You’ll need:
Closure/frontal (I bought this 18-inch Brazilian loose wave closure from the vendor Alipearl on Aliexpress)
Foil
Hair tie
Gloves
Oil based product (optional): I used my DIY refresh spray
Mixing bowl
Mixing utensil
Neutralising shampoo/toning shampoo (preferably both, I only have toner)
Prepare all your tools, the foil will be your workspace. I know I’m not wearing gloves, but you should, also make sure you’re doing all this in a well-ventilated room.
1. If you haven’t already, open up your powder bleach. This is the Trulites Rapid White Powder Bleach I got from the hair shop for £2.99. Pour some into a bowl, about three tablespoons. I’m using this empty Gu pot, I have loads of these that I use for various things, they’re actually very useful.
2. Next is to add the developer to activate the bleach. This is the Truzone Cream Peroxide in 9%/30 volume. I shook the bottle and it made a splat when opened so maybe don’t do that, so it doesn’t end up in your eye. I chose this volume since it’s quite strong and black is very hard to bleach. Mix together with preferably a plastic utensil, I just used a knife that I rarely use. I added just enough so that the mixture was a paste, not too liquid so as to prevent the bleach from seeping through to the roots of the closure. Make sure the concoction of powder and developer is well combined.
3. After that, spread the paste over the lace ensuring not to push the product in. Be careful not to get any bleach onto the hair. Also go beyond the hairline so when the lace is cut the tone of the lace will be even.
4. Time when you finished and wrap the lace in foil to make processing time quicker. (optional)
5. My processing time started at 7:36 and ended at 8:13 so that’s 37 minutes of processing. Possibly if I had a thinner solution it would’ve been a shorter time, but I didn’t want to mess up the lace. I was going to leave it a tad longer, but as you can see, while I was checking the colour of the knots, I accidentally dropped some bleach onto the hair. Hence, I had to wash out the bleach immediately.
6. The lace is now a brown colour. You can no longer see the knots! At this point I’d advise to use a neutralising shampoo to ensure if there is leftover bleach after you rinse that the process will stop as the pH will become balanced. Unfortunately, I didn’t have any on hand, but this wig is for myself, so I don’t mind much but if you’re doing this for someone else make sure to neutralise since chemicals can react to the scalp. I made sure to rinse thoroughly before using toning shampoo. This is the John Frieda Sheer Blonde Colour Renew Shampoo; it is purple to offset any orange tones from the bleach. Massage well into the lace and hair to cleanse and tone. The lace still looks a tad orange, but not too bad in my opinion.
7. Dry your closure whichever way you like, and it should be ready to go! This is the corresponding hair I’ll be using to make into a wig in a subsequent video.
