Patchy Bleached Hair

Nope, stop right there, no more bleach and especially no t18 toner! Take it from me, your curly hair will not thank you if you over process it and the way you're going, you will.

Getting lilac hair from dyed red is one of the hardest things you can do. And bleaching it definitely isn't the way. Bleach is a last resort.

What you need is a colour remover. I'm not sure what is available from Sweden, but I'm pretty sure you can get them online. It might be a little pricey, but better than having to cut off your hair? 🙂

This will hopefully remove a lot of the brassiness and yellow/orange, but it might not and you really need to get rid of as much of that as possible to have any hope of lilac working. You might be better off going with a different colour plan. Is there another colour you're interested in?

Hey! First off thank you for answering! I am SO heartbroken right now, i was really looking forward to it (but I will get over it soon don't worry :P)

I have a couple of questions about the color remover. Since i already bleached it right up the the roots (almost) and they came out golden-yellow doesn't that mean that most of the permanent red hair dye is gone too? What does the color remover do? Why toner isn't good in my case to get rid of the brassiness? I know i ask too many questions but i am really a newiey here, sorry 😛

Second since my hair now is patchy with some dark brown (my natural hair color) wouldn't it be ok to bleach only those spots to make the color more even overall? There is no red left there.  Even if i won't do a full bleach, just the part that haven't bleached for a more uniform result.

Last I was also eying some of the red semi-permanent dyes from directions like Pillarbox or Poppy red, which I hope will be more vibrant than the reds I used to have without bleaching.

Ah, lilac! Why have you done this to me? I am still eyeing it pretty hard. 🙂

Since i already bleached it right up the the roots (almost) and they came out golden-yellow doesn't that mean that most of the permanent red hair dye is gone too?

No. It means it's bleached your natural colour, taken out some of the red, but left behind staining. Bleach isn't made to remove unnatural colour. It does it to an extent, but not well. What you have now is very typical of what we see when someone has bleached dyed red hair, we see it quite a lot!

What does the color remover do?

It shrinks dye in the hair. Some of what you have will be dye molecules and some staining, but it can remove both.

Why toner isn't good in my case to get rid of the brassiness?

It's not that a toner is bad, it's that your hair is far too orange for it to do any good (and even after another bleaching, I guarantee it will still be too orange/yellow). It is also that Wella T18 is harsh stuff, it's loaded with ammonia and that's hard on your hair.

There is no red left there.

The only way there is NO red there is if this is new growth since you last dyed. Otherwise there will definitely still be red there, it's just the brown is hiding it. If it is just the new growth, sure, you'll be bleaching that. Best to sort out everything else first though really. You don't want to have to keep overlapping.

If you want to get straight to red though, leave it as it is and bleach the roots very carefully so not to overlap just to even it out. Red is very vibrant over what you have.

Thank you for your advice Janineb! I will order a good color remover from Amazon and work from there 🙂

Hello, Swede here! You can find Colour b4 in Åhlens, Kicks and Öob! Much cheaper I think than ordering from another country. Also, take the extra strength one and read the instructions CAREFULLY. Best of luck 🙂

Thank you so much Snuflan!
I will look it up tomorrow (I live in Luleå and i am not sure if they have all the products here but I'll definitely look around).
Do you by any chance know how to buy bleach (not just Manic Panic from lyko) and developers in Sweden? I tried to order from lyko but it's like there is none and then i read somewhere that is illegal to sell these products in Sweden?
Tack i alla fall!

We can only buy bleach kits here, not developer and powder seperatly. Manic panic bleach is really strong, but I'm sure there are other bleach kits that are less damaging 🙂 especially if you're going to do bleach baths after the colour remover.

Just as a quick offer of experience. I went from dyed red and black go lilac, do you know how long it took me?

5 months. Please do not rush it, your hair will break if you over process and as above, T18 is a horrifically harsh toner, I've used it and id be very hard pressed to use it again as it caused damage and breakage for me.

Just as a quick offer of experience. I went from dyed red and black go lilac, do you know how long it took me?

5 months. Please do not rush it, your hair will break if you over process and as above, T18 is a horrifically harsh toner, I've used it and id be very hard pressed to use it again as it caused damage and breakage for me.

Thank you Mini! No, i am definitely not going to rush it, I'll still need my hair after this  *bee*
So you think it is better not to use T18 at all and just stay with the silver shampoo and bleach washes to get to the desired blonde base or to use T18 just with a lot or time between the bleaching so that the hair can recover a little?

it is better not to use T18 at all and just stay with the silver shampoo and bleach washes to get to the desired blonde base

This 😉

T18 really isn't the miracle product youtubers tend to let on that it is. If your hair isn't the right shade it's way too much damage for the effect it gives you. You hair needs to be quite pale or it'll do nothing, especially if there's orange tones. It is only made for yellow tones.

Can I ask (and that is the last stupid question I am asking I swear :P)  What is a good and gentle brand of bleach and developer to order from Amazon so I won't damage my hair any more?

I like blondor, Indola or Blondeme, they're all good quality bleaches.

Hey guys it's me again with an update.

So after i bleached it waaay back when i first posted i just let them rest with coconut oil treatments etc.

Today i used ColorB4 for the first time in my life (needless to say my hair smells like rotten egg) and it worked like a charm! It took out the orange tones from my hair and even the parts were there was still red dye because bleach didn't get to them, are now dark brown (my natural color).  You can see it in the picture even if it's not under natural light like the first pictures.

So now we have 1 Bleaching without the new growth and some other parts being bleached and 1 Colorb4 use.

And now the questions: Do i bleach the new growth and do a bleach bath to the rest that is already bleached or do i do a bleach bath to the new growth (since it's closer to the scalp and it will bleach faster) and then drag the bleach bath to the rest of the hair? Mind you i want to get the spots that didn't bleach because i didn't have enough bleach to apply to them.

Also, do you know a reliable source on Amazon were i can buy a good bleach like BlondeMe etc.  Because i took a look at the reviews and in many products they say that it is not the authentic one, and i don't want to melt off my hair completely (now that things are looking good). I live in Sweden and bleaches are not for sale here unfortunately.

Btw i am planning on bleaching or doing the bleach bath in a month period so my hair will recover from ColorB4 (yes, i am a chicken i know). It feels strangely soft though after the Colorb4 albeit smelly.  ;D