Know what's coming In order to prep your hair for your desired effect, you should know what's involved. There's a big difference between highlights vs. going platinum or adopting mermaid hues, the latter two requiring a process known as "bleach and tone."
"For mermaid hair, you have to take the strands to almost white because any essence of yellow in the hair can mess with blues, purples, greens or pink dyes," explains Bodt. "Underneath all those mermaid hues is a bleach and tone, which is a double process that means the entire head is stripped so it's an even, clean white hue. From there, you can add the fantasy colors on top of it." Same applies for platinum hues, depending on how dark your hair is to start. She recommends going in for a consultation so you know what's involved and so you know what to expect. Also, highlights are obviously easier on your hair than an entire head of processing, so it's best to know what's going down before it actually does.
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