Unlike Caucasian hair, Asian hair is thicker, coarser, and more resilient to dyes and bleaches. Combined with natural black tresses, it is almost impossible to get that coveted blond look without severely damaging your hair. If you have Asian hair, you will need to bleach your hair in stages, deep-conditioning in between. Follow these stages to gain pure blond locks.
Stage 1/ Pre-Lightening
Ingredients needed:
~ A good deep-conditioner
~ Bleaching kit with 30 to 40 volume
~ A towel
Make sure you bleach on ‘virgin’ hair, otherwise your hair will melt. Virgin hair is hair that has never been processed, either through perming, chemical straightening, or through any hair dyes. It should be shiny, vibrant, and strong. Never attempt bleaching with weak, brittle, or damaged hair.
To begin the process, you will need a good bleaching kit. All good bleaching kits use powder bleach — powder bleach is stronger and more effective. Look for bleaches with 30 to 40 volume. For a softer, less harmful bleach, use 30 volume. For a more dramatic bleach, use 40 volume. Asian tresses needs a stronger bleach to remove the color, but I would suggest using 30 volume. You will bleach it again after this first step, so the intensity isn’t quite as important.
Once you have that, you can begin the bleaching process. Part off your hair into four sections. Wrap a towel around your neck for safety (bleach burns, and it’s permanent). To protect yourself from burns, coat the edge of your hairline with Vaseline. With the help of a friend, begin coating each section with the bleaching mixture, from tips to about one inch from your roots. You want to keep it away from your roots because it bleaches faster. If you leave it on your roots for too long, it can damage your cuticles, resulting in permanent hair loss.
Wait about 20 minutes. Asian tresses takes longer to bleach, so it might be 30 to 40 minutes. When your hair turns a nice orange, begin applying the bleach to your roots, but keep it off your scalp. Bleach burns.
By 60 minutes, it should be either light orange or yellow. Wash it off with a mild shampoo. Do not leave bleach on longer than 60 minutes. After shampooing, immediately apply conditioner, gently massaging through your Asian tresses.
Get used to your hair looking yellow for a bit, because you will need to keep it like that for approximately 2 weeks. Between these two weeks you will deep-condition each day, leaving in conditioner for at least 30 minutes. You want to return moisture to your Asian tresses — bleach dries it out. You cannot bleach again over dry hair, otherwise your Asian hair gets very, very angry.
Stage 2/ Lightening
Ingredients needed: Same as above.
After two weeks have passed, your Asian tresses should be somewhat soft and not dry to the touch. If it is, continue to deep-condition until it is soft. It might take longer to condition, because of its thickness.
You will repeat Stage 1 again. This time bleach until it is a pale yellow. Do not exceed 45 minutes. Afterward, wash out with a mild shampoo and immediately condition. Continue to deep-condition for a week.
Stage 3/ Toner
Ingredients needed:
~ Toner
~ Conditioner
This is the last step. Now you’ve had ucky Asian yellow hair for quite a bit — now we’re going to make it platinum blond.
You will need something called a toner. This is a very mild dye that removes the ucky yellows out of your Asian hair. This is available at high end beauty stores, such as Sally’s. I would suggest you visit and talk to a representative for the best toner for your hair. Usually, if you have yellow hair, you will need a mild violet dye. You hair will not turn violet if you followed all two steps properly. The violet cancels out the yellow, leaving you with beautiful blond tresses.
Apply the toner like any other hair dye. Follow the instructions in the toner packet, washing out when instructed. Use a mild shampoo, immediately deep-conditioning afterward.
If you’ve done all three steps properly, you now have beautiful Asian blond hair. Fluff it, show it off, do whatever you want! Make sure to touch up the roots every four to six weeks for authentic, blond hair you’ll continue to love for years.
