Another thing to know is that bleach is moisture dependent. If the bleaching mixture is exposed to the air (such as being placed on hair that is left uncovered in a ventilated place) and the exterior of the bleach-laden
hair begins to dry, then the lightening process will slow down and you will get uneven color results. Remember, haircolor mixtures (combining haircolor formula and developer) time out after about 30 minutes and go
inert, but bleaching mixtures (combining a bleaching agent and developer) remain active as long as they are moist.
And in this same vein, you must have even coverage in your application of the bleach. This is another reason for leaving such a job to the professionals. You simply cannot see and easily reach all the places on your head
and are more likely to have areas that are not as saturated with bleach mixture when trying to do these things yourself.
Professional solutions: You hairdresser can formulate lighter-strength bleaching formulas to apply to the target areas and restore evenness in the color results. These mixtures usually include conditioning agents and are
designed to correct the color imbalance while helping prevent any further damage to the hair.
After I bleached my hair, it now has this yellowish glow (or in some cases orange). Why is this?
The results you are talking about are referred to as “brassiness” among professionals. It occurs because you may have failed to take the base pigmentation of your hair into account when you decided to bleach the color
out. Those who have dark brown (warm) hair colors will often go through an orange stage in lightening the hair. The level of orange in the base pigment can mean that the resulting color is the brassy orange you refer
to. In the case of yellow hair, the result is likely because of a strong yellow(gold) base pigment in the hair, and thus lightening the color reveals this yellow glow.
Professional solutions: Depending on the severity of the brassiness, your hairdresser may recommend that you use a bluing, or anti-brass, shampoo that contains a light tint of blue or violet in it to counter act the
brassiness. If the brassiness is very pronounced, he or she might suggest that you have a toning application of a blue or violet based haircolor in the lightness level you have bleached your hair to, in order to counter
the orange or yellow tones.
This is basic color-correction. If the color problem is too orange, using a blue-based tint will neutralize the orange tones, while a violet-based tint will work for bleaching results that are too yellow. The benefit is
that you don’t have to use the bluing shampoo, which some people dislike since it can stain the hands and nails with repeated exposure.
