Trying silver hair, need help please!

Silver is really quite difficult to achieve and it really depends on your individual hair. I've never managed it myself; my hair is a neutral medium to light brown naturally and I can't get it light enough, but there are people on here with hair much darker than mine who have done it. Hair needs to be bleached to the same yellow as the inside of a banana, so very light indeed, and then maybe toned to white using a violet toner before putting on the silver dye.

The problem here is that you've bleached your hair at least twice in quick succession, and on of those was with 40 vol peroxide, which is unfortunately really quite dangerous to use; it should only be used for highlights and cause chemical burns, and is really bad for your hair. (Just because they can sell it doesn't mean it's safe!) The blonde dye you were given (did you use that?) probably contained peroxide as well, and the toner might have done too - if you have to mix two bottles of stuff together that's usually an indication that there's peroxide/bleach in the product you're using. If you used all the products, you may have bleached your hair four time now D: It's generally recommended to only bleach hair once a month at the most, and baby it a LOT between treatments.

So, what can you? For a start, check the condition of your hair, both now and in a couple of weeks. Bleach damage may not show up immediately. If it feels spongy or like chewing gum when it's wet, and is stretchy, then it's damaged. The ONLY way to treat this is to cut the damaged hair off  at least one inch above the damage. The rest of your hair will benefit from a reconstructor treatment like Joico K-Pak Reconstructor, or coconut oil also works well. Try to use shampoos that are free of sulphates (I'm sorry, I don't know much about what's available in Canada) and conditioners that do not have silicones in them, and avoid straightening completely and blow drying your hair as little as you can. Do this for a few weeks at least. When your hair has recovered, you can try a bleach bath, which involves bleaching your hair but diluting the bleach 50/50 with shampoo. This will not lighten your hair as much as a single full-strength bleach - it will probably go two tones lighter at the most - but you can do it more frequently than bleaching; up to once a week, but if your hair is already weakened by overbleaching you may want to stretch out bleaching a little. Keep a close eye on the condition of your hair, and use the reconstructor treatments in between bleach baths as well.

If you think your hair has gone light enough after all that, and it may take some time - it is MUCH better to take your time rather than have no hair! - try using a silver dye such as Pravana, which does not need peroxide.
Um...I think that's all I can say...!

Thank you for the quick response Tabitha!

So i did use the blond right before the toner, I just checked the listed ingredients, I don't know if it would be written on there, but I didn't see peroxide. As for the toner, it was an ''ash violet toner'' colour and I used it with a milk developer 6 vol peroxide ( the brand is Sol-fine if it could help). As for the condition of my hair, I didn't feel any difference while rinsing it last night than my usual hair cleaning stage, and at the end of all the torture from last night, I put on some argon oil (Moroccanoil brand) because I felt bad for it... Is it any good, should I go for coconut oil instead? I joined pictures of my current hair so you can see what I've done...

Oh and I would've loved to use Pravana hair products, but the only place I found them, would've cost me over 50$ CAD 🙁

Were the bottom bits of your hair dyed before you bleached them or virgin?

All virgin:)

Ah, I was going to suggest a colour remover if your hair was previously dyed but they won't do anything to virgin hair.

Also argan oil is good, you don't need coconut as well I think. But a good reconstructor will really benefit your hair like Tabitha blue suggested.

But basically do everything she suggested 🙂

Oh and if you can't get pravana easily then other direct brands also have silver colours. ( I'm not sure what's available to you.)

Okay I'll wait a few weeks i guess, don't want to scare my hair off my head hehe

Thank you both for the help, it is really appreciated!

Have a good one!:)

BTW the peroxide isn't included in the dye, it is in the developer lotion. The toner you used also had 6% peroxide which is 20 vol. Any dye that you have to mix has peroxide and is damaging to your hair.
Tabitha has given you great advice. Stop double processing and concentrate on getting all the orange out of your hair before trying to put the silver tones in. The secret to silver is a really pale even base. Even yellowy blonde will turn silver dye to ash blonde, you need to aim for platinum if you want a clear, cool silver.

Thanks Pixie, I will follow Tabitha's advice, it really helped me out to figure what the next step to ''not so bad looking hair''was. And yeah.. I don't really know much about all this stuff, should've went to the hair salon for this change, I'm starting to feel it was a very bad choice:(

Silver isn't really a beginners colour, but you are in the right place for good advice now. If it is any consolation, salons get this stuff wrong all the time. You can definitely get there yourself, you just need to go steady now to preserve the health of your hair.

Yeah you guys really help!! I should've just came here beforehand, i wouldn't have as many problems I think... 🙂

The key to shiny silver hair is taking it SLOW. Your hair is dark enough that taking it platinum with 40 vol (12%) developer in one go will render it dull, lifeless and the texture of straw--the 20 is definitely the way to go, although it will probably take you a couple bleaching rounds to get the lift you need.

I also recommend a good slathering of argan or coconut oil before bleaching, even sleeping in it for a night before going in for processing. It is especially helpful on those parts that you already bleached--if you are trying to create an ombre effect you will probably want to pull the bleach up vertically from the already lightened area with a tint brush so that it isn't such a harsh line.

My favorite toners for silver hair are T18 and T14 by Wella (T14 is GREAT to start your ombre as it creates a darker violet based tone--I do like to mix them a bit as I move down through the hair though) and works best with a 10 vol developer (20 is a bit high for the lighter tones and might burn out the subtleties). I also love the Silver toner by Directions because you don't have to mix it with anything, you can just slap it right on your hair out of the tub. Their Violet dye is also great for mixing your own toner (might not be the best for a beginner because the ratio of dye:conditioner needs to be pretty specific not to turn your hair purple) but it's great on a budget and lasts for ages, and gives your hair a pretty lavender tone that catches nicely in the light. Washing your hair with COLD water and purple shampoo will definitely help keep up the silver as well.

Good luck!

Thanks pug! sorry for the late reply, been pretty busy in school lately :$

Your advice will surely help me a lot! Since I never done bleach before I wasn't too sure on how to start,
my only references were on youtube hehe...
I'm really happy though, my hair hasn't let me down yet, doesn't feel like straw or elastic when I cleaned them.
I'll try and keep you girls posted on what's going on, hopefully I will be able to do things properly! 🙂

Sorry if my english might be bad at some times, I do speak french as first language hehe.