- If you want an ash blonde on bleached hair, you need to consider what color you went for with bleaching, what hair dye number to choose, and how it’ll match your eye and skin color.
- To apply an ash blonde after bleaching, your hair should be a strong yellow 8, or light yellow 9.
- Also, ash blonde will always look good on people with cool skin tone, for example fair skin with blue or green eyes.
You’ve passed the first big challenge, and you’ve gotten through it without a hitch. You bleached your hair, and it shows no visible signs of extreme damage.
Then, it’s time to take the next step: choosing which color to apply to your hair. Of course, after bleaching, it’s time to achieve the final color.
Therefore, you ask yourself, can I dream of coloring my bleached hair with an ash blonde hair dye?
You can. After all, dreams are dreams, as Calderón de la Barca said. But be careful because ash blonde is not always the best choice for bleached hair.
I’m going to prove it to you by telling you a story. It’s about Carmen, one of my clients, who came to see me screaming for help.
Carmen’s story is similar to hundreds of other stories: she had dark brown hair. One day, she got tired of her color, decided to bleach her hair, and then she applied an ash blonde hair dye.
But she didn’t apply the correct ash blonde hair dye.
That was the worst decision of her life because her hair turned green. Yes, green.
How could that be? The coloring kit she had bought clearly said “ash blonde”?
Still in disbelief, she thought that the hair dye had expired, and that was why her hair had turned green.
So, very determined, she went to the store where she had bought it to make all kinds of claims.
The saleswoman threw all her claims to the ground when she asked her what color she had before applying the hair dye.
Why did she ask her this question?
Because applying an ash blonde on hair that is orange after bleaching is not the same as on yellow hair.
If you don’t want the same thing to happen to you, read on because I’ll tell you:
- What levels of lift do you need to apply an ash blonde.
- What hair dye number corresponds to ash blonde
- How to apply the ash blonde hair dye on bleached hair and post-coloring care
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What level of lift do you need to achieve an ash blonde?
When you bleach your hair, you wash away the natural or artificial pigments in your hair fiber to lighten it.
The darker your hair is, the more bleaching sessions you’ll need to take it to a blonde. Your hair will reach different levels after each bleaching session.
The level of lift will depend on the quality of the bleach powder you use and your hair’s color.
For example, if you have light brown hair and you lift 4 shades, your hair will be level 8.
How do you identify the level of lift?
It’s represented by colors:
- Yellowish orange represents level 7.
- Dark yellow corresponds to level 8.
- Light yellow represents level 9.
It seems simple, but it isn’t. That’s why Carmen made the mistake. Her hair was level 7 yellowish-orange and she applied the ash blonde. The result was green hair.
Why?
Because the predominant colors in the composition of ash blonde are blue and green.
85% blue and 15% green predominate in most brands of ash blonde hair dyes.
As Carmen’s hair had a yellow bleach level, her hair ended up green after applying the ash hair dye with 85 % blue pigments.
Yellow + blue= green.
So, if you want to go for an ash blonde, my recommendation is to reach a lift level 8 strong yellow, or level 9 light yellow.
Now that you know what bleach level you need to apply an ash blonde, it’s time to choose the hair dye.
Which hair dye number corresponds to ash blonde?
Have you ever noticed the numbering on the hair color kits? These numbers determine the color and highlights.
The first number is the color. For example, blondes are numbers 7, 8, and 9.
7 is medium blonde, 8 is light blonde, and 9 is very light blonde.
As you can see, none of these colors is ash blonde. Why?
Because these colors have no highlights or shades in their composition. That determines whether a blonde is an ash blonde or not.
So, if you want an ash blonde, you should look for number 1 after the dot. For example, 7.1 is a medium ash blonde.
If your hair is level 8, you can choose an 8.1 light ash blonde. Alternatively, if it’s level 9, you can choose color 9.1 very light ash blonde.
You know which ash color to choose. Now, what hair color type should you choose?
I advise you to choose a semi-permanent hair color. As it doesn’t contain ammonia, it doesn’t damage the hair.
Also, if you don’t like the result, you can remove it because the hair dye will wash out evenly.
Finally, the million-dollar question. Will ash blonde look good on you?
Ash tones are cool colors and contain a characteristic grayish reflection.
Therefore, ash blondes always look best on cool skin tones. And if your eyes are light, green, or blue, even better.
How to apply an ash blonde hair color on bleached hair
Materials:
- Semi-permanent hair dye.
- 10-volume peroxide.
- Plastic container.
- Hair dye brush.
Step by step:
- Mix the hair dye and peroxide according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Generally, the mixture is for one box of hair dye and one and a half or two parts peroxide according to the brand.
- Once you get a homogeneous mixture, apply it to the hair and massage it.
- Leave on for 10 minutes and rinse.
You’ve got your ash blonde! Now, how do you take care of it?
Maintaining your ash blonde color
Now that you’ve bleached your hair and achieved your ash blonde, you can’t throw all that hard work away, can you?
You’ll need to be strict with your hair beauty routine.
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Use sulfate-free shampoos specifically designed for color-treated hair.
You should also add the purple shampoo for light ash blondes. It eliminates the yellowish reflections that appear due to oxidation, washing, and sun exposure.
The best for dark ash shades is to use semi-permanent hair dye. It’s the one you used to tone your bleached blonde hair. It’ll help restore the color that your ash blonde will lose after several washes.
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Avoid heat tools such as hair dryers and flat irons.
If you blow-dry every day, let your hair air-dry a few times a week. Instead of using a curling iron, go for the old-fashioned curls.
In addition to preserving the ash blonde, you’ll avoid heat damage to your hair.
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Conclusions
To apply an ash blonde on bleached hair, you need to bleach your hair to levels 8 or 9. Then, you need to choose the hair color that matches that level of lift, for example, 8.1 and 9.1.
Remember that adjustments to your hair care routine are essential to extend the life of your new color.
