Hello all. My hair right now is a dark brown, nearly black, but I want it to be blonde really badly. Although my mom said it was too dark to dye blonde, and it makes sense, being such a dark color. I know I should spend more time outside to get it to lighten up, but I don't really have an excuse to be outside, since I don't play sports, so I was planning on dyeing it a light brown, leave it like that for a few weeks, then dye it blonde. Do you think that's the safest way to do it, or should I just go outside as much as I can and get it to lighten up?

Well, whether you dye it or let the sun do it's work, your hair is going to get damaged anyway. I'm not sure how much sun exposure it would take to get a drastic change in hair color; I think that would depend on your hair. However, I'd be more concerned about the damage the sun would do to my skin, especially since we're moving into summer.

If you decide to dye your hair, the method you described sounds rather reasonable. I know lots of people recommend bleaching dark hair in gradual steps to avoid lots of damage to hair instead of going from black to blond in one go, so I think the same would hold true for hair dye.

At any rate, just try to minimize the damage to your hair and treat it gently. Oh, and put on lots of sun block if you decide to let the sun lighten your hair for you. Good luck!

I agree with juri, letting the sun lighten your hair might cause just as much damage as doing it chemically.
Anyway, I can only recommend to have a chemically dye done by a professional if you want to change your hair so many shades and maybe do many highlights rather than dye the whole head. It will look more natural that way and the professional will be more likely able to avoid this orange, yellow blond dark hair turns if not all the red is dyed out correctly. :) (Unless that’s the color you want of course...;))
I would also keep my hands off those sprays that promise to quicker lighten your hair in the sun. They contain peroxide and have always caused massive hair breakage on my hair. :(
Just spray some lemon juice on your hair instead before you go out.
Good Luck! :D

Any technique that lightens the hair will damage it.  Trying to lighten it more than 4 shades will require stripping the hair of its color which is one of the most harsh chemical processes you can do to your hair.

If you must "go blonde", I'd recommend having it done by a color specialist.  They should be able to advise you on what is reasonable to minimize the damage that will occur.