Summer is on the way and as you dream of warm, sunny days, you decide you want a little (or a lot!) of that sunshine in your hair. Maybe you’ve never tried coloring your own hair, or maybe you are a serious pro; either way, these tips will get your summer color off to a spectacular start!

First, if you are going three shades or more lighter than your original color, you are going to need a bleach. If you have a perm, it is not a good idea to bleach over that as it will severely damage your hair. If you have previously bleached your hair and have more than a month’s worth of growth, this could cause an off-color stripe where the new bleach and old bleach meet.

Most salons call the brown to blonde transition a double process, but some hair color packages don’t explain what these means. Hair is made up of primarily red and black pigments and, as you lighten your hair you remove the black, leaving behind red.

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