STUFF YOU WILL NEED - DETAILS & LINKS

Please note! Most of these are Amazon affiliate links, so if you buy something I will earn a teeny percentage. Thank you!

• Bleach - I LOVE Ion Bright White Creme Lightener by Color Brilliance. It lightens quite a bit, fairly quickly, and is super easy to mix. It's great that it is a creme not a powder so you don't have to worry about inhaling bleach powder.


• Developer - Color Brilliance also makes great developer - here's 20 Volume. Regarding developer volume - it comes in levels, 20-40 with higher number being stronger. if you've never bleached your hair before, I'd start with 20. you might have to leave it on a little longer than you would with a higher volume to achieve the desired lightness, but you run less of a risk of burning your scalp and irreparably frying your hair. If you've bleached your hair before, ignore me and do whatever you normally do to achieve 2-4 levels of lightening. IMPORTANT NOTE: Do NOT use an overly conditioning bleach! The whole point of bleaching is not just to lighten so the color shows better, it's to deliberately damage the hair shaft JUST ENOUGH so that the vegetable dye can be absorbed! Don't worry, your hair will end up in beautiful condition, not fried at all!


• Dye - I exclusively use Directions by La Riche. It's a lot like Manic Panic in that it's a vegetable dye, but the consistency is better, being more of a cream than a runny mess like MP. Above is just a sample Amazon listing that just so happens to be dark blue. But it comes in one million colors. Yes, it can be expensive because it comes from the UK - check eBay for other colors because Amazon selection is mad limited. It's worth it. This listing is for 4 tubs. Depending on how long and thick your hair is, you will need 1-3 tubs per application. Always better to get more and have extra then to run out! This is a stain like henna, not like a box dye, so it repairs the damage done by the bleach.


• Excess Color Remover - This REALLY comes in handy when you get dye on your sink, your face or pillow (the towel often moves around during sleep): Roux Color Remover.


• Conditioner - Surprisingly - considering their box dye with wacky colors is hot garbage (THE WORST I have ever used and totally fried my hair) - L'Oreal's Feria Professional Conditioner is GREAT! Of course, it's discontinued. I buy it on eBay at exorbitantly high prices, and make it last a long time by literally only using it right after I dye my hair - and for maybe like a week after. Here's a link to a current listing and here's a pic of the tube for future reference:
  
  
  If you're not a maniac like me, you can use some other conditioner, just make sure it's kind of fake with like silicon. You want one that really seals in the color. This is not the time for herbal hippie shit.

• Bowl & brush - here's a basic bowl & brush set. You should have two bowls because I personally do not like to put my dye in the same bowl the bleach was in. Even though you must wash it out immediately after use for health & safety reasons, I'm always paranoid there will still be some bleach residue and you do NOT want that! It's not like they break the bank anyway. You will reuse these for YEARS! One of mine is an old tupperware!

Capes:
• here is a good cape for the bleach stage. I like it because the stiff plastic means the bleach stays on the cape, instead of dripping onto your clothes. now you COULD just put this same cape back on after washing out your bleach, but I don't recommend it. better to get all bleach-related stuff away from you ASAP for health reasons.


• here is a good style of cape for the dye stage. these are softer and not as annoying to wear, and they come in jaunty colors like purple! or basic bitch black. ain't nothing wrong with that.


• Processing Caps - These are disposable and come in sets of like 100, which is great. You can also use them for deep-conditioning treatments.


• Comb - just a basic wide toothed plastic comb, here's a set of two. You want wide-toothed so it doesn't snag, because your hair is very fragile after the bleach and while wet with the dye.


• Gloves - basic disposable food-safety type gloves are fine. Here are some nitrile ones I like - avoid latex in case you're secretly allergic. These come in a bunch of sizes.


• Hairdryer: Why do I specify an OLD hairdryer? Because most modern ones use ionic smoothing technology which is the exact opposite of what we want. We want to ruffle up the hair shaft so it absorbs the dye better. I literally use my mother's old Conair Baby from the 80s. Here's an eBay listing for the type you want, brand doesn't matter but just a normal hand-held one from 30-40 odd years ago. You can also find them at estate sales and thrift stores for like 10 bucks. Since this link won't last forever, here's a pic: