Going from super dark hair to blonde hair is a task in itself. I’ve learned a lot about the blonding process over the 10+ years I’ve been maintaining my blonde. Some things are obvious to avoid, and others aren’t.
After years of living my best life as a Blonde Asian, it felt like time to talk about the things people don’t really say out loud. Especially if you have super dark hair, want to go blonde, and are willing to keep up with it. These are a few of those things.
Not Eating Before an Appointment
This isn’t totally obvious at first. When I first went blonde, it was on a whim after years of gradually lightening my hair. My appointments went from about an hour to closer to three and a half hours, but that shift happened slowly so I didn’t really register it.
Then one day I was sitting in the chair and realized I looked like death warmed over. It hit me that I hadn’t eaten at all that day. And then I kept making the same mistake. I’d go to work, head straight to the salon, and nearly pass out.
Now it’s something I’m aware of, but I still don’t always get it right.
Washing My Hair Right Before an Appointment
I made this mistake before my first scalp bleach. At the time, I was working as a choreographer in a non-air-conditioned space. This appointment was supposed to be my first maintenance visit with my current hairdresser, and I was disgusting after being in that heat all day.
So I went home and took a quick shower. I figured, after going through a full color correction, washing my hair before a scalp bleach couldn’t be that big of a deal. Right?
Wrong.
The initial tingling that comes with bleach was definitely amplified. Nothing went wrong, but I really felt it.
By washing my hair that day, I stripped away the oils on my scalp that act as a barrier between your skin and the chemicals. I was trying not to be gross for my hairdresser, but in this case, that probably would have been the better move.
Not Saying Anything About Discomfort from Bleach
When you’ve never done a scalp bleach before, you don’t really know what to expect. My first time was during a full correction, so I had no baseline.
There’s a tingle. That’s normal. In my case, it was normal, but I still spoke up immediately and told him what I was feeling. He talked me through it, and by the time we were done talking, it had already subsided.
I was definitely hyper-aware of it, but I’m glad I said something anyway. Because there is always the chance that something isn’t right.
If you don’t know what you’re feeling, just say it. It’s not worth pretending you’re fine and risking actual damage.
DIY Anything with Bleach
This should be obvious, but when you’re broke, in college, and suddenly have a free day, things can happen.
At this point, I still had black hair. I got called off work and decided I wanted to be a little more fabulous. All my Caucasian friends were using highlight caps at home, so I figured it couldn’t be that different for me.
Insert LOL.
I went to Sally’s, bought what they bought, and went for it. Those employees absolutely knew what was about to happen, and I wish they had stopped me.
I knew it could go badly, but I did it anyway. I did a terrible job pulling my hair through the cap, and the bleach bled through. Somehow it must not have looked completely awful, because my mom didn’t say anything.
If I had followed some of the advice I was seeing from other Asian girls online at the time, I probably could have fried my hair. I’m honestly lucky I went with a lower developer.
This is not the place to experiment. There are way more ways for this to go wrong than right.
Getting Blonde Is One Thing. Staying Blonde Is Another
I still mess some of this up. Eating before my appointment is the one that gets me the most. My appointments are usually on Sundays, and I stay up late on Saturday fussing over this blog. Then I wake up, get myself out the door, and deal with it later.
The difference now is that I actually notice what I’m doing. Before, I was just showing up and letting things happen. Now I pay attention, even if I don’t get it right every time.
Some of this is obvious, some of it isn’t. Either way, it adds up. Once you’ve been through it enough times, you start to understand what actually matters and what’s just you being careless.
Leave a Reply