleach it's like that.

Bleach baths should have at least a week between them, but lets face it: the longer the better. Still bleach, still need to baby your hair.

As for the time: I would just check regularly and keep the max. time of the bleach in mind. My hair flared up quite fast so perhaps you don't need that much time. Looking at your current hair colour, that could be the case.

The bleach wash sounds a bit like the bleach bath, although the ratio is a bit different: instead of 1 part bleach powder on 2 parts developer, it would be 1 part bleach, 1 part developer and 1 part shampoo. At least with my bleach it's like that.

Bleach baths should have at least a week between them, but lets face it: the longer the better. Still bleach, still need to baby your hair.

As for the time: I would just check regularly and keep the max. time of the bleach in mind. My hair flared up quite fast so perhaps you don't need that much time. Looking at your current hair colour, that could be the case.

I thought a bleach bath and wash was the same thing - so thanks for clarifying! I'll probably do a test strand before bleach washing everything just to get an idea on the time. The goal is to get my hair from an orange to a yellow color, right? That way I could then dye over it with a level 8.5? Thanks again for the help!