There are so many ways bleach can be used to lighten hair and in the hands of a well-trained and experienced professional the results are true head turners. Working with Bleach is an art form that also requires an understanding of biology (the hair itself), physics (how colour is perceived and manipulated) and chemistry (how the product exchanges with the hair). This blog looks at the artistic considerations when working with bleach.
Bleach can achieve very dramatic as well a subtle effects on your hair, having said that your hair will feel and behave in a different way. You should be prepared to adjust some of your current habits and practices as well as adopting a few new ones to maintain your bleached hair to its fullest. What I am getting at here is, are you ready for the commitment.
Hair and scalp analysis
The scalp needs to be free from any broken skin and look uniform in colour. It’s usually not necessary to have a skin sensitivity test (a patch test) for bleaches when they are used on their own. However, some bleaches can have colours added to stop them giving the hair a brassy or straw-like appearance. Or a follow-up colour is used to tone the hair or give a new colour result, then it is advisable to carry out a skin sensitivity test beforehand.
The hair also needs to be in relatively good condition to being with. Considerations should be made if there is a history of different chemistries on the hair like shorter development times, lower developers and adapted applications. Irrespective of previous chemical services if the hair has been looked after, this will be reflected in the general condition and a pretty good prediction of future condition too.
The natural hair colour; this is a blog all by itself, in the interest of bleaching you do need to be aware what you see is not the full story. The natural hair colour is made up of different melanin, we get to witness them lightening and changing during a bleach process and yes the composition of melanin will have a big impact on what is achievable. We still visually assess dark hair from light hair and know that dark hair will take longer to lift and lighter hair less time to lift. The big WOW for me was when I discovered that you can have the same colour hair as someone else, but the distribution of the melanin is different. If the melanin sits closer to the outer edge of the hair it will be easier to access and lighten, in contrast if the melanin is more evenly distributed throughout the hair (discovered in my hair during a lab experiment) then you will need to be patience and allow additional time. This explained why my relatively normal light brown hair takes a long time to reach a pale yellow.
As part of a consultation I would always recommend a swatch/strand test before starting any large colour change or colour correction. Swatch/strand testing, this is where a few sections of hair are removed or worked directly on the head to pre-run the bleaching process to understand how the hair will behave once the bleach has been applied. I am a big fan of pre-testing especially when working with new clients looking for a big change or approaching a big colour correcting, after all I may understand the chemistry I am working with but I still cannot fully predict how the beach chemistry will exchange with the hair’s chemistry; that is unique to the hair in that moment of time.
Bleach Away Beach Away Bleach Away
Bleaches are worked Full-Head, Highlights, Balayage, Ombre and partial techniques all chosen to emphasis a feature, enhance with lightness or make a unique statement. No matter the technique bleach cannot be rushed and the length of time it takes for it to achieve the final lift required will vary each time the hair treated. Bleach can be influenced through temperature, the amount of product applied, the texture of the hair, porosity as well as the mixing ratio; so, do measure your bleach and developer.
Initially the bleach will appear like it is working very fast, don’t be fooled it is just the beginning as it lightens those very visible brown and black melanin. It will then appear to slow down as it exposes the warmth in the dark melanin and lightens the red and yellow melanin. Generally, when reaching for those clean blondes it feels like the bleach it is coming to a grinding halt just around an unflattering yellowy. The art form is knowing when to stop the development time and that really depends on the target shade. Pale blondes, pastels and cool vivids will need a very pale-yellow substrate that takes the longest to achieve whereas warm blonds, coppers and warm vivids can be worked on a yellow or even an orange substrate. In contrast a smaller colour shift could potentially take 5-10minutes.
Getting a great result
The right developer (H2O2); I know this will sound a bit odd but don’t work with too high or too low a developer. While coaching colourists I see a tendency to work with very low developers which comes from a place of caution but remember the developer is the lightening energy, if the depth and texture of the hair needs a lot of lightening energy to get it to a lightest blonde then you need to power up the mix. In my blog on bleach the science I mention low and slow; this is a technique developed when going for maximum lightening with bleach. The technique recommends once you have selected the right developer choice for the desired result, then reduce it down one level and leave it on a lot longer, up to 60 mins without heat. I remember working on this technique and testing hundreds of models, what is happening is that the lower developer allows the time needed to thoroughly lighten the hair without compromising the hair’s structure.
There are regulations if working with bleach on the scalp, the maximum developer currently allowed is 6% or 20vol. The scalp area is normally the easiest place to lift as the hair is softer (under keratinised) as well as having heat from the scalp so lowers developer normally work a charm.
It is the harder hair 1-2cm/1inch away from the scalp (fully keratinised) that can present the biggest challenge my tips are:
- Choose a stronger mixing ratio; check the manufacturer’s instructions
- Apply plenty of product
- Gently work the product into the harder hair; a little bit of mechanical action can help.
- Do open up the product on head, avoid packing it down as this can cause hot spots where there is a closed mass; causing irregular lightening or over lightening of the hot spot.
- Don’t let the product dry out; it will stop working
- Reapply or top-up if needed
- Place the harder hair into foil for that extra boost of energy
A few cautionary notes
It’s not recommended to cover bleach with a plastic cap during development as the gases that are being released need to escape. A cap will trap these gases as could potentially cause a radical chemistry resulting in the bleach swelling and even separating (water running from product) both of which are not good for the hair or scalp.
You can use heat if it is either stream, yes, a Steamer is a great supporting piece of kit with bleaches, or a colour accelerator such as a Climazon or Roller-Ball all of these large pieces of equipment are designed to be used with bleach. The will heat-up the bleach, so I generally let the bleach work its magic for the first 10-15 minutes and then add the heat that why my scalp or my clients’ scalps will feel a lot more comfortable afterwards. DO NOT use a dry heat such as a hood dryer these will only dry out the bleach.
Don’t be afraid of working with bleach, do learn all about it and respect it and it will reward you with a world of fabulous colours you never thought possible. Says the purple haired lady.
Caroline
