How to go from black to blonde?

October 28, 2008 8:24 PM

Halloween hair filter: How to go from black to blonde?

I've got naturally super-dark black, shoulder-length hair, and one of my halloween costume ideas would be better if I was an overprocessed blonde (*cough*). Are there any hair products that could do this temporarily? Like a spray-on blonde? Also, I'm not totally opposed to being blonde-ish for a while: how bad of an idea is bleaching a top layer of blonde highlights into black hair? How would I go about it?

I have little sense of costs of things like wigs, hair bleaching, color spray product etc., so I'm interested in costs of these options, likewise, in making my decision. Thanks!

posted by NikitaNikita to clothing, beauty, & fashion (13 comments total)

As far as temporary blonde goes, you could perhaps bleach the color out of your hair, dye it blondish, then either wait for it to grow out (will take time, obviously) or dye it black again (will really mess with your hair.)

Frankly, I wouldn't dye it. It's going to look bad unless you want to put down some cash for it, and do you really want to put such an investment into Halloween? I would pick up a wig from a costume shop.
posted by Solon and Thanks at 8:33 PM on October 28, 2008

Wig, yeah. My hair used to be super super dark black, (now it's just kinda brown), but attempting to dye it blond (2x?) was probably a mistake... it took hours to get to a kind of sickly yellow.

I second finding a nice wig. It might be pricey but I think it would be worth it vs. dyeing your nice hair.
posted by bitterkitten at 8:40 PM on October 28, 2008

Go wig. Do not attempt to lift black hair to blonde in one step for a costume (or actually, for any reason). Even if you had it done in a very good salon, it will wreak havoc on your hair.
posted by sfkiddo at 8:43 PM on October 28, 2008

Definitely a wig - then you can be blonde whenever you want to. Going from very dark to blonde can be a hit or miss affair - better to have a color you like for the night than one you hate for a long time.
posted by The Light Fantastic at 9:18 PM on October 28, 2008

There are some really cheap wigs you can get from Halloween/costume stores. I've seen them as cheap as $10... of course they'll look like $10 but it's better than trying to dye your own hair.
I have black-black hair and I tried bleaching... I left the product in for 2 hours more than I should have... and then the next day I bleached again but I couldn't get lighter than a brassy orange.
If you would go for something more permanent then definitely go for a salon and reputable colorist. If you don't like the blonde color it's fairly easy to dye it back to dark.
posted by simplethings at 9:35 PM on October 28, 2008

Wig, wig wig! Your hair will thank you.
posted by platinum at 10:26 PM on October 28, 2008

My husband has very dark hair, and he actually went blonde for Halloween a few years ago. (He was going as Spike from "Buffy the Vampire Slayer.") He went to a proper salon and it took HOURS. I remember the stylist saying it would take a couple rounds of bleaching to get it done properly. It cost us quite a bit, but it actually looked great. Way, way better than I expected. (Hot, even.) He decided he sorta liked it, so when it his dark roots had grown out to an embarrassing degree, we tried doing a home-bleach to take care of them. Big mistake. It just went a nasty yellow. (A stylist friend later told me that the stuff they sell to home users is way different from the stuff they use in the salon.)

So if you're going to do it, pay to have a stylist do it. And realize that it's going to be a very long process that won't get reversed easily!
posted by web-goddess at 11:24 PM on October 28, 2008

One of the best blond wigs I have ever seen was wefts of artificial hair sewn into the band of a baseball hat. very long pageboy with perfect bangs.
posted by hortense at 11:35 PM on October 28, 2008

There is spray on hair color that I've used to make my hair pink, and it comes in blonde and yellow colors. You can usually get something like it at a beauty supply store or any halloween or costume shop. It will provide decent coverage, but a wig will probably look better.

As someone with lots of experience changing my hair color, definitely don't bleach your hair. It will take forever and do some serious damage. Coloring it back won't be all that easy either.
posted by thejanna at 6:10 AM on October 29, 2008

My husband has very dark hair, and he actually went blonde for Halloween a few years ago. (He was going as Spike from "Buffy the Vampire Slayer.") He went to a proper salon and it took HOURS. I remember the stylist saying it would take a couple rounds of bleaching to get it done properly. It cost us quite a bit, but it actually looked great. Way, way better than I expected. (Hot, even.) He decided he sorta liked it, so when it his dark roots had grown out to an embarrassing degree, we tried doing a home-bleach to take care of them. Big mistake. It just went a nasty yellow. (A stylist friend later told me that the stuff they sell to home users is way different from the stuff they use in the salon.)

The issue there was that you probably needed toner after the bleaching--usually a purplish dye that masks yellow tones.

It's possible to go from black to blonde at home, but I wouldn't do it unless you've dyed your hair plenty of times before and are comfortable with the possibility of it looking wacky.
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 6:16 AM on October 29, 2008

If it's for Halloween, go for a wig. I was talking to a stylist friend of mine, and to get jet black hair to blonde requires multiple treatments and involves an unpleasant phase where your hair will be orange (no joke.)
posted by reenum at 6:52 AM on October 29, 2008

You likely do not want to go the permanent route- it's the most expensive option, plus, well, you're blonde for a while.

Find a Halloween costume store [those things are popping up everywhere] or even online, if you want to ship quickly. This one might work, if a bit too platinum.
posted by rachaelfaith at 8:54 AM on October 29, 2008

I have blackblack hair that I just recently had lifted and colored with some punky colors - the 3 hour long processing thinned the hairs and made them sticky in addition to making them platinum blonde. I ended up leaving a lot of hair on the floor of that salon and it continued to fall out over the next few weeks.

If these things don't bother you (as they didn't bother me) go for it!
posted by oreonax at 9:38 AM on October 29, 2008