i need advice!
i've been dyeing my hair black since 8th grade and i want to have blonde lowlights, but i'm afraid the bleach wont get the black dye out.

last time i went to a salon to bleach my hair, i wanted my bangs and the hair near my ears pink. so they bleached it first, and it didn't come out. they bleached it 4 more times and it was still a burnt brown color instead of the light blonde i wanted. i was so pissed off, and when they put the pink in it looked like a brownish pink. it was so ugly.

recently my friend told me about hair color stripping. she said it would take all the color out of my hair including my natural color and make it a almost white, platinum blonde. which is what i want! but i'm not sure if i should take the risk and spend money and something that wont work out. i'm planning on getting it done at a salon, so i cant really test it first unless they do it.

all together what i want is platinum blonde hair underneath my black hair, but i'm afraid it wont work out like last time. please help! last time i dyed my hair black was a couple months ago.

From what I know about stripping, it won't lift your natural colour. They are designed to remove dye, although I'm not sure how effective they are, and I've heard it's as damaging or more than bleaching.

so i'd have to strip it then bleach it?

i stripped my 10 year black hair dye way beyond my natrual color. im a light brown dark blonde and it took me to a reddish blonde. i use L'oreal Color zap. There is very little bleach in it so it really dosent damage your hair. its amazing stuff.

Just be careful and do a strand test anyway with the Color Zap. It uses a little bleach, but has other caustic chemicals that can still damage hair - especially if the black you used was permanent dye.
If the black hair dye you have now is semi-perm or an organic based dye (like Aveda), then I'd do a strand test and it should work in one or two apps. However, if the black you have in now is permanent, I'd consider gradually lightening your hair to brown, waiting awhile, then a lighter brown, wait a little longer, then considering going to blonde from there. I know you have to be really patient with this method, but with the gradual change, your hair will definitely thank you. Permanently dyed black hair that's been dyed many times probably wouldn't withstand the Color Zap and break off.