How To Bleach African American Hair, Whether Platinum Blonde Or Another Color

Learning how to bleach African American hair is an essential skill for those who love experimenting with hair color.

Bleaching black hair platinum blonde is what many usually go for.

And in this article, we share with you some tips on how to do it well so you can get the best color.

Contents

Twist Your Hair

The first step you need to take to bleach African American hair is to put it into twists.

You will want to make sure your hair is healthy before you go about doing this.

For starters, doing any kind of styling on hair that is not healthy and strong can put you at risk of breakage.

Secondly, putting bleach on hair that is weak or has recently been relaxed or chemically treated can also lead to splitting and damage.

So, before you embark on this first step, you will want to make sure your hair is strong, healthy and prepared.

Make sure that your hair has a lot of nutrients and moisture in it before you twist it.

While you shouldn’t go about bleaching your hair wet or shampoo your hair right before bleaching, you should make sure your hair isn’t completely dry and brittle as this will cause breakage.

Applying some kind of hair lotion or moisturizing oil before you twist your hair is advised.

Good ingredients to look out for in moisturizers that will strengthen your hair include natural oils like jojoba, olive or black castor oil, as well as vitamins like vitamin E or B.

Once your hair has been nourished and hydrated, you should put your hair into multiple twists in order to create sections that will make it easier to bleach.

Putting your hair in twists is relatively simple and shouldn’t take you too much time.

Oil Your Hairline

The next step in order to achieve black bleached hair is to oil your hairline. This is a step that many beginners often miss.

Oiling your hairline is essential because it creates a barrier between the bleach you are going to apply and your skin.

Most strong hair dyes or bleaching products, if not applied with care, can color or bleach skin as well.

When you apply some kind of oil-based product, you prevent potentially discoloring or damaging your skin.

And it makes it easier for you to apply the bleach without having to be too cautious.

For this step, we recommend using a simple product such as Vaseline. You simply have to apply it around the edges of your hair.

You can also use pure natural oils such as olive oil, black castor oil or coconut oil.

For extra measure, you can also apply the oil around your ears and neck as these are areas the bleach might reach as well.

Gather Your Bleaching Tools

The next step to achieving curly platinum blonde hair is to make sure you have all the necessary tools.

Usually, a typical bleach kit will come with bleach powder, developer, a mixing container, a brush, some gloves and an instruction manual.

These tools are essential for achieving black bleached hair.

Some other tools you may need include a wide-toothed comb and a shower cap to cover your hair after you apply the bleach.

The comb helps when it comes to applying the bleach as it allows you to detangle any parts of your hair that have knots to allow the bleach to cover every part of your hair.

The shower cap will be useful for helping insulate your hair, allowing for the bleach to work more effectively on it without being exposed to the atmosphere.

When your hair is insulated like this, the hair cuticles open up more easily and the bleach can penetrate them easier.

Once you have assembled all the tools that you need to bleach your hair, you can move on to the next step of preparing the bleaching product.

Mix Your Bleach

The next step to bleach African American hair is to mix the bleaching product.

Usually, there will be a step-by-step guide on how to do this in the instruction manual that comes in the bleaching kit.

In general, the process is quite easy.

Usually, you will have to begin by putting on the gloves to avoid getting any of the product on your hands.

Then, you will have to pour the bleaching components into the mixing container.

Components of Bleach

Most bleaching products will have two main components to them. Achieving curly platinum blonde hair is all about knowing what they are and how they work.

The first component is bleaching powder. This component is typically made of sodium hypochlorite among other chemicals.

The other component of hair bleaching product is the developer. The developer is made up of hydrogen peroxide.

How Bleach Works

The two components of bleach each have a function that make it work effectively on hair.

The bleaching powder is responsible for the actual lightening and stripping of hair color.

It dissolves the melanin in the hair, which is what gives hair color.

On the other hand, the developer serves another purpose.

While developer also helps in lightening and toning hair, its main purpose is to open up the hair cuticles.

This is essential because it allows for the bleach to penetrate the hair so that it is easier for it to dissolve the melanin in the hair.

Now knowing the components of hair bleach and how they work, you can begin to mix them.

How To Add The Components

First, you need to add the powder to your container.

Depending on your hair volume and length, you might not need to use all the product.

Use your discretion to judge how much of the bleaching product you may need and pour whatever portion you have decided you will need into the container.

Pour your developer into the container with the powder according to the proportions of powder to developer given in the instructions.

Also take into account the portion of bleach you have decided is needed for your hair.

Then mix the product well using the brush from the kit until both elements have completely blended.

Set A Timer

Now that you’ve mixed your bleach successfully, you can move on to the next step needed to bleach black hair. This is the step where you set a timer for the bleaching process.

Often times, people will wait to set the timer until after they have applied all the bleach to their hair. But this might be dangerous for your hair.

If you take a long time to apply the bleach to your hair before starting the timer, you may end up exposing it to the bleach for way too long.

Hair bleach can be really harsh on hair, especially if you have hair that is already a bit weak or sensitive.

Too much exposure to bleach can lead to hair breakage or damage later. So, you really want to limit the amount of time you expose it to the product.

The amount of time that you need to keep bleach in your hair for varies depending on the product you choose.

Some products will say 20 minutes, others will say 30 minutes or even more.

Make sure to thoroughly read the instructions on the product and then set a timer for the appropriate length of time.

Apply The Bleach

Once your timer is set, you are ready to move on to actually applying the bleach to African American hair.

You will want to make sure you do this step quickly but thoroughly.

You should aid to make sure that you don’t move so slowly that your hair starts to get damaged by the bleach.

But you should also make sure you are not rushing in a way that prevents you from covering all the spots.

To apply the bleach, you need to do it in sections. This is where having twisted your hair earlier comes in handy.

You should start with one twist. Make sure the rest of your twists are not in the way.

You can ensure this by tying them back or using clips to keep them out of the way.

Grab onto the one twist you want to start with and undo it.

Then, using the brush from the bleaching kit, apply the bleach from the scalp down the length of the twist up until the tip.

Make sure you coat the entire twist with bleach and there are no strands that are uncovered.

Separate And Repeat

Once you have successfully bleached one section of your hair, you can move on to another one.

You will want to move the undone twist you have just bleached out of the way so that you can work on a new one.

You can do this by simply slicking it back, making sure you’re not removing the bleach for it.

Then you need to undo another twist and bleach that one the same way.

It is helpful if you bleach sections that are near each other one after the other. This makes the process more orderly and ensures that you don’t miss any areas.

If it helps you to separate areas you have bleached and those you haven’t, you can use a comb to create parts between bleached hair and unbleached hair.

Once you have undone all your twists and bleached them section by section, you can move on to the next necessary step to bleach African American hair.

Cover All Areas

This step is one that people often skip or don’t take enough time with. This is a mistake you do not want to make because it can result in your hair being unevenly bleached.

When it comes to getting black bleached hair, making sure you cover all areas is absolutely important because uncovered patches can be very visible at the end of the process.

To ensure that you haven’t missed any area, you should go through all the sections where you’ve bleached your hair strands.

You will want to go to these sections and add a little extra bleach around the roots of your hair.

Roots are areas that some often miss when bleaching hair so you should give them a little more attention.

Also look out once again for any strands that look thinly coated and coat them a little more with bleach.

You should also have a mirror, or preferably two mirrors nearby that you can use to look at the front and back of your head to ensure that you have applied an adequate and even amount of bleach around your head.

When you are confident that your hair has been evenly and sufficiently covered with bleach, you can move on to the next step.

Wait For The Bleach To Work

This step is pretty easy for you to do. All you have to do is give the bleach its time to work its magic.

Before you sit back and relax, however, you may want to cover your hair. This is where the shower cap comes in handy.

To aid the bleaching process, you can put the shower cap over your hair so that it is insulated.

This allows the bleach developer to fully open up your hair cuticles so the bleaching powder element can enter and strip out the hair color.

You should ensure that you are gentle and careful with putting on the shower cap.

If you put on the cap haphazardly, it may end up removing some of the bleach from your hair. This won’t be good if you are trying to get an even bleach.

As smoothly as you can, get all your hair into the cap. And then you can pretty much get up to anything as you wait for your timer to go off.

Just ensure that whatever you do for the time being doesn’t cause any disruptions to your hair.

Wash Your Hair

Once your timer goes off, you can move on to one of the final steps to bleach black hair.

This step is where you need to rinse out the bleaching product from your hair.

Most bleach kits will come with a shampoo that you can use for this step. It is usually one that is designed to thoroughly rid your hair of any excess product to prevent hair damage.

Usually, there will be instructions in the kit that tell you how to apply the shampoo and how to rinse it out safely.

Typically, you will want to rinse your hair out until no more bleach comes out of it and the water just falls off of it without being discolored.

Some people like to wear gloves during this process just to be extra safe and not get bleach on their hands. This is a good idea.

You should also ensure that you cover your clothes with a towel to prevent bleach from getting on them. Or you can put on an item of clothing that you don’t mind bleaching

After you have rinsed your hair completely of the bleach you need to do one more step before you dry it off.

Condition Your Hair

If you want to bleach African American hair, this step is one you definitely don’t want to skip.

Conditioning your hair after bleaching it is extremely important.

While washing your hair gets the bleaching product out, conditioning provides some additional functions.

Firstly, bleaching your hair helps to close up your hair cuticles.

This is necessary because the developer in the bleach works to open up your cuticles so that the bleach can take to your hair. But your cuticles shouldn’t stay open.

When hair cuticles are left open, you experience a lot of frizz.

Open hair cuticles can also make it easier for you to get split ends or experience breakage when styling your hair.

Applying conditioner after you have rinsed out the bleach allows you to prevent this.

Hair conditioner is also good to use post-bleach because it introduces nutrients to your hair that it may have lost during the shampooing process.

Hair conditioners usually contain a host of enriching ingredients such as vitamins E and B as well as natural oils like olive oil.

These are essential for nourishing and hydrating your hair.

These ingredients will also help your hair to thicken and regain its strength. This is important because it is likely after bleaching your hair that it would have experienced some weakening.

After conditioning your hair thoroughly, you can move on to the drying process.

Dry Your Hair

It is important to avoid excessive heat after you bleach black hair. For this reason, you may want to air dry your hair.

Air drying is beneficial firstly because it allows you to preserve your curl pattern. If you want curly platinum blonde hair, air drying may be helpful.

Air drying your hair also protects it from damage. Heat can cause your hair to become dry and brittle, which would make it more susceptible to breakage.

Given that your hair would have just undergone the bleaching process which weakens it a little, minimizing on heat would be good for its protection.

It is advisable to avoid using a hair dryer, flat iron or any other heating tool in the process of drying or styling your hair right after bleaching it.

You will want to give your hair at least a few days to regain its nutrients and strength before you apply heat to it.

Repeat The Process

This last step to bleach black hair is optional. If you have not achieved the lightness you wanted for your hair, you can repeat the bleaching process.

It is important, however, that you do not bleach your again for a couple of weeks.

Often, people will feel tempted to bleach their hair again immediately or a couple of days later. But this is really risky.

The more you bleach your hair without giving it time to recover, the more likely it is to get damaged or experience breakage.

It is typically recommended that you give your hair about three weeks before your next bleach treatment.

If after the three weeks your hair is still not the color you want, you can bleach it a third time. But you still have to follow the three-week interval rule.

The process may sound like it takes too long, but ultimately, your hair health is most important and it is worth protecting.

Once you have finally achieved the color you want, the bleaching process is complete.