How to bleach your hair without damaging it (too much)

Ah, the early 2000s-the days of boy bands, MySpace, selfies in the mirror, and Christina Aguilera and Beyonce dyeing their hair with a bottle of bleach and peroxide in the basement sink. (But the damage of dying your hair a few shades lighter (open in new tab) is serious, especially if you don't know what to ask for, how to prepare your hair, or how to care for it. Needless to say, many aspiring blondes are always on the lookout for easy-to-handle at-home solutions (opens in new tab). To help you out, we chatted with celebrity hairstylist and all-around hair guru Christine S. (opens in new tab) to find out exactly how to bleach your hair without damaging it too much and how to maintain the long-term health of your newly bleached hair.

No matter what, going platinum blonde will damage your hair to some degree. Sorry. To lighten hair to white blonde levels, Ess explains, you need to use either hydrogen peroxide or bleach to cause an irreversible chemical reaction in the hair cuticle. And while the formulas used in salons are gentler than what you'll find down the sink, they're still going to leave your hair somewhat dry and damaged, especially if you're starting with dark or coarse hair.

"The darker your natural hair is, the more pigment you need to remove to get it to platinum levels, which is a harsher process," says Ess.

"Also, be aware that thicker hair is more difficult to remove pigment from than thinner hair, so with darker, thicker hair there is only so much you can do to prevent damage."

That $20 bottle of "non-damaging" or "magical" bleach you found on the Internet will do the trick. Fast. Says Es, "When it comes to bleach, you've paid 100% for it." 'Not all formulas are created equal. You want to use a higher quality, less damaging bleach with nutritious additives like Brazilian Bond Builder (open in new tab) to keep your hair healthy."

These formulas are going to cost you a lot, sure, "but if you want to keep your hair strong and healthy, it's all very, very necessary," Es adds, especially if you are not cool with hardcore breakage, dryness, frizz, and fluff. Prices vary widely by salon and location, but you should expect to pay $150 or more for a good bleach. Hey, beauty doesn't come cheap.

If you're willing to wait for a salon visit, Ess urges you to splurge for the best colorist you can find, whether by word of mouth or Yelp reviews - rather than trying to find the salon with the cheapest price (cheaper usually means a harsher formulas, so).

"Find a hair colorist that you truly trust to provide you with the best," says Ess. Or, at the very least, find a colorist whose reviews are good enough (and whose Instagram photos are pretty enough) that you can be confident in their abilities." That person will probably be more expensive, but that's because it costs the colorist more to get a good one. Platinum blonde is an investment.

"The darker, coarser, and curlier your natural hair is, the more conditioning it will need before and after bleaching," says Ess. To reduce damage, she uses weekly bond repair treatments, plus Wella Enrich Moisturizing Treatment (opens in new tab) and her own Christine S. Strand Strand Stranding Moisture Mask (opens in new tab). (open in new tab)), and recommends applying a deep conditioning mask to dry hair every night for a week before and after the appointment (trust me; it's a really good mask).

"If you're going platinum blonde," she says, "you need to use products that help repair and strengthen the bonds in your hair fibers. Yes, this all sounds like marketing jargon, but salon-level treatments like the cult favorite Olaplex Hair Perfector No. 3 (opens in new tab) really help strengthen and protect hair.

To use at home, simply comb a palmful of cream through damp hair, leave on as long as possible (overnight with a shower cap is best, but at least 30 minutes if that is all you have time for), and shampoo as usual. You will notice that your hair will be softer and shinier after just one use.

If lightening your hair damages it, it's best to leave as much space between applications as possible.

"In order to keep the hair color perfectly even and constant, there should be considerably less elongation at the roots. If the interval between touch-ups is too long, there is a danger of creating a "band" of blonde color with slightly different shades around the head. And that can be seriously damaging.

"If you're going to bleach and tone, i.e., platinum, you'll remember to make an appointment for a touch-up in four to six weeks before you leave the salon," recommends Ess.

Given that you've already sunk tons and tons of time and money into your hair by the time you're done, we're guessing you'll want to keep your color as bright and shiny as possible, right' enter: purple products (opens in new tab)-i.e., to blonde hair Shampoos and conditioners infused with purple pigment to help counteract naturally occurring brushy tones. Used once a week in place of your regular shampoo and conditioner, it helps maintain a rich, translucent hair color.

No one is suggesting that platinum is a low-maintenance, cheesy hairstyle. But if you want your shiny blonde hair to look like Blake Lively's hair commercials instead of like an early MySpace photo, don't skimp and follow all of the above. Your hair will thank you.

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