D.I.Y. - Dye Black to Blonde Hair without bleach

Let me be honest with you. I've naturally got jet-black, almost blue hair. The hairs are very fine and I also have a little wave in my hair, a lot of volume when I air dry, and can easily take shape when I use heating tools. I've had virgin hair up until last year and after that I got addicted to coloring my hair and doing whatever i thought I could make it better. When I went in to the salon they told me I would have to bleach my hair if I wanted to have some blonde in the ~ombré~ I wanted. I had my ends lightened to a faint brown, and it turned brassy after a few weeks. I honestly hated that dye job. So I took matters into my own hands after researching on everything about dying hair, from different tones (cool and warm) and which tone worked better for my skin tone. 

Let me start off this DIY by saying I am not a licensed cosmetologist/formally educated hair professional so I cannot guarantee the outcome of anything, but this is what worked for my hair. All hair types are different so the turn out on yours may not be the same, or can damage it.

My hair, because it is Asian, has an orange undertone and can become brassy, so I chose to stick with the ash toned dye. I'll make another post about toning later on.

I used:
dyeing bowl
hair dye brush
Ion High Lift Ash Blonde (12.1) from Sally's. 
Vol 40 Developer  and Vol 30 developer - I used 40 on the first 2 processes then 30 for the next 3.

Getting to this blonde took about 4-5 processes. I did the process about every 3 or 4 weeks, whenever I had time. I started with freshly cut hair, about shoulder length. I started at the ends first, about 1.5 inches. I worked my way up at each process. 

<alien emoji>

I mixed the dye according to the directions, following the ratio as I only used a fraction of the tube of dye for my tips. I sectioned off my hair into 6 sections. All hair below ear level is are the 1st two sections, R and L. Next is the space between the crown and ears. The the last two sections are the crown, R and L, again. 

I applied the dye in vertical directions so that it was not all even. I didn't want to have harsh lines - (as if you put you hair in a pony tail and just dyed all that was under that elastic). I definitely did not want that!! I wanted dimension in it as well.
I left it on as long as I could, but no longer than 2 hours. About 1 hr to 1.5 hours. I wanted to make sure both sides were even as I would start on one side per section.

All it takes is some faith in yourself! And if it goes really bad, at least you start at the ends first - just cut it off if you don't like it! Hair doesn't take that long to grow as long as you take care of it.

Posts soon to come on how to take care of your colored hair and how to restore life to it!