Well, I’ve never been one for mixing colors, mostly because I can’t afford to buy many different bottles of dye at once, but I will suggest you stick to two. Putting them next to each other in your hair they’ll bleed together anyway, and make a third color on their own.

You should definitely bleach your hair if you want bright colors. Velvet blue will show up over dark brown hair because it’s a dark color too, but it’ll be more a highlight than anything, and something lighter like wildflower probably won’t show up much at all. Bleaching can be scary if you’re new to it, so I guess you could go to a salon. Again, I’ve never done that because it’s expensive. For at home bleaching you have the kits from places that sell dye (like Manic Panic or this site called Amphigory I used to buy Special Effects off of) or separate packets of powder and developer from places like Sally’s. It’s a little cheaper to get them separately but the kits will include gloves and a brush, plus you’ll know you’re getting the right thing. Since you have dark brown hair you should get 30 volume (there’s usually a choice between 20 and 30, with 30 being stronger and 20 for people with lighter hair). Since you have a lot of hair you might need two boxes.

The things you should worry about are only keeping the bleach on for the amount of time it says on the box and trying to keep it on your hair rather than your head or hands. If you get some on your scalp and it itches and burns a little bit, that’s normal, but if it really hurts then better safe than sorry, just wash it out. If you don’t get your hair as light as you want it to be the first time, wait a few days before you try again. The same if it’s uneven- wait a while, and when you reapply, only do it on the darker spots. Overbleaching is why people lose their hair, and is when the bleach eats through the hair strand, so only bleach until your hair is light yellow, never try for white.There’s a lot of information on this stuff on the internet, which is how I taught myself to bleach and dye my hair, and I’ve never had any serious problems. Just read a few articles and follow the instructions on the box of bleach and you’ll be fine.

Dying is MUCH easier in comparison. Unnatural colors are usually vegetable dye, so it’s good for your hair and it doesn’t matter where it gets on your skin or scalp, nothing will happen except being stained for a day or two. A few tips from my own experience: leave it in longer than the 30 minutes that’s recommended because it helps the dye last better. Don’t shampoo your hair too much because every time you do you’ll lose some color. Wipe up dye that you spill on the counter or whatever asap because it will stain surfaces too, and pretty quickly. And finally, don’t be too invested in how your hair actually turns out. It’s bound to be slightly different than you imagined, but it’ll probably be cool anyway, so just try to be open minded and enjoy yourself. I hope this helps. :)