How to take hair from Orange to Platinum Blonde

Are you looking to go from orange to white platinum blonde?

Without any trace of yellow, and hair totally totally white?

It is totally possible to achieve that.

Provided you use the right techniques and the right products.

In this article we will show you how you can achieve that.

Even if you have orange or yellow hair!

WATCH VIDEO: HOW UGLY DUCKLING TONERS GET YOU TO PEARL BLONDE

Using Ugly Duckling Bleach & Intense Pearl Blonde 100V Toner. Hair by Elona Taki

Step 1: Assess Your Current Hair Level

So how orange is your hair exactly?

It it more like a canary orange?

Or more of a yellow-orange?

Before you begin the process of going from orange or yellow to platinum blonde, we need to find out your exact hair level.

In order to do that, use the table below to guide you.

Use this table to read off the current level of your hair

Now answer the question: are you mainly level 6, level 7, level 8 or level 9 and higher?

If you are seeing mainly bright orange, you are at level 5.

If you are seeing yellowish orange, you are at level 6.

If you are seeing orangish yellow, you are at level 7.

And if you are seeing mainly yellow, you are at level 8 or higher.

For all these hair levels, you will need to use a good bleach to lift out your orange and take the hair to blonde.

Step 2: Understanding the Bleach & Tone

The technique we are going to be using today is called "Bleach & Tone".

We are going to be bleaching the hair from orange all the way to level 10 blonde.

Then we are going to be toning with some pretty powerful purple and blue based blonde toners.

Let's go!

Step 3: Choosing Your Bleach

Brilliant Blondexx bleach with Bond Protect.

Brilliant Blondexx Bleach with Bond Protect

The choice of bleach is really important when removing orange and going blonde.

We would suggest you use Brilliant Blondexx bleach with Bond Protect.

It has enough lifting power so that you can get the job done relatively fast.

Depending on which level your hair is sitting at, you will have between 3 and 5 levels of lifting to be done.

If you are lifting 1-3 levels, 20 Vol will be correct.

For anything more that, you will need 30 Vol. developer.

Step 4: How to Mix and Apply Your Bleach

Mix your bleach is a ratio of 2 parts developer to 1 part bleach.

This will give you a nice wet mixture which you can apply fast and easily.

It will also allow the bleach mixture to penetrate really thoroughly into the hair.

It's important that you use plenty of product so that the hair can get thoroughly drenched in the bleach mixture.

Begin by sectioning your hair into small sections and applying bleach to each section using a brush.

As you bleach your hair, you'll notice that it goes through several stages of lightening.

The first stage is typically a brassy orange color, followed by a lighter orange, then yellow, and finally pale yellow or white.

It's important to keep a close eye on your hair as it lightens.

Don't under-bleach: that is a really common mixtake. Take the hair all the way up to how it is in the picture below.

Otherwise you won't get rid of all the orange and you won't be able to take your hair to platinum blonde.

Rinse when you get the hair to level 9 or level 10 

Step 5: Using Purple Shampoo or Mask on your Bleached Hair

Using Purple Shampoo & Mask is a good idea after bleaching if you are trying to take the hair Platinum blonde

At this stage it's a good idea to use Purple Shampoo and Mask.

Not only will this help you get rid of any remaining yellow.

And if you use Ugly Duckling Purple Shampoo and Mask, you will also be helping to close the cuticle, returning it to its natural pH.

And hydrating and moisturing it at the same time.

Step 6: How to Choose Your Toner to Get to Platinum Blonde

Now that your hair is well bleached and you are ready to tone, you need to determine the exact shade of blonde hair that you want.

Ugly Duckling has a wide choice of toners to achieve blonde results.

Broadly speaking, there are three categories of toners you need to consider.

You can use intense permanent toners, which lift by up to 2 levels as well as tone.

You can use regular permanent toners, which have very strong purple and blue pigments for toning, but do not lift as much (around 1-2 levels).

And you can also use ammonia-free toners such as Blondify, which tone without lifting.

These are ideal for repeat applications and for people who don't want to go for a more natural looking ash blonde.

We will go through some of these toner choices now.

Level 10 Platinum Blonde - Intense Pearl Blonde 100V & Clear achieved this look

Level 10 Blue Based Ash Blonde - Ugly Duckling 10.1b with 20 Vol achieves this look

Level 10 Platinum Blonde Toning - Ammonia Free Blondify 010V with 20 Vol on bleached hair

Natural Ash Blonde - Ammonia-Free Blondify Toner Natural Ash Blonde 010A with 20 Vol

Natural Violet Blonde - Ammonia-Free Blondify Toner Natural Violet Blonde 010A with 20 Vol

Whichever of these toners you use, be sure to follow the instructions.

Work fast, starting at the part of the hair which needs the most toning.

Ugly Duckling toners are in general rather powerful, and you should start to see a visible change in color inside 15 minutes.

Leave on until you get the desired color.

Then rinse.

For ultra white platinum blonde hair (the first picture) you may need to make a second application on top of the first and leave on for 10 extra minutes.

Step 7: Hydration and Maintenance of Your Platinum Blonde Hair

Brilliant Blondexx Hair Care with Bond Protect

Bleaching and toning to platinum blonde is a fairly major step for the hair, so it's important to take good care of your locks after the process is complete. 

Use Brilliant Blondexx shampoo and mask. It has been designed for bleached hair and contains Bond Protect ingredients to make the hair thicker, stronger and healthier.

It's also a good idea to limit heat styling as much as possible, as heat can further damage bleached hair.

If you do need to use heat, be sure to use a heat protectant spray and keep the temperature as low as possible.