Facts about Bleaching Hair

Bleaching hair is a chemical process applied to the hair for the purpose of lightening its color. Home hair bleaching is common, but due to the harshness of the procedure many women (and men) opt to pay a hair care professionals to perform the job.

Essentially the chemistry involved in bleaching relies on the interaction of a developer (with an oxidizing agent, normally hydrogen peroxide) and an alkalizing agent. When the mixture is applied to the hair, it raises the scales of the outer layer of the hair shafts. Once past this outer layer, the cuticle, the alkalizing agent (generally in concert with a tint) combines with the hydrogen peroxide and diffuses into the cortex or central portion of the hair shaft.

The melanin responsible for hair color is found inside the cortex. The bleaching chemicals break down the melanin and replaces it with the new color represented by the accompanying tinting agent. The new color will remain in the hair shaft until growth occurs (usually six to twelve weeks) and for this reason, bleaching hair is considered one of the permanent hair dying methods.

Why Would You Bleach?

There is only one reason to apply these chemicals, bleaching your hair blonde. Many individuals take the old cliché "blondes have more fun," to heart and regard the complete alteration from brunette to platinum to be daring and life changing. Going blonde is also a popular way to hide graying hair. It is harder to bleach red hair than dark hair and extremely dark hair should be bleached in stages to avoid damaging the hair as much as possible. Normally with repeated bleaching, black hair will first become red, then an orange hue, followed by yellow, and finally white.

The reason that bleached hair looks yellow is that a-keratin is naturally a pale yellow color. At its most simple chemical structure, hair is ninety percent a-keratin (a protein) and ten percent water. Tints are added to bleaching solutions to achieve a more pleasing shade to the lightened hair.

What is involved?

Bleaching hair with h2o2 (hydrogen peroxide) is essentially the same at home or in a salon. Consider that a hair care professional will have a better understanding of the chemical process involved in bleaching and will be better able to prevent damage to your hair. If you do decide to proceed with a home bleaching kit, however, the item at the head of a list of hair bleaching tips is read the directions. Then read them again, and probably enlist the aid of a friend to insure even application of the bleach and to help you in the event you get any chemicals in your eyes.

You will want a towel that you don't mind ruining and clothing or a protective garment of some kind that can likewise suffer damage and potentially be discarded. Most kits for bleaching hair come with plastic gloves, if not, you should purchase an inexpensive pair.

Prepare the chemicals as per the directions. When you are ready to apply the bleach, start at the back of the head, work around, and then move to the top with the supplied applicator brush. Work as quickly as possible to insure even distribution of the bleach.