Coconut oil to prevent damage from peroxide/bleach

yes, if it suitable for human consumption then it is great for your hair! 🙂

Well, there are refined versions of cooking coconut oil that aren't any good. It does seem like any that set hard under 23 C are fine though.

I bought a small pot in Superdrug last week to try in my preperation for going lighter. I have put it in my hair twice and slept with it on in a shower cap and washed my hair normal in the morning, my hair feels great, but I'm thinking that my hair may not have been in as bad of condition as I thought, but I still think it looks a little dry at the ends, but I still will continue.
I'm just not sure that I'm getting enough on my scalp as I do have sensitive skin and another concern is the burns and scabs I've read about. But I'm hoping this will help.

What a fabulous thread!! I am so scared to bleach my whole head but I am trying this today and I will be posting my results. <3

Sooo with all the different colors on my hair (red, teal, purple, black) it's going to take a few more sessions to come to one uniform blonde. However, the coconut oil worked a treat. my hair felt great after rinsing and all of my non-dyed growth bleached out rather well. We'll see how it goes next time!!

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I've been dying my hair with a XXL Max Blonde box dye every 3-4 months for the last 3ish years as a base for vege dyes.

I read this thread and thought I'd give the coconut oil a go before bleaching this time round as my hair is pretty dry. Last weekend was the first time I'd ever used coconut oil before using the blonde box dye...and MY GOD it's incredible!!!

I only put on enough oil to cover my hair (wasn't dripping) and left it for an hour before dying with the blonde. I didn't have enough time to have it on any longer.

It was SOOOO much easier and quicker to apply the blonde dye, much easier than applying to dry hair. And normally it takes about 5-10 minutes before I start seeing my hair lightening....I'm not kidding when I say within 3 minutes my hair was already going blonde, and a bright blonde at that!

Normally when I put the blonde on top of faded vege dyes, it ends up being blonde on the roots, and a lighter shade of the vege dye...but not this time. For the first time I had a full even blonde that had no shades of any other previous vege dye and  the shade of blonde was the brightest and palest it's ever gone! I didn't need to tone it at all.

After blow drying, my hair was super soft, just like having conditioner in it. I put on Adore blue/purple mix afterwards and again application was much easier as my hair was softer. Once I washed out the vege dye, the colour was the most even it's ever been.

I'm so impressed and thank you, thank you, thank you for posting this!!! I wasn't expecting too much, but the results are incredible and I will be doing this every single time I dye my hair now  🙂

Thank you so muuuuch!!! *hugs*

I've just worked my way through this thread and it has made me feel a lot more confident about putting bleach anywhere near my hair for the first time in about 4-5 years.

I've done my max 3 Jo Baz's, going to leave it a couple weeks then go for my first bleach bath to lighten it more (without going completely bleached) to get the best out my colour, then whack my semi permanent on.

I know this has been covered a few times in the thread but to clarify for myself:

1) leave hair a good couple of days without washing to make it as dirty/oily as possible before starting
2) pop on coconut oil so it's soaked but not mega dripping, wrap in cling film to keep the heat in (hat on maybe as I'm in chilly Scotland!) and sit for at least 30 mins but ideally 1.5-2 hrs before starting bleach bath
3) do my bleach bath - I guess I'll just pick the stuff up in Sallys, probably start with a 20% (and let hair dry?)
4) dye straight away with semi permanent dye (also read that wrapping in cling film and leaving overnight will be better for less fade?)

Thanks guys, can't wait to try this!

When you say, "and let air dry?" I'm assuming you mean AFTER washing off the bleach bath? If so, sounds good 🙂 Only other thing I'd say, is leave the coconut oil for more like an hour then 30 mins.

When you say, "and let air dry?" I'm assuming you mean AFTER washing off the bleach bath? If so, sounds good 🙂 Only other thing I'd say, is leave the coconut oil for more like an hour then 30 mins.

Woo that sounds all good, thanks! I'm really looking forward to this now! 🙂

Over the past few years I had dye build-up (permanent box dye) on my hair.  First it was a dark brown and I ended up using black.  Although, I must say my hair looked beautiful and long, but I do have very fine hair.  I went to the hairdressers about 8 weeks ago, they put colour remover on my hair and after that they put bleach on my hair (the foil method).  My hair was ocay and the colour a nice brown with blonde highlights inbetween.  A week ago I went for the second time.  I also washed my hair that same morning, first mistake.  They did a full set of foils and put a toner on.  Lastly they blow-dried my hair and also straightened it straight after (again I have very fine, fragile hair).  Needless to say, my hair looks and feels horrible.  I have had so much breakage and my hair is unmanagable.  When I make a sleek bun on top of my head I have hairs standing up all around my head, from all the breakage I've had. My hair is also very "stretchy" from the bleach.  I am so disappointed for messing my long, sleek black hair up into not-so-blonde, dry, frizzy uneven pieces of hair.Anyway, I've done a few coconut oil treatments overnight and that seemed to help, although not alot, because my hair is severely damaged. I am doing another bleaching in about six weeks time.  You may think I haven't learned my lesson, but I need to finish what I started and I have spent SO much money on this not to see the end result.  I would like to try this coconut oil on my hair before the bleach, although my hairdresser is conventional, so I must convince him first. Do you guys think it will work well with the full set of foils.  They don't do bleach baths, but the foil-method. 

I am so sorry to hear what the hairdresser has done to your hair. It would definitely be a bad idea to use more bleach on your hair, although I understand you want to finish your style/colour, but if your hair was damaged any further it's likely you'll end up regretting it.
My advice would be to use a gentle non peroxide semi permanent on your hair to even out the colour and wait a few months before starting the process again. In that time you could buy Joico Kpak Reconstructor and some deep conditioning treatments to improve the condition before you bleach again. Then definitely use coconut oil before you return to the hairdressers.
You will find excellent advice re bleach baths on this site, maybe you could do that yourself if you don't trust your hairdresser?

If you decide to bleach again in a few weeks yes yes yes use coconut oil, if your hairdresser won't listen, I'd find another one that will. Then afterwards you'll need to use a reconstructor and deep condition your hair regularly.

Good luck xx

I am doing another bleaching in about six weeks time.  You may think I haven't learned my lesson, but I need to finish what I started and I have spent SO much money on this not to see the end result.

This is a seriously bad plan. You DON'T have to see it through. If you do, you'll have no choice but to cut off most of your hair. It sounds like you should have a seriously good cut as it is. You won't see the end result as you won't have enough hair left to see it!

Thank you Shelley and Janineb.  I have decided to give my hair a break and to try the Kpak Reconstructor on my hair.  I won't be bleaching for a while.

I'm attaching a before, after bleach and second bleach picture for interest sake.

Or what it's worth I think that honey brown looks beautiful on you and more flattering that blonde would be. Baby it loads, have a good cut and when you come to get the roots done in 3 months you can consider getting some of the highlights taken through the lengths to lift the colour a tiny bit. Definitely focus on your hair's health, though, because the colour is lovely.

Thanx Ilex. I'm going to give my hair a breather for a few months, luckily my roots aren't too dark.xxx

I'm going to be using the coconut oil for the 2nd time today. I'll leave it on for a couple of hours before bleaching my roots, hope it works as well as last time! I'm normally in a fair amount of agony when I bleach, my scalp bleeds (only using 20vol peroxide) and I have scabs for weeks. But last time it was reduced to just a tingle.  *yay*

Fingers crossed!!