DIY Hair Coloring Dark to Blonde

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After recently losing a lot of weight and inches, I felt like spoiling myself with a new hair color! I wanted something nice and different without it costing me Salon prices! I really wasn’t thinking clearly otherwise I would have known going from deep red to blonde was not such a good idea with a cheap store color kit! I’ve done it in the past and it’s never worked out! But I was on such a high from the weight loss, and I wanted to knock The Husband over with a color he’d love, that I reached for that blonde hair dye kit. The results….not what I wanted! 

After an emergency call to a friend, I got all the information I needed to fix the problem and off I went to Sally’s hair care store to get the supplies and started to repair the damage. 

hair color supplies

 

Disclaimer: I am not a hair stylist, nor have I attended any official training. I have frequently dyed my hair at home and in salons for the last 15 years. This is just a tutorial of what worked for me, and I make no claim that your results will be guaranteed. 

Supplies you will need:

  • Salon Care Formula 40, $2.99 Big Bottle
  • Salon care Formula 20, $2.99 Big Bottle
  • Generic (purple) Conditioning Shampoo $5.49 
  • Quick Blue Powder-$19.99
  • Corrective Plus, Red Gold Corrective QTY 2 $1.88-small purple packets
  • Color Charm T14 Toner $4.79
  • Brush- $0.99
  • Bowl-$1.79
  • Gloves- box $5.49
  •  Ion Effective (qty 2) $1.98 (conditioner)

Total cost: $48.38 with a Sally’s preferred customer membership. 

And with these materials, you will be able to do more than one hair coloring session. Which makes the monthly Root treatments average out to about $4-7 a month. You will only need to get more of the small purple packets each month and a new toner about every 2 months. But the larger container products will last multiple months before they have to be replaced. 

 

Directions:

Step 1: You will want to follow regular hair coloring procedure. make sure you are in clothes that won’t mind if you get dye on them. Put conditioner or petroleum jelly around your ears and forehead line to prevent dye/bleach from dying or causing skin irritation. Always wear your gloves when working with hair coloring products. 

hair color supplies

Step 2: Mix Quick Blue with Formula 40 and add 1 of the purple packets. We are working on getting rid of all the red and brown tints in  your hair. Apply to your hair with the brush. For me, I started about an inch from the roots and got the rest of my hair coated with the bleach, as that is the part of my hair with the most red. Then I went back over and applied to the roots. Leave on hair a maximum of 60 minutes. 

Step 3: Rinse out with warm water until your hair is clear of the bleach. Wash with the Generic Purple Shampoo. Leave on for a few minutes before rinsing. This helps to reduce the red and copper tones in your hair. 

Step 4: If your hair was really dark or had a lot of red/copper tones in it, you will need to repeat Steps 2-3 again. As you see, after the first cycle of bleach my hair still had quite a bit of red and copper tones that needed to be eliminated. 

hair color supplies

Step 5: After you  have done 2 cycles of the bleaching it is time to move onto the toning. Mix about half of the bottle of toner and enough formula 20 to mix well and be enough to cover all your hair. Apply over your entire hair and roots and leave on for 45-60 minutes then rinse well. 

Step 6: Again use the Generic Purple Shampoo 2-3 times, leaving each one on for approximately 3 minutes to help tone down any left over copper tones. Then use the Ion conditioner and leave on your hair for 3-5 minutes to help repair all the crazy damage we just did. 

Step 7: Dry and style  as usual. You will notice your hair is a bit more dry than usual, and for me it actually held a curl for the first time in my life! It was quite a site. 

hair color transformation

As you see, it was quite a transition, going from my normal deep red, to the crisis after I used a cheap Box dye kit from the store, to the new and luscious Blonde color that my husband adores! I also love the new blonde color. The down side is like I mentioned my hair is a bit more dry, so you will want to ensure you have a quality conditioning shampoo and conditioner. And every few days you will want to wash your hair with the Generic Purple Shampoo to keep the reds and copper tones at bay. 

For the first few weeks, it will be a little difficult to comb through your  hair, as it takes time for your natural oils to return to moisturizing the entire strand of your hair. It will be very important that you use protective products on your hair when you blow dry or use heat styling products like a curling iron or flat iron. 
 

The benefits

  1. You didn’t have to spend a lot of money on a fantastic color!
  2. Your hair will now hold a curl! I put in hot curlers one morning and they were still just as tight ringlets that night. Normally my curls don’t last even 1 hour!
  3. You can actually go blonde from a dark color!
  4. You can color your hair in the privacy of your own home!
  5. Your left over products are great for your monthly root touch up routine, thus saving you even MORE money!

If you could dye your hair any color, what color would you go? 

Did you try out our “going Blonde” tips?

How did it work for you? 

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38 Comments

  1. You look GORGEOUS! Love it! I actually use a conditioner designed for “curly” hair, although my hair isn’t curly. Curly hair conditioner contains a lot of moisturizers since curly hair is usually dry and prone to frizzing, so that’s what works best for my bleached hair. And I use the purple shampoo every day to keep my cooler tones.

  2. Oh my, It is so good you knew who to call. I probably would have hid in bed or something. I have not been bold enough to colour my hair, even now the grey hairs are starting to show and I keep debating it….

  3. I’ve never had the urge to dye my hair but if I did I think I might just do some high or low lites. Nothing dramatic. But some of my girlfriends have gone dramatic without the proper tools and it’s always cost them more out of pocket to fix it. I think if I were to dye my hair for the first time I’d go to a professional. But I absolutely love your hair color now! Gorgeous 🙂

  4. You are beautiful in all 3 stages. If I could color my hair, it would be my natural color – dark brown. I’ve got quite a bit of grey, but the grey is in fun places so it looks okay. CL likes my hair the way it is so I guess I’m stuck.

  5. Wow – great tips! I don’t know if I can talk myself into a drastic change! I’m lucky I finally talked myself into highlights to help mask the *shudder* grays!

    Have a wonderful day!

    Kristie from VB

  6. Sweet! I love the finished product! You’d never know you weren’t born that way! And thanks for the warning about the boxes–I must admit I’ve been tempted to reach for the blonde ones!

  7. Wow! You look great and I’m incredibly impressed that you took the leap. Fantastic. I am currently a blonde who loves her (professional done) highlights and wouldn’t change a thing.

  8. Great Post, I definitely recognize some of those products from my own previous hair-tastrophies! Sally is definitely my favorite store to get all of my beauty supplies, and as a future cosmo student, I love love love this post! thanks for sharing and you are gorgeous!

  9. I color my hair but always stay the same shade – I don’t have the nerve to try something different. Thanks for the tips on how to avoid this mishap!

  10. 1 time in college i colored my hair and hated it. it looked so cheap… and it was! i vowed to myself that i would never color my hair ever again myself and leave it to the professionals!

    1. Oh jodi! I’m so sorry! I’ve done both professional and home coloring. I really enjoy the savings of doing it at home, and sometimes I just don’t have the time to get a baby sitter for hours while I go get my hair done. But when I can pull it off, I do really enjoy the luxury of having a professional do it too! But at least I know I CAN do it at home if a professional visit isn’t an option at the time. 🙂

  11. Great blog, always scared to “change” the color. Always color my hair with regular store products and stay the same. But glad to know if I want to change the color there is hope of doing it myself. Being a stay at home I prefer to do it myself and save the money. I love your “crisis” color but I understand, it was not what you wanted. I love the end product. Gorgeous!~ COngrats on the weight loss, you look beauiful! I bet you feel just as great as you look!

    1. Thank you Kathy! Yes, I am feeling really great with the changes! As I look at the picture the crisis color really isn’t that bad of a color, but you are right, when I wanted BLONDE that strawberry color just didn’t cut it. lol. Plus, in most lighting that color makes my skin look sickly.

  12. Love your results!

    I tried bleaching once… it sure didn’t turn out as well as yours … we’ll just leave it at that hehe

  13. I’ve been coloring my own hair at home for years and have had quite a few bad results in my time! LOL My problem is that I’m always trying for a drastic change rather than just trying to match my color or changing it just a few shades. I’ve never actually gone blonde though! I’m afraid that would just be a disaster! LOL

  14. Thank for the tips.I have tried to get my hair Blondel but I have never knew how to do it.I will be trying this.my hair Color is the same Colorado as yours

  15. Hi. Do you do all of this in one day??? I recently dyed my hair with a box color to try and get it close to my natural color, light/medium brown. I hate it, i cant see my hi lights anymore. Will this work over dyed hair too??

    1. I’m not a licensed hair stylist, so I can’t say the best corse of action for you. But yes, I did this all in one day. I had used a box dye and didn’t like the returns. Thus why I did this procedure, to correct how bad the box one looked.

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  18. Thank you for this post! I’ve been trying to go blonde after dying my hair dark burgundy and had it done professionally the last 2 times disappointed with the results so I did it myself using your tips and it turned out amazing!! Thank you for this!

  19. You are a goddess. Thank you for the amazing tutorial.

    I also am going from a dark auburn to a ash blonde. I thought this project would take a couple of weeks, and now it’s looking like a couple of days!

    My hair is dryer, but I’ve been adding a little coconut oil between bleachings, which has been a major help for my already dry hair 🙂

    Thank you again!

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