If you have darker hair your only chance of going blonde is dying your hair blonde. However, how easily your hair goes blonde is going to depend on how dark your original hair color is. The darker your hair color is the longer it is going to take to go blonde, which if you have the darker colored hair you will actually want to work up to becoming a blonde rather than going blonde all at once.

First things first you need to determine what color blonde you are looking for, whether it is going to be a strawberry blonde or an ash blonde. You will also need to have a good idea of your natural hair tone because that will affect the initial outcome of the process. If you are unsure of the natural tones of your hair you will want to talk to a professional hair stylist to find out this information because it will determine what type of toners and semi-permanents you will need to use.

The next step is using a bleach or highlighting solution, depending on your natural hair color. If you have dark brown or red hair, you want to use a highlighting solution and work up to a full blonde. Or if you prefer you can use the bleach solution, but make sure you follow the instructions that come with it. Once you have rinsed the bleach out your hair is going to be a yellow or orange color so don’t be alarmed. If your hair is orange you want to either apply another bleach solution, but only if your hair isn’t brittle or you can use a semi-permanent for four weeks and then bleach again.

After you have successfully bleached your hair you need to put some color on top of the bleach, but hair dyes are not going to work. The reason permanent hair dye won’t work is that your hair has no pigment left for the dye to attach too. To add some tone to your hair you need to select a semi-permanent shade and apply it to your hair. Just make sure that you select the right tone based on what you envision for your final outcome.