Many people want to lighten their hair at home to avoid expensive salon visits. Bleaching is a process that strips the hair of its natural color to make it lighter, but it's not a one-size-fits-all process and should be approached with caution. This guide provides advice on how to bleach your hair at home, including how long to leave the bleach on and how to minimize damage.
Bleach is an aggressive chemical that works by opening the hair cuticle and dissolving the color (melanin). The two most common types of bleaches use ammonia and hydrogen peroxide. The longer the bleach stays on your hair, the more protein bonds (keratin) are destroyed, which can lead to significant damage.
Nikki Goddard, a certified hairstylist and makeup artist, warns against products labeled "peroxide-free," as they often contain other oxidizing agents that may be even more harmful.
How long you leave bleach in your hair depends on several factors:
The maximum amount of time you should leave bleach on your hair is 30 minutes. Leaving it on longer than that can cause brittle strands and other serious damage.
Read also: Long Hair and Scalp Health
Besides leaving bleach on for too long, there are other risks associated with bleaching:
Before attempting to bleach your hair at home, consider these essential precautions:
Complete a Patch Test: Perform a patch test before applying bleach to your entire head to check for allergies or excessive damage. According to Kerry E. Yates, founder of Colour Collective and a trichologist in training, if the hair ends kink up, look frizzy, or frayed, do not lighten your hair.
Read the Directions Carefully: Always follow the product directions carefully and wear gloves and protective eyewear. Vincent De Marco, hairstylist and owner of Vincent Hair Artistry, recommends taking professional steps, such as wearing gloves and protective eyewear. Check the hair's lightness level every 5 to 10 minutes, starting after 10 minutes, but never leave the bleach on for longer than 1 hour. If the desired results aren’t achieved after 30 minutes, rinse it out, mix a fresh batch, and reapply.
Consider Your Hair Type: If you have relaxed, straightened, or chemically treated hair, avoid bleaching, as it can cause the hair to turn to dust. While bleach can be used on curly hair, be very gentle during application.
Read also: Brazilian Wax Guide
Follow these tips to restore your hair’s health and softness after bleaching:
Sarah Conner, a master hair colorist and celebrity stylist, emphasizes that bleaching is a chemical service, not a conditioning treatment. She advises that seeking a skilled professional is best for on-scalp lightening applications, as it can be risky. However, it’s possible to do it at home if you follow step-by-step instructions and consider your hair’s condition at every stage.
Before starting, gather the following:
Follow the brand’s specific instructions for mixing the bleach. The lighter your natural hair color, the lower the developer volume you’ll need; the darker your hair, the higher the developer required.
For long hair, start with the mid-lengths of the hair first, away from the scalp and ends. After that, go back and apply it to the roots and ends. Cover the hair with a plastic processing cap or wrap to lock in heat and prevent the bleach from drying out.
Read also: Detecting Alcohol Use via Hair Analysis
Processing time varies depending on hair color and developer volume. Check your hair every 15-20 minutes. Lift to a pale yellow (melted butter) for a safe choice. Toning will be the next step if you prefer a cooler, lighter blonde.
Rinse thoroughly with warm (not hot) water and apply toner. A cool-toned or silvery toner will help eliminate any remaining yellow hues.
Rinse your hair and proceed with shampooing and conditioning using hydrating, color-safe products. Use lightweight leave-in conditioners and hair oils daily to help maintain moisture and prevent brittleness. Minimize heat styling and use a heat protectant when necessary.
Touch up bleached roots every 4-6 weeks. Use purple shampoo once or twice weekly to keep brassiness at bay.
When you bleach hair, you strip out the color pigments from the hair cortex, making the hair lighter.
Hair bleaches contain persulfates. When combined with an oxidizing agent such as hydrogen peroxide, the cuticle of the hair gets opened up. The chemical then enters the cortex and lightens out the melanin, or pigments.
Both bleach and oxidizing color penetrate the hair cortex and lift the melanin out. However, bleach can lift the hair by as much as 8-9 levels, while hair color typically lifts by a couple of levels at most. Additionally, hair color re-colors the melanin, while bleach only makes it lighter.
Bleaching is a fairly aggressive process, but providing the hair is healthy and you use quality ingredients and the right techniques, you should be able to achieve a quality result.
The chemicals are fairly strong, and most women feel a slight discomfort when it is applied on the scalp. Using a quality bleach will limit the itchy sensation and protect the scalp.
On medium-length hair, the application process should take between 10 and 20 minutes. The processing time after that can be around 30 minutes. Re-application of bleach, if necessary, and a second round of processing can add another 30 minutes.
Once you bleach hair, it is bleached permanently, unless you recolor or retone.
We would recommend that you bleach hair once only and do it right, so that it is lifted all the way to where it needs to be, and avoid repeated bleach applications.
High lift color can lift hair around 3-5 levels if you use it with 30 Vol developer, but bleach will give you a better lift with more melanin or color taken out.
For those wanting to get their hair platinum blonde, we recommend that you bleach the hair first all the way to level 10, then tone.
Bleach, developer, rubber gloves, some plastic clips, a plastic coloring bowl, and a dye brush are the basics. You will also need a toner for use after bleaching, as well as purple shampoo or mask, and some post-bleaching hair treatment products.
No, you should not do that. It is perfectly OK to apply bleach on dry dirty hair, even if that hair has product on it. The best preparation for bleaching hair is to leave it unwashed for a few days prior to bleaching it.
Wet the hair, then take one strand and pull it apart. If it stretches a little, that means it has its natural elasticity, which means it is healthy enough to bleach.
Brilliant Blonde 8 level lifting bleach has been specially designed for lifting dark hair.
Brilliant Blondexx is a 7 level lifting bleach with Bond Protect. It can be used on-scalp and on fragile hair.
Brilliant Blondexx with Bond Protect. The Bond Protect and the very creamy, oily mix will protect the scalp during the bleaching process.
Brilliant Blonde. Be prepared to do a couple of applications, once with 30 vol, then rinse, then again with 20 Vol.
20 and 30 Vol developer are the 2 strengths most commonly used.
It depends on how well you bleach the hair. If you bleach it all the way to a consistent ultra-pale yellow (level 10), then you can use ammonia-free toners.
Purple shampoo and mask will help keep yellow away. A Bond Protect hair treatment can help strengthen the hair after bleaching.
For lifts of up to 3 levels, and for the root area, use 20 Vol. For lifts greater than 3 levels, use 40 Vol. For second applications of bleach, always use 20 Vol.
1 part bleach to 2 parts developer will give you the right mix - not too runny, not too thick.
Mix in a plastic bowl using a plastic whisk or dye brush. Make sure that the mix is completely smooth and homogenous, with no bits.
For root and regrowth applications, apply just on the regrowth area and wait for it to lift.
For full head applications, section the hair into 4 large sections. Pin these sections up with plastic clips. Then open up a section at the back and start your bleaching application there, segmenting finely. Then open up the other sections and work your way around.
Take strands of hair and bleach them with a dye brush. You can use foil to keep these strands separate from the hair which you don't want to bleach.
Bleaching using foil is a great idea when the hair is very dark and you have a lot of lifting to do. Using foil keeps the heat in and allows for faster processing speed when bleaching.
The rule is to apply as much product as possible. Literally whack it on. No tentative pokes when applying bleach. Your hair needs to get fully saturated with the bleach mixture.
Check the bleach 10-15 minutes after it starts processing to how well it is lifting. Your aim is level 10 which is a very, very pale yellow. If after 15 minutes it is bright orange or orange-yellow, the chances are it is not going to get to level 10 in 40 minutes. So at this stage you need to make fresh bleach mix (use 20 Vol) and re-apply to those parts which are really orange and brassy.
You can bleach your hair all the way from dark to blonde provided you use quality products and you do it right. Use 30 Vol the first time and then 20 Vol for second applications.
After applying bleach, wait 10 minutes, then check one part of the hair to see how fast it is lifting. Wait until the hair gets to a very very pale yellow, then rinse.
Rinse when the hair is at level 10 - very very pale yellow.
tags: #how #long #to #leave #bleach #in
