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So you dyed your hair black while you were going through a phase and now you want to be a blonde? Good luck! This requires lots of time and energy and a process known as stripping the hair. This can be very costly and cause a lot of damage to your hair. You should always go to a stylist who knows exactly what she's doing and don't forget to check out a few places before you settle on one salon. This is a big process that can either make you look fabulous or make you chop off your hair.
What Hair Stripping Means
You hear it all the time. Your stylist has to strip your hair before he can do anything to it. Eli Mancha, artistic director at Lock & Loaded in Chicago and hairstylist of the year finalist for the 2011 North American Hairstyling Awards, says that stripping hair is basically bleaching the hair to lighten the overall level. This means you brunette-divas trying to see if blondes have more fun.
Stripping Light Hair
Being a blonde has its perks. One of them comes when you're stripping your hair. Mike van den Abbeel, owner of Mosaic Hair Studio in Orlando, Florida, says that unlike brunettes or red heads, blonde hair doesn't have melanin or pigment in the strands. He says that blonde hair just keeps getting lighter until it's white during stripping. Jeni Hoover, owner of Pearl Hair & Makeup Studio in Austin, Texas, says that for light hair being stripped, you can apply strawberry blonde, light golden browns and dark golden blonde colors to your hair.
Stripping Dark Hair
Stripping dark hair is more difficult. Abbeel says that stripping the hair will also expose undertones, meaning that most brunettes trying to go lighter will first have to tackle that unwanted brassy-orange shade. Hoover says that rich chocolate browns would be great after stripping out unwanted black tones from the hair. Alan G. Eschenburg, creative director of Belegenza in Houston, Texas, says to never, ever apply an ash-toned color on top of stripped brown hair. The orange-brass tones left in the hair mixed with the ash tones will leave you with a disaster.
Warnings
Although it may be the only route you can go to achieve that fabulous look you've always dreamed of, stripping the hair can cause a lot of damage to your tresses. Mancha says he doesn't even recommend stripping the hair on previously highlighted or chemically treated hair. He also highly suggests that you don't try doing the process at home. Alan Gold, creative director at Haig & Co. salon in Philadelphia, says that timing is of utmost importance when it comes to stripping. So, if your stylist isn't hovering over you throughout the entire process and charging a pretty hefty amount, run the other way and don't look back.
