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Best hair bleach for a salon-ready at-home experience
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The best hair bleach will have you feeling like a whole new person, swishing your way from one room to the next.
A bad bleach job, on the other hand, will have you running straight to the salon or, worst case scenario, waving goodbye to your lengths once and for all. So it's important to choose the right hair bleach to give you the former, rather than the latter.
Bleaching hair at home can be a tricky and risky process, but with some preparation and caution, you can achieve a beautiful blonde look without damaging your hair too much.
The first step in doing so is to choose the right bleach product for your hair type and desired result. You'll need two core components: a bleach powder and a developer, in order to lighten your hair. The developer comes in different volumes, from 10 to 40, which indicate how much peroxide it contains and how fast it will lift your hair colour. The higher the volume, the stronger and faster the bleach, but also the more damaging it can be. For most people, a 20 or 30-volume developer is enough to achieve a light blonde shade.
You'll find some hair bleach contains ammonia: a strong alkaline agent that opens up the hair cuticle and allows the bleach to penetrate the hair cortex and remove the natural pigment. But, if your hair is already a little damaged or brittle, you'll want to look for bleaches that are ammonia-free and contain extra moisturising ingredients like oils or proteins.
We've rounded up all of the best hair bleaches.
Schwarzkopf LIVE 00B Max Blonde Permanent Hair Dye
There’s a reason why Schwarzkopf LIVE is such a household name when it comes to bleach and dye and that’s because it’s one of the most reliable options that never disappoints.
The brand’s 00B Max Blonde Permanent Hair Dye is suitable for those looking to go all out with the icy blonde tones as it can lift your hair up to eight levels. Its built-in brightening oil booster creates a pure blonde with a glossy shine, ensuring no orange tones in sight.
Use the included after-treatment to fight against unwanted yellow tones and to leave your hair noticeably smooth and soft to the touch.
Jerome Russell B Blonde Powder Bleach for Light to Dark Brown Hair
Bleaching your hair successfully doesn’t have to involve an expensive trip to the salon and Jerome Russell’s BBlonde Powder Bleach is one of the most budget-friendly ways around to achieve those lighter tones.
As its name suggests, this is a bleach designed for those with light to dark brown hair, lifting hair up to six to nine shades safely. Simply buy the matching peroxide, mix in your bathroom or kitchen and apply as desired. If you have thick locks, you may want to double up on the packs.
Colour Freedom Cream Bleach
A bad bleach job is the fastest way to wave goodbye to strong, smooth locks and gorgeous growth. And if you’ve been putting off bleaching your hair due to fears of the above, try using Colour Freedom Cream Bleach.
This ammonia-free bleach can lift hair gently by up to eight levels, making it ideal for blonde manes or creative colouring. Featuring nourishing beeswax and corn proteins, it can be used for whole head, regrowth, balayage, ombre and highlights and ensures no drying out as found with powder bleaches.
L'Oreal Paris Colorista Effect Bleach Lightening Kit
L’Oreal Paris’ Colorista Effect Bleach Lightening Kit is a top choice for clean, streak-free blonde hair that’s ready to play with - perfect if your bleaching session comes followed by some bright colours.
Bringing together everything you need for a seamless experience, its ammonia-free and oil-powered formula comes alongside an anti-brassiness conditioner for nourishing post-bleach treatment. It delivers a light, pure blonde and comes with an applicator tip for precision during use.
Bleach London Total Bleach Kit
If you’re a fan of bright colours and interesting shades, you’ve almost definitely heard of Bleach London. But, unless you’re naturally white blonde, you’ll probably want to start out with the brand’s Total Bleach Kit to achieve that blank canvas.
Offering salon-standard results, this popular hair bleach lightens strands by removing natural colour pigments to achieve a platinum blonde. One kit is suitable for very short, cropped hair and roots up to 2.5cm long. For short hair or roots over 2.5cm long, you’ll need two kits and for longer hair, you may need up to four kits.
Superdrug Performance Permanent Hair Bleach Lightener 9%
While Superdrug’s Performance Permanent Hair Bleach Lightener might not be the strongest bleach around, it’s one of the most gentle, making it ideal for hair that’s perhaps not in the best condition but is still safely up to the task of being lightened.
A salon-quality intensive lightener that provides up to five levels of lift for dark brown to light blonde hair, it can lighten your hair in just 30-50 minutes. it contains the brand’s silver toning conditioner which provides a salon-professional finish that won’t fade.
Garnier Olia B+++ Maximum Bleach Permanent Hair Dye
Another ammonia-free option, this Garnier permanent hair dye is one of the best-smelling hair bleaches around, mostly thanks to the after-bleach conditioner you’ll find tucked away in the packet.
This 60 per cent oil-powered permanent hair dye contains natural flower oils but don’t for one minute think that sacrifices performance. The product offers maximum performance for intense, multi-dimensional and even colour. It’s also one of the most nourishing options around, helping to visibly improve hair quality, bleach after bleach, making your hair shinier and smoother to the touch.
Directions Hair - Bleach Kit 40 Vol
If your main experience with Directions was collating an endless pile of the brand’s brightly coloured semi-permanent dyes, it’s time to introduce you to the main component: Directions Hair - Bleach Kit 40 Vol.
Designed to help you get the best results from Directions Hair Colours, it contains added conditioning ingredients to help keep hair moisturised during the lightening process. Specifically formulated with avocado oil and seaweed extract, it helps protect and condition your hair during the lightening process.
Wella Professionals Blondor Powder Bleaching Powder
Not all hair bleaches are created equally but this Wella Professionals Blondor Powder Bleaching Powder is one of the finest for offering a clean lift of colour with no streaks in sight. When used with the right combination of ingredients, it ensures a light blonde to platinum finish and hair that still feels strong and clean.
Quick to take, this powder bleach may take a little extra thought process behind the scenes but, when mixed and applied properly, is a top choice for a new look.
Knight & Wilson Pure Plex Bond Reconstructing Cream Hair Bleach
Use this Knight & Wilson dye when you can’t stay away from the bleach but your hair has seen better days. This strictly ammonia-free hair bleach cream uses significantly milder peroxide than other bleaches, thanks to its synthetic beeswax and corn proteins, which help to uniquely repair, protect and strengthen hair during the lightening process.
Its nourishing, sulphate-free formula rebuilds hair’s natural structure and replenishes moisture during treatment, while it lifts your colour by up to eight shades.
Verdict
Not all hair bleaches are up to the task but, if you’re looking for clean, consistent blonde tones, Schwarzkopf LIVE 00B Max Blonde Permanent Hair Dye is the hair dye to reach for.