Silver Hair

One question i'm asked a lot be it on my blog or just out on nights out, is how do I get my hair so silver, and as recently I have been making an effort to look after my hair more, I thought I would share some tips for anyone who has or would like white blonde/silver hair.

My hair history is long and varied, I first dyed my hair at 13/14 it was a purple colour and after that I tried out blue streaks, bright red and black which was what I finally settled for. It wasn't until I was 17 that I decided I wanted white blonde hair mainly due to this picture of Debbie Harry on the right we had in our house, honestly I thought she was the embodiment of cool and wanted to look just like her - and still kinda do!

I've never bleached my hair straight away to achieve the white blonde colour, i've always built it up with some highlights to get my hair used to the bleach and then gone for an all over colour after around 6 months, i've had to do this twice; the first time I went blonde and when coming back from a bizarre black hair dye choice in 2009! When your hair is bleached it goes a yellow/orange colour so I always ask for a purple toner which takes out the yellowness and achieves the silver colour. Having your hair bleached can be expensive and sometimes a little uncomfortable so I only tend to have it bleached every 2-3 months rather than the normal 6-8 weeks, I don't mind having roots so I guess it's down to personal preference.

It's no secret that bleaching your hair can really take it's toll on the condition, so over the past 6 months i've built up a little hair saviour kit which I really do feel has made a difference to the condition and look of my hair.

Washing 
I wash my hair with TreSemme Platinum Strength Shampoo which smells great, I can really feel this Shampoo cleaning my hair without the fear that it will strip the colour, you should always use a colour conditioning shampoo for bleached hair otherwise it can go a bit brassy - not what we want.

I then use Bleach London Silver Shampoo as a toner rather than a shampoo. I apply this to my hair and then leave it on for 15 minutes to really bring out the silver/purple in my hair. I don't find that this shampoo is very good at cleaning my hair but it is fantastic at bringing out the colour, which is why I use TreSemme first, as it can feel a little dry if I didn't. Sometimes I put Silver Shampoo straight onto dry hair and leave for half an hour, it might not work for everyone but I tend to do that before a night out/event because it makes my hair super silver!

Conditioning
After 15 minutes I wash out the Silver Shampoo and condition with TreSemme Platinum Strength Conditioner, this conditioner instantly makes my hair feel soft and I can run my fingers through it straight away. Every few washes I use the TreSemme Platinum Strength Deep Conditioning Mask, I apply it to my hair and then wrap a warm towel around my hair which opens up the hair and really conditions it. I leave it on for anything from 10 minutes to half an hour depending on what else i'm doing and afterwards my hair is insanely soft! The TreSemme range is specifically for platinum hair, I don't think it is able to repair the ends of my hair but it has definitely made a difference to the overall condition.

After Care

When I take my wet hair out of the towel it can be a bit knotty so I use Redken Extreme Anti Snap Treatment first followed by Moroccan Oil Light and brush it with a Tangle Teezer.

Snapping and breakage is a big issue for bleached hair because the hair is quite weak and dry from all the chemicals so pulling a brush through it can cause quite bad breakage. I've been using Redken Anti Snap for around 6 months and can honestly feel how much stronger my hair is, it's more expensive than I would usually pay for a hair product but i've only used half the bottle in six months and really think it's helping with the condition of my hair. Morroccan Oil is a great product for any hair type or colour and again since using this I really can feel that the ends of my hair feel healthier and it is a lot smoother once dry. I have previously review the Tangle Teezer which you can find here. 

I was really excited to try out the TreSemme Platinum Repair range as anything that will help my damaged hair is always appealing to me and I am really surprised at the quality of the range considering the price. I've never been a TreSemme follower before but I can see why it's advertised as 'salon quality at home' it really has made a difference to my bleached hair.

If anyone also has silver/bleached hair and has some other product tips let me know in the comments, i'm always on the lookout for more products!