Your hair gets its natural colour from the pigment molecule called melanin. Different melanin types
are present in different ratios in different people. Hair bleach is a chemical agent that lightens your
hair colour by removing those pigments from your hair strands. Most hair bleaching products
contain two types of chemicals an alkaline agent and an oxidising agent. Thonolamine or ammonia
provides the alkaline conditions while hydrogen peroxide helps on oxidation. Sometimes persulfate
salts added as additional oxidising agents. The alkaline agents open up the cuticle of your hair and
creates a suitable environment for oxidising agent to work. Under the alkaline condition, hydrogen
peroxide chemically cleaves the melanin molecule and causes them to undergo oxidative
degradation. As a result, the melanin pigments dissolves which makes hair lighter in colour. Some
people confuse hair bleaches with those used for household purposes. It’s true such household
bleaches also use the process of oxidation but they are much more toxic and corrosive and should
never be used on your body.
How you do the least damage to your hair while bleaching.
Since bleach is a harsh chemical can singnificantly affect the health and texture of your hair, it’s
essential to take all the necessary precautions to ensure that you’re prioritising the health of your
hair.Bleaching can be done alone, or as a step for further hair colouring. If you follow up a toner or
a permanent or a semi or demi permanent dye, make sure to choose moisture rich ones, they infused
with conditioning ingredients to help protect and repair hair during the colour process.
Other things to remember, use low volume bleach developer, try not to go higher than 20 volume.
Use coconut oil before bleaching hair. Rub coconut oil from the root to tip to hydrate your hair. Let
coconut oil absord into your hair at least one hour even longer if possible.
Do not try to reach a very high level of lightening with one session of bleach, try to work your way
up through different levels of blonde, with enough time, let your hair heal between each session.
You may need to do root touch up every 4-6 weeks as regrowth becomes apparent, try to apply only
to the roots to minimise chemical exposure on the lengths.
Before you bleaching
Before you bleaching, ask yourself how does your hair feel? Can it truly handle the damage that
you’re about to do to it? Next it’s important to understand your current hair colour situation, if your
hair is already processed, if you have used any type of box dye, or if you have virgin unprocessed
hair these can cause variations in how your hair will lift with the bleach.
Latex or nitrile gloves can be worn to protect the hands. Apply a thin layer of petroleum jelly
around hairline to protect your skin from discoloration.
Application.
The hair closest to the scalp processes quicker than anywhere else on the hair shaft. This means you
must apply the colour on the roots last not first. Always start colouring from the back, where the
hair is darkest and will require more time to process, then move to the sides and finish at the top.
Processing time may vary, it depends on the natural level of starting colour of your hair and end
result desired, based on that to figure out how long the bleach mixture should stay on your head,
typically 30 or 45 minutes when you wish to achieve maximum colour change. (but remember
never to exceed 45 minutes).
The right amout of time to let the bleach sit depends on:
- Your hair type
- Your starting colour
- The colour you’re hoping to achieve
- The volume of the developer
You might not achieve your desired result on the first try, keep in mind that it could take several
bleaching sessions to get a drastic change in your hair colour, it is important to be patient, make
sure to give your hair enough recovery time, over-processing can cause breakage and hair loss make
sure always stick to the recommended sitting time a minimum of 14 days apart, before attempting
another bleach treatment. If to bleach black hair, you should go two shades lighter each time you
bleach.
Side effects of bleaching
• The lingering scent of ammonium hydroxide
• Bleaching causes 15-20% of the hair’s protein bands to break. Keratins are the key proteins
that make up your hair. When keratins break, hair strands lose structual integrity and become
brittle.
After bleaching and how to maintain your colour
Once the bleach lightens your hair enough, you can use a hair dye or a toner to alter your colour.
Toner is a common practice after bleaching to mask the undesirable red and orange tones.Similar to
the bleaching method, mix toner with developer with the same proportion as your bleach
mixture.The toner and mixture will turn purple and that’s normal. Through toning, the yellow hues
of bleached hair can be removed to achieve platinum hair. The appropriate colour of the toner
depends on the colour of the bleached hair, for example, to remove the yellow tones a violet dye
will be needed, but red and orange hues a green and blue tone would be more suitable. Aternatively,
tinted shampoo can also be used to counteract brassy undertones of the hair, it’s a great way to keep
your blonde hair from getting too brassy , you can use purple shampoo once a week or whenever
your hair starts to get too yellow. All in all, bleach makes your hair light and the colour or toner
gives you the final colour you want.
After all the chemical damage you did to your hair, it is important to replenish
Hair treatment products can seal the outer layer of strands so they temporarily appear smoother
and less frayed and softer, and help hair from further damage. Damaged hair is stripped of its outer
layer, conditioner can help replenish it with emollient ingredients like silicones and plant oil and
butter. They coat wet hair so it’s easier to detangle, which can lead to less damage and make hair
silkier and more manageable. For maximum benefits to prevent further damages, use a rinse off
conditioner after every shampoo, plus a leave-in conditioner on damp hair. However,Once hair is
split or broken, nothing can permanently fuse it back together, the only long term solution is by
cutting your hair to trim off damaged hair.
Meandering leads to perfection 