Here’s what I wish I knew before I bleached my hair from brown to blonde

Blonde has long been a favourite colour go-to when you’re after a big beauty transformation, especially over the sunnier months. If, like me, you’ve been thinking about dyeing your hair from brown to blonde for a while but you haven’t had the courage yet, you’ve come to the right place.

It’s really not that big of a deal, so long as you approach it professionally. I dared to do it myself to save you the trouble, and here’s what I wish I’d known before bleaching my hair, with expert tips direct from the hairstylist who coloured my hair.

How do you dye your hair from brown to blonde?

“There are countless ways to dye hair from brown to blonde,” explains hair expert Tim Mathé of Lippert’s Friseure in Munich. “The method and colour used always depends on the initial starting point, for example, whether it is natural hair or hair that has already been coloured before.” In any case, however, colour must first be removed from the hair through the bleaching process. This unsurprisingly puts a strain on hair, which is why it should be done carefully.

Is it possible to go completely blonde in one session?

“That depends on whether the hair is already dyed a darker colour,” explains Tim. “With dyed hair, several sessions are always necessary.” But the process is different for naturally brown hair: “Here you can definitely achieve blonde hair in one session – but that doesn’t apply to platinum blonde, for this it takes about two to three visits to the hairdresser to lighten the hair healthily.”

Which highlighting technique is best for a soft transition?

Again, you have to distinguish between natural hair and coloured hair: “Dyed hair is more difficult to lighten, so you have to be a little more aggressive with bleaching and encourage colour lifting with the foil technique and the heat buildup it creates.”

It’s different for naturally brown hair: “There, freehand painting techniques, such as balayage, are particularly suitable to achieve blonde,” says Tim. “Painting powders are especially gentle for this kind of approach, with it gently lightening while simultaneously helping to bring the desired blonde tone with, for example, beige tones or copper accents into the hair.” Likewise, it can help to give the hair more shine and add more depth to blonde tones, for example cooler undertones.

How does bleaching from brown to blonde work?

Here’s what my hair colour looked like in before, a light brown.