To Bleach or Not to Bleach

This is The Question

There is nothing more gorgeous, more satisfying than bleaching a head of hair Marilyn Monroe blond and toned with an awesome pastel shade. That is the ultimate accomplishment as a Colorist, I was to find out very soon after Academy. I’ve been asked ‘why’ this particular procedure is the highest form of satisfaction. ..  there are many other applications just as time consuming . . .so it is definitely not that reason. It boils down to a very simple answer: taking the hair from dark to white – in a healthy manner.  From dark to white is not easy. Its an art to succeed getting to a level 10-11-12 – but the true trick is to have it look and feel ‘healthy’. I adore doing it… It is a wonderful site to see – and even more fun to do.  
A number of factors need to be considered before embarking on this. Please think these through:

• HAIR LOSS always occurs; remember with “ natural shedding” we lose 150 – 300 hairs every single day. Bleaching speeds this process up, many times one will lose 800-1500 hairs, its nothing you (the client) notice.. its a very common and normal side-effect of bleaching. There is nothing to worry about (I would not bleach if you have thin hair – embark on the 10,000 HEADS regimen first)
• ELASTICITY of hair changes:  hair will go from tight and resistant….into - - -loose and stretchy. That doesn’t mean its in poor health, just that the elasticity has changed. This is another stage where the application of In-TENSIVE or IN-DEPTH provides stability- KillerStrands Store / In-TENSIVE
• HIGH MAINTENANCE ; well you win the prize for that with this procedure, this is the cream of the crop. Nothing is harder to take care of, you have dark roots showing up in 3 weeks and by 5-6 you MUST get the base touched-up. No waffling here…determine if you are up for that challenge. Many are, many are shocked at it. Decide.

One of the myths about bleach come from hairstylists that are terrified of the product. Sound weird? or sound familiar? I have noticed over the years that some hair stylists actually tell their clients that bleach is bad for their hair. The ridiculous reason is they tried to bleach when ‘brand new’ Stylists … the application went south -- either by over or under-bleaching the hair . At this point they panicked and never bleached another head of hair, all the while spreading that propaganda.  Can you guess why this “lame-brain theory” leads to more problems than it fixes? ……….Well, what happens to all of the poor… unsuspecting clients that come in and want their hair the color of Gwyneth Paltrow or Reece Witherspoon?
The Stylist uses a Highlift or a LEVEL 10 ‘lightest blonde” and it is no where NEAR strong enough (the incorrect tool for the job), which is why every other woman walking around with blond hair has brassy blonde.
Both Hair Stylists and YOU, must realize that bleach is a very useful, competent and necessary component of your hair color tools one MUST become familiar with it by practicing and seeing what limitations it does and does not have. One great way is to purchase the real hair swatches and start experimenting away.
Just for your INFO, look at Reece’s hair color up above…she has the most perfect DURP {dominant underlying remaining pigment} on planet Earth. And you know what? She most likely doesn’t even know it

You must face the facts, there are just certain jobs in hair coloring that can only be achieved successfully by a bleach and tone.   The darker or warmer the natural base the more imperative bleaching becomes when very light shades are desired….there can be no compromise. I am not going to deny that bleach can have a drying effect, but it can be fully solved with the use of

• Gleam
• Thriven
• IN-DEPTH
• IN-TENSIVE

applying them both “before” and “after” throughout the procedure. They are all available in the KillerStrands Store.
Killer  Chemist