Haircolor Tips
Bleach: Friend or Foe?
Beth Minardi
Exclusive Spokesperson for Joico's Vero K-PAK Color
Dear Beth: Can hair lighteners be my friends and not my enemies?
It's unfortunate that so many hair color professionals are uncomfortable with lighteners, especially when they're so important to so many services, including highlights. But it's no surprise. As a young hair colorist fresh out of beauty school, I realized I had never mixed a lightener, applied a lightener or observed a lightener at work. I was taught to perform a lightener application by using a bottle filled with conditioner, and we simulated the application on a mannequin head!
But these are the facts: There is no reason to fear bleach because the results of bleaching hair are always predictable, whether double-processing or adding highlights. In other words, the application of lightener always results in lighter hair - hair will never get darker or stay the same color after bleach is applied.
Tips to ensure that your lightening services are as successful as possible:
1. There are a wide variety of lighteners to choose from including cremes, pastes, liquids and powders. Some are designed for on-scalp applications, some for off-scalp applications. Some--like many cremes, powders and pastes--offer maximum control, while others, like liquids, minimize swelling. Some formulas are more powerful than others. In the end, lightener characteristics vary among manufacturers, so always read product descriptions and directions carefully, and consider your goals and personal preferences before choosing a lightener formula.
2. Developer choice is critical. As a rule, higher volume developers speed up the lifting action of bleach, but they will not drastically increase the level of lift. Lower volume developer leads to a slower rate of lift, which in turn gives you more control. So I believe colorists should always attempt to lighten hair with the mildest developer possible.
3. Colorists often encounter unwanted "side effects" like spotting, banding and brassiness when lifting hair color, and often these are all due to the same thing - uneven application! All lighteners are most effective when neatly and professionally applied onto the smallest possible sections. Neat and tiny sections lead to color success!
Exclusive Spokesperson for Joico's Vero K-PAK Color
Dear Beth: Can hair lighteners be my friends and not my enemies?
It's unfortunate that so many hair color professionals are uncomfortable with lighteners, especially when they're so important to so many services, including highlights. But it's no surprise. As a young hair colorist fresh out of beauty school, I realized I had never mixed a lightener, applied a lightener or observed a lightener at work. I was taught to perform a lightener application by using a bottle filled with conditioner, and we simulated the application on a mannequin head!
But these are the facts: There is no reason to fear bleach because the results of bleaching hair are always predictable, whether double-processing or adding highlights. In other words, the application of lightener always results in lighter hair - hair will never get darker or stay the same color after bleach is applied.
Tips to ensure that your lightening services are as successful as possible:
1. There are a wide variety of lighteners to choose from including cremes, pastes, liquids and powders. Some are designed for on-scalp applications, some for off-scalp applications. Some--like many cremes, powders and pastes--offer maximum control, while others, like liquids, minimize swelling. Some formulas are more powerful than others. In the end, lightener characteristics vary among manufacturers, so always read product descriptions and directions carefully, and consider your goals and personal preferences before choosing a lightener formula.
2. Developer choice is critical. As a rule, higher volume developers speed up the lifting action of bleach, but they will not drastically increase the level of lift. Lower volume developer leads to a slower rate of lift, which in turn gives you more control. So I believe colorists should always attempt to lighten hair with the mildest developer possible.
3. Colorists often encounter unwanted "side effects" like spotting, banding and brassiness when lifting hair color, and often these are all due to the same thing - uneven application! All lighteners are most effective when neatly and professionally applied onto the smallest possible sections. Neat and tiny sections lead to color success!
Test Cases
There is no better teacher than hands-on experience, so if you're not completely comfortable working with lighteners, I recommend the following exercises:
I believe that working with bleach is essential in any salon for performing creative or corrective hair coloring. So if you suffer from "fear of lighteners," I encourage you to try these exercises. Learn everything you can about the lighteners and hair color products available to you, and your coloring world will brighten significantly!
There is no better teacher than hands-on experience, so if you're not completely comfortable working with lighteners, I recommend the following exercises:
- Gather a variety of lightening formulas - creme, powder, liquid, etc. Perform three separate foil swatch tests with each type of lightener and the same level of developer-either with hair swatches, or wrapping small sections of hair in the back of a colleague's head. Remove the first foil for each formula after 10 minutes, the next after 20 minutes and the final foil after 30 minutes. Dry the hair and record the changes you observe on each test strand. This will give you a clear picture of what to expect from each of your formulas within various developing times
- Apply a variety of lighteners with a variety of developers to swatches or test strands, and examine the progress every 15 minutes, recording how long it takes for the hair to reach the fifth stage (gold), the sixth stage (yellow) and the seventh stage (pale yellow.) This will graphically demonstrate the appearance of lightened hair at each of these stages and how long it takes to achieve each level.
I believe that working with bleach is essential in any salon for performing creative or corrective hair coloring. So if you suffer from "fear of lighteners," I encourage you to try these exercises. Learn everything you can about the lighteners and hair color products available to you, and your coloring world will brighten significantly!
To get the scoop on Vero K-PAK Creme Lighteners and other Vero Lighteners, click here.
