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This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at SBU chapter.

Anyone who knows me, or really anyone who has seen me, knows that my hair is always bright. 

I first bleached my hair in April of 2021, and I haven’t had natural color since. 

This has become something that I am known for: my vivid and expressive hair colors. And I like it that way. 

I like that the first thing people notice about me isn’t my face or my body but the colorful mess that sits atop my head. 

However, this colorful lifestyle does require some pretty intense upkeep. From my roots growing out to the color fading, I must dye my hair every 2 months to maintain the look I want.

This brings us to this weekend: Bleach Day. I plan on going home, taking a trip to Sally Beauty, and hiding in the bathroom for 5 hours re-perfecting the look. 

Disclaimer: I am not a professional hair colorist. I don’t know what I am doing and everything that I have learned is from various YouTube videos. I recommend going to a professional. However, I do not have the funds to support spending $300 on my hair right now. #brokecollegestudent

Here is my plan for how I am going to attack this, along with some tips: 

Step one: Mix the bleach and prepare the dye

Hair bleach is a pretty exact science. While it does vary depending on which products you use, most instructions say to mix equal parts developer and bleach. This is always tricky for me because I don’t have a scale or really any measuring tools, so I just pour with my heart. It has never led me wrong but PLEASE DON’T DO THIS. 

The dyes I typically use don’t require any mixing. The brand I use changes every time but here are the ones I use the most (from favorite to least favorite): Manic Panic, Punky Color, and Arctic Fox. 

Step two: Apply the bleach and wait

This is the trickiest part for me. Since I am dyeing my hair by myself this weekend, I won’t have any help to reach the tricker parts of my head. The back might end up a little sketch but I try to adopt the mentality that the back of my hair is none of my business. 

After applying, the wait time is usually around 20 minutes and it is kind of uncomfortable. Most of the time when using bleach, especially directly on your roots so close to your scalp, it burns or tingles a bit. 

Step three: Wash and apply dye

After sitting for a sufficient amount of time, you have to be gentle and wash out all the remaining bleach in your hair. You don’t want to be too harsh while rinsing it out because your hair will be fragile after such an intense product sitting in it. This is only made worse by the fact that your hair is most fragile while wet, so the two factors can mean you have to be super careful of how you treat your hair. 

After letting your hair dry naturally, you can start with the application of the dye. Applying the dye is a lot easier for me than applying the bleach. Rather than just focusing on a specific part of my hair, I can just lather my entire head in whatever color I choose. Most of the time I choose pink or red and this time will be no different. I chose a darker red to match my Halloween costume (Rosetta from The Fairies of Pixie Hollow). 

Step four: Wait, Rinse, and Voila!

This is the best part. The anticipation to see what it looks like is the best thing ever. The dye usually takes longer to process than bleach and you have to be more careful not to touch or bump anything so you don’t dye anything else. I usually sit with the dye in for an hour. 

After rinsing it out, wait for it to dry to get the full effect of what it will look like. I love this part. The first day after dyeing your hair a new color is the greatest because you can get everyone’s reaction and feel confident in your new look. 

Abigail Taber is a second-year writer for the St. Bonaventure chapter of Her Campus. She enjoys writing about culture, entertainment, and the happenings in her college life. Abigail is excited to shadow the editing team this year and to be a part of such a cool organization that centers around the work and interests of women. Beyond Her Campus, Abigail is the poetry editor for the literary magazine on campus, The Laurel, a member of College Democrats, and SBU for Equality. Abigail has had her creative writing published in both her high school's and university's literary magazines. She is currently a sophomore at St. Bonaventure University, double majoring in English as well as Literary Publishing and Editing. In her free time, Abigail, or Abbey to her friends, enjoys reading, listening to music, and looking at art for her next tattoo. She is a music trivia master and a known enjoyer of any, and all, romance books. She hopes to pursue a career in publishing books in a big city. Growing up in a small suburb of Buffalo, New York, Abbey hopes to embody the city-of-good-neighbors attitude.