Tips for DIY Ombre Blonde/Platinum on Shorter Hair

February 25, 2016 9:20 PM

Guys, I have yet another hair question. I know, I know! What can I say? I like doing stuff with my hair! This time I’m switching to a blonde ombre I think. Give me some tips and how-to’s please!

For health and lowering maintenance, I’m wanting to switch from my pink/purple hair (which I LOVE) to a blonde ombre. My hair is short. The blonde will only be on top/long part.
*I know that it will be pink/pink-orange until the color eventually fades out or gets cut off, I’m fine with that.

I want to leave roots natural and do an ombre so that I can have the 4 to 8 weeks between when I trim and re-do my hair and have softer roots, let it grow out if I want, OR do a direct dye (or my natural color) again later, while still doing something fun with my short hair.
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Can you point me to some good videos/online tutorials/walkthroughs/supplies?
What’s a good tutorial for that middle upkeep so you don’t damage the tips as much when I need to reedy? Should I just place some bleach on the middle section and thin it out upward and avoid the tips?
I trim pretty often. But I’d like to keep away as much damage as I can.
Tone??
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I’m aware most people would want me to go to a stylist, but do trust me that I’ve done my hair for many years. I currently cut and dye it myself, and my last dye was a blue to purple ombre and worked out beautifully. I have a chronic illness and sitting in a salon for 2+ hours just isn’t an option.

The steps as I understand them.
- Level 30 or 40 kit, foil, a dye brush
- Segment the hair into layers and then chunks within those layers.
- Saturate the end with bleach, then gently brush upward to carefully partially coat the middle of the hair with dye getting lighter as you go up and stopping about an inch before the root in my case. Possibly use a comb to spread the bleach more sparingly toward the roots (any other tips for a good transition?)
- Roll each section in foil. Let it sit, checking it every 5 minutes, going no longer than 30 mins, or whatever it says on the box.
- Wash, deep condition.

- Maybe tone? I mean, it will be kinda pink because of all the direct dye I’ve used so I don’t know if I need to tone right away. Do I? I currently have some blue/lavender based dye I can mix with some conditioner if that will do the trick. I can buy something too.

posted by Crystalinne to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion (7 answers total)

Best answer: What kind of dye do you currently have in your hair? When I dyed my (naturally dark blonde) hair hot pink, and most of it had faded out except one pale pink bit, and I tried to bleach my whole head, that one pale pink bit turned SHOCKING ORANGE. And that was with semi-permanent ion fushia dye. I had to spot-bleach it like three more times to get it entirely out. So beware of that possibility if bleaching over I faded dye.

Apart from that, your approach sounds pretty good - while I haven't done ombré (intentionally, heh) I have done tons of bleach and coloring. I would definitely not go for 40 developer with the bleach. I use 20 and leave it on for 45 min, supposedly it's better for the hair. For a first bleaching, I highly recommend the coconut oil method.... Soak your entire hair in coconut oil for as long as possible (anywhere from half hour to overnight) and then bleach right over it. The coconut oil minimizes damage without affecting the bleach process at all.

You will DEFINITELY DEFINITELY need a toner after bleaching. I bleach my hair to a pale near-platinum, so once it's pale yellow from bleaching I use cult favorite wella TI18 toner (formerly "white lady") from Sally's to make it look a billion times better.

When I do the roots I don't bleach the ends at all. I do tone the whole thing (with that Ti18) with 10 or 20 level developer depending how much I feel like damaging my hair that day.

Then I just wash it as rarely as possible, use conditioning treatments or coconut oil when I have time, and use purple shampoo every week or so.

Good luck!
posted by celtalitha at 11:03 PM on February 25, 2016

Best answer: (Caveat on the toner: if you bleach the ends and it DOES turn light pink or orange, and if you're okay with the look, don't bother toning it. I'm not sure what toning would do over pink. Best make sure it's faded or fully bleached out first.)
posted by celtalitha at 11:10 PM on February 25, 2016

Response by poster: Yeah, I think that using some diluted blue/lavender dye might help it if I find it to orange. I also have some pinkish purple dye too that I can dilute. I don't mind it being a bit of a transition toward it being blonde but I want to get the process started. But I'm fine with crazy colors. The first photo is from about a week ago. It's a red-ish shade now. In the past I've dyed it with vampire red and hot hot pink. The redish that it is now won't wash out more.
posted by Crystalinne at 11:23 PM on February 25, 2016

Best answer: I wouldn't brush the bleach up. Every time I've had ombre done, the stylist teased about half the hair up and then ombred the longer sections. This video shows that I mean, even though he's using two colors. I'm sure you could do this with the length you have now.
posted by Brittanie at 3:28 AM on February 26, 2016 [3 favorites]

Best answer: Brittanie's advice about teasing is good - that's how my stylist does my highlights that kind of blend/ombre up instead of going all the way to the roots.

Be prepared to use a toner. Bleaching over previously dyed hair is unpredictable and you will probably end up with some really brassy orange colors. Toner will really help with that. The few times I tried to bleach my hair myself it was a disaster until I put toner on, and then it was magically better.
posted by thejanna at 7:39 AM on February 26, 2016 [3 favorites]

Response by poster: Thanks! Here's the result. I love it! It's neon pink/orange with some greenish tones and yellow tones. (I had blue ombre roots the last time I dyed it.) It's fantastic. I might be sad to see it wash and grow out but the plain blonde will be fine. I got better with the transitions as I got toward the top layer. I know the next time will go smoother but didn't turn out bad. Thanks for all the tips.
posted by Crystalinne at 9:51 PM on February 26, 2016 [4 favorites]

It looks great!
posted by Brittanie at 12:56 AM on February 27, 2016