I am thinking about going to the salon and having my hair bleached?

I have had my hair lightened and of course in order to get a blonde color in dark hair bleach has to be involved. Your hair does get thinned out a little but if you deep condition your hair it should be fine. I did not dye my whole head but if I did, I think I would look a mess because the damage does take a toll.

Even if your take good care of your hair, after it is bleached, it won't matter. Your hair will be damaged and your going to have to constantly watch out for it and keep it protected so nothing worse happens to it. If I were you, I would not bleach my hair. When people bleach their hair it often looks terrible either right away or soon after.

But if you do decide to get it done anyways, always make sure your maintaining it because your hair isn't going to have as much body and swing to it if you don't. Use shampoo for color treated hair, get trims regularly (every 4 months), do deep conditions at least every 2 weeks and try not to add excessive heat or any other chemicals to your hair.

Good luck!

It depends on how dark your hair is. Mine is naturally dark brown, and I made the mistake of trying to go blond! After I got it bleached, it was super thin and fragile. I honestly thought I was going bald! Its still incredibly damaged, and I stopped bleaching it 18 months ago. Even with conditioning treatments, bleached hair is VERY hard to repair! Instead of bleaching all your hair at once, I'd recommend getting lots of blond highlights each time you visit the salon. After a couple trips, you'll be blond, it'll look much more natural (especially if you get a few different shades of highlights), and it won't damage your hair as much! Hope this helps and good luck!

I had it done a couple of years ago in London. It was the guy's idea and as he was a well known hairdresser and great at colour I trusted him. It looked great because although my hair is brown, I have light skin and light eyebrows. However I had to keep it short and use expensive products as it damages your hair. I also had to get my roots done all the time or I felt grubby looking. I dyed it brown again after a year as I wanted it to grow and it has become much longer and healthier. I'm really glad I did it though as it changed my look completely. Go to a good hairdresser who will know how long to keep the colour on. And if you have long hair that you want to keep, I wouldn't do it.

For color, just take in a photo of what color you want.

When I bleached my hair, it did not thin. It was damaged/straw like for a few months after though.

ETA: If your hair is really damaged feeling after, it's not a good idea to straighten it.