I finally achieved silver hair!
I had attempted this before in December of last year then again in January of this year. Only the ends of my hair were light enough for the silver to take. Over the past several months, I’ve been bleaching (and consequently trimming/applying protein treatments) to get my hair to a light enough yellow.
I actually was going to stick with blonde for awhile, but this last time I bleached the roots and decided to try silver again.
After lightening, there was still quite a bit of brassiness so I applied the Fanola no yellow shampoo and left it on for a bit. The ends took as usual but the upper area was still stubbornly honey colored. I had some left over Manic Panic “alien grey” from before so I put that on the still brassy roots.
I rinsed and it helped a lot. The next day, there were still a few blonde places, so I put the Fanola no yellow conditioner on with a plastic cap for a few hours. That helped blend some more, though it left a lilac cast.
Next wash, I shampooed to get the excess purple out and dried it to apply one more batch of “alien grey” on any remaining patchiness. After rinsing again, I was so pleased with the results.
Lastly, I ordered the Overtone silver conditioner line to maintain. Having all three shades will allow me to mix and distribute differently on particular places on my hair.
All-in-all, I’m glad I was able to make this color possible. It’s fun yet still a neutral hue that matches with all my outfits. And I can refresh it with color depositing conditioner, so no more risk of damage on these weary ends!
Keeping these in mind helped me through the process:
1) Patience
2) Multiple Bleaching Sessions
3) Not afraid of trimming/cutting damaged ends
4) Protein Treatments + Deep Conditioning
5) Purple/Silver Toning Products
Until next time, stay Sheek!