Hey everyone
It's been a long time since I've posted anything.
I am sending out for a new piece and I was thinking I might mix it up a bit and so I had a question for James Kennedy. I was wondering how you go about bleaching or getting your tips dyed "blonde". I was told that if you have really dark hair that its hard to color the tips because the color doesn't come out right. I was told to order all blonde hair and then color the hair dark and leave the tips blonde.
Was wondering how you went about it

Thanks
SteveL

I go to a salon and have them color the whole thing using foils aka the tin foil looking stuff they use for highlighting.

The key is to keep the color off the scalp. So even if they don't get the color tight to the "root", it still will look like scalp since its blonde, the color of our scalps.

I use a higher density, so even if the color does bleed onto the "roots" or base, you can't really tell.

For a lower density, here are other techniques that people use on the boards for coloring. I know if you wanted to color it while its not on your head, you can put conditioner at the root to protect it from getting colored.

Depending on the density of your piece, the foiling method works well. I think if you have a lower density, it might not work out the best since you might have some staining.

What kind of style or color were you looking to achieve?

I just use this, and follow the instructions within:
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It's super easy and cheap, and you can do it in your bedroom/

Thanks for the responses.
The style I am trying to achieve is a very slight faux hawk (not to dramatic) with just a few blonde highlights at the top. Very subtle ..not to dramatic. I do all the basic stuff myself... and whenever I get cut ins or whatever I go to Alicia's hair salon here in California.
She specifically told me that she thinks I should order the unit all blond and then she would too would use the foil stuff etc.
I figured it was easier to order the piece like a I always do(which is very dark brown) and just use a product like Mr burns mentioned at the "tips" but Alicia said that it wouldn't work.. that I need to order the unit all blond and then do all the coloring.
So James.. If I am understanding you right.. you too get the pieces all blond and then do the coloring to whatever you want?

Mr Burns? You have done the highlights of blond tips on dark hair and it worked for you?

Thanks

Hi Steve, yes I've done it myself. It's very easy, all you do is paste some of the bleach on the hairs you want bleached, leave it for a while and come back. Once I did this just on the front hairs and it had a really nice effect on my front hairline... it was ultra subtle. In fact I was just experimenting, and just randomly placed some bleach on my front hairs.

Think of the bleach like styling gel - whatever parts of the hair you apply it to, those parts will be affected. In the case of gel, they will stiffen. In the case of bleach, they will just lighten gradually. And the longer you leave it, the more it will lighten.

Beware of some hairpieces though - some simply don't want to bleach. Example:
System 1 - Bleach it to totally blonde takes 45 minutes to 1 hour (I had to do this for knots).
System 2 - Bleach it to totally blonde takes about 6 or 8 hours

Total mystery, and nobody can explain that. Anybody want to try? perhaps some systems are treated somehow differently at the factory, or perhaps it depends on the donor? 6 to 8 hours is an awfully long time for the thing to bleach, and even then they aren't as bleached as the System 1 above.

Highlights look best to me when they are very subtle, just a few shades lighter than the rest of the hair. Especially when they are a subtle blend of varying degrees of lightness. 8-)

I've ordered pieces with a dark color and tried to highlight them. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. It can really damage the integrity of the hair if you leave it on too long.

If you just want some blonde highlights, I'd recommend ordering it the color you want and then highlighting it. Ask your stylist to only go up to 30 volume. I've noticed that 40 volume can turn the hair to mush. Not pretty. If she has good bleach, it will lift through the color. If she uses a cheap bleach, well, say a prayer.