What do you need to bleach your roots?

If you have dark roots like this (or you have a client who does), you know that it is time to bleach.

Dark Roots Showing Through

The picture above is a really common situation. The ends have been bleached and colored many times and are nice and white. But now that those ultra dark roots show through, you are definitely going to have to do something about them.

It's time for a root touch up.

The process is not really that hard. But it's important to realize that you are going to need to lift the root part really very well but not apply the bleach to the lengths which are already very light. Otherwise you could risk major breakage.

At the same time you definitely need a powerful lightener, otherwise you are not going to be able to lift the roots to where they need to be.

Need to Bleach the Roots

Generally speaking, if you are bleaching the roots, you don't need to be too worried about hair condition. The reason is that you are essentially dealing with virgin hair.

However, you do need to be careful of scalp irritation. You need a bleach which is gentle enough to be placed near to the scalp without causing discomfort to your customer.

In this case, we used Brilliant Blondexx with Bond Protect. It is an ultra gentle formulation which can be used with 20 or 30 Vol developer. It produces a very creamy white mix which is very unusual for a bleach. It is very gentle and is comfortable on the scalp. At the same time, it lifts.

Be sure not to overlap with the white ends so as not to place stress on the already lightened part of the hair. If by mistake you do overlap, just wipe back with a wet cloth and it should be fine.

Mix the bleach with the developer in a 1:2 ratio (1 part bleach to 2 parts developer). Keep mixing with your whisk. Once you have mixed it will start to resemble a white mousse, with a cream souffle consistency. Brilliant Blondexx has Bond Protect built in, and you can see that in the nature of the mix.

Application

Apply onto dry, unwashed hair. Since this is a regrowth application, you need to start applying from the roots. Work in a tidy way, section by section, using the brush almost horizontally to place the product nicely on the hair so that it comes into contact with as much product as possible.

Remember, the hair needs to be really, really moist and saturated with the bleach product in order to work well. Work away from the root towards the rest of the hair, making sure you stop at the place where it is already white.

Let. the bleach mixture process 20-30 minutes. If the lengths for some reason are yellow and not white and you feel you would like to lift them also, you can towards the end make a fresh mix and extend the bleach application towards the ends.

Rinse when. you get to a consistent level 10.

Toning

Once you have rinsed the hair, you are going to need to tone it.

We used Pearl Blonde toner 10V with 20 Vol developer. It is very strongly pigmented with purple pigments, which is what you need to color correct against yellow hair - and there is always some yellow left after bleaching.

See the chart on color neutralization below - you can see that violet (or purple) is what you need to counteract yellow.

The Final Look

Here is the final result.

As you can see, thanks to the bleaching we got rid of the black regrowth area.

And thanks to the toning, we got rid of every bit of yellow and produced a brilliant white blonde result.

Upkeep of the hair

The most important thing you can do after bleaching and toning is take care of your hair.

We recommend the Brilliant Blondexx hair treatment line. This line contains the Bond Protect which will help thicken your client's hair, prevent breakage, and keep it looking healthy and strong.