Congrats on team blue to both of you!!
And Rachael, I know this wasn't addressed to me, but...
You can pre-lighten your hair first, but there is one problem with it. Being that it's black, it will be extremely difficult to lift (also, if it's been dyed in the last few weeks, it will make it harder). Depending on what color your natural hair color is can also affect it. If you have found in the past that your hair absorbs red in dye, then it means your hair has a red base to it. This also means that when you pre-lighten it, it will come out an orange-color, and put a red undertone to any color you dye it later. But again... it could be hard to strip the black dye out completely.. They say you should only do one pre-lightening treatment, never double. If you do one, and end up with spots of darker color (another risk with lightening black), you'll want to choose a color that can cover it all up. Otherwise you'll end up with what my sister calls "cheetah spotted hair", with un-even tones all over...
Another way you can start lightening it and preparing it to lighten evenly is to dye it a shade or two lighter each time (since most dye fades, it should help. Black usually fades to a dark brown over time, so going a shade or two lighter in the ash-brown or neutral-brown type should help it lighten slowly over time). Your roots won't completely match the rest, but it will be so incredibly close that nobody will notice it. If you REALLY want to hide the roots not matching, you can add highlights throughout your hair (it'll take the focus away from the base color/colors).
I hope I answered your question for you without giving you an information overload.. haha My sister has been teaching me as much as possible about the hair part of cosmetology, since she has me do her hair all the time (cut, color, and extensions.. it's too hard to do herself, and she doesn't trust other stylists to get what she wants haha).
hehe one of each now huh? that's what i'm hoping for come thurs! xx
....i seee we gonna have lots of boys in this thread 