Wednesday 1 January 2014

Bleach London "Total Bleach" and "White Toner" Review

It's been a while since I've written a review, so I thought I'd write one for you on the home kits that Bleach London brought out a few months ago.






I had a look online for other reviews prior to me purchasing these two products and couldn't really find very many, so was slightly disappointed, as I didn't want to spend money on something that may or may not actually work on my hair! Both the "Total Bleach" and "White Toner" boxes were £7 each, which, considering everything inside, and the after effects, really isn't that bad at all. I decided to go for it and *try* to purchase the boxes - of which I eventually managed to find in two separate Boots stores in London and in Croydon.

I will admit that I feel a little sceptical towards Bleach, as I know people who have had their hair done in their salons and have been disappointed to pay so much for a service with very ill-lasting results. Their at-home "Super Cool Colours" do seem highly priced at £5 for 150ml, with the majority of the pastel shades (from what I've seen irl and online, especially Rose) fading after just one wash, when they are advertised at washing out within 2-10 washes. I think what a lot of people still don't seem to realise about pastel hair colour is that there isn't any special way to create it - you literally mix conditioner with a darker dye; it's that easy! - and almost feel like they need to turn to a professional to achieve such colours.
Comparing the "SCC" to Directions (£1.50-£4/88ml tub) or Crazy Color (£1.50-£3/100ml bottle), you get longer lasting colours for a much cheaper price! Although from what I've seen too, the darker shades fare much better than the pastels, so that's a positive! :)

But I digress, as I'm only writing a review on the bleach.

I tend not to take many pictures with my root regrowth shown, so I have no "before" photo of my roots to show you, but my hair is naturally this colour; (I had to crop this awful photo of me when I was about.... 14(?), sorry, aha)


So getting my hair to white is pretty achievable with bleach to be honest. I was using a box blonde by Schwarzkopf, which never managed to get my roots past a gold tinge, and is super damaging :( And no matter how much toner I used, I couldn't lift the tinge. My roots were last done by Toni & Guy for free because they liked my silver and wanted to help me get rid of the gold band. Success? Sort of. The toner that they used was temporary and waxy, and made my hair ridiculously greasy, and after two washes it was back to the gold band again. Another reason why I don't really go to actual salons, because they don't always know what to do!



 Inside the TB you get a tint brush, mixing tub, gloves, developing lotion, x2 sachets of bleaching powder and an instructional booklet. I'm used to a "one sachet per one bottle" type of bleach, so I was surprised to read that both of the sachets would need to be mixed with the one bottle.




Here's how the mixture looked once all mixed. Normally I would use my trusty Ice Cream tub to mix bleach/colours in and my big Body Shop tint brush, but I decided to give the included tub and brush a go so I could see any pros/cons, and do everything fairly. One con that I found with this mixture is that it took a while to mix evenly, which I'm assuming is because there is a lot of powder. It also thins out after a little while and doesn't stay as thick. The brush was actually a better and easier size for doing root regrowth with and made the application smooth. The bleach actually developed very quickly on my hair which was nice! I put a shower cap over my hair and left it on for 35 minutes (as recommended) and then washed it out. I didn't notice any itching or burning of the scalp until the cap had been on for a few minutes, but then it went away and I didn't feel anything at all.



So these are the end results after I washed out the bleach and I've marked how far my regrowth was to, and how thick that gold band was! I went slightly over the regrowth area with the bleach to lighten up the band (which is definitely not recommended as you're bleaching already bleached hair essentially) and it brought it up to this pale yellow! Very impressed, and my hair was not fried at all! I have these growing bits of hair at the side of my head which often get completely annihilated by bleach but I'm pleased to say they were not!


In the WT kit you get the developing lotion in an applicator bottle, colourant, gloves, and another instruction booklet. Instead of mixing the colour in the applicator bottle, I mixed it in the tub and applied it that way as I find it easier.


The colourant was quite thick, and sort of looked like that old school bubblegum stuff you used to get, aha


And this is the completed mixture. It was this pinky colour to begin with, and as time went on and the more it oxidised, it turned a greyish purple colour. It was thinner than the bleach, but still quite thick, and was again, very easy to apply. It didn't burn or make my scalp itch at all and I left it on for 15 minutes as recommended.


Grainy results shot! I was very impressed with the toner, although there is some small yellowish patches at the back still, but they are hardly noticeable at all. The toner is advertised as semi-permanent and will wash out but I was slightly disappointed to find that a lot of the greyish tones had gone the next time I washed my hair. I carried on with my silver shampoo as per, and also used Directions Silver Toner all over my hair and roots the other night.

this is the kind of shit I send on snapchat
This is no filter, once washed hair after using Directions Silver all over (inc roots)


Overall I am DEFINITELY impressed with both of the products and will definitely purchase them again! I have a Wella toner that I will be trying out too, so once that's done I shall write another review for you all!

28 comments:

  1. I need that kind of hairdye so bad but it seems no one ships those to Finland! :<

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hey! I'm not sure if it's because there is a regulation on bleach/hairdye but if you really want to try it I can try to send it to you?

      Delete
    2. That would be so nice! Thank you! I already have one unused packet of bleach at home, though, so maybe later if that's okay to you? :3

      Delete
  2. so was your hair totally brunette before?? x

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi! No, it was blonde. The photo I put up was for reference as to how dark my roots are when they come through :)

      Delete
  3. Hi, I'd love to try this products, but as said they don't deliver other then the UK.
    Can you maybe send some to me? I really hope you can :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I could try to send to you, yes!

      Delete
    2. That would be great, can you email me? (maaike2107@hotmail.com)

      Delete
  4. Was your hair frazzled after using both products? My hair damages with all bleach I've used.. Would you recommend it?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. No, it wasn't. As I mentioned above, there are pieces of hair by the sides of my head that have always been dry and partially damaged, and regular bleach normally kills it, but the Bleach London stuff didn't!

      Delete
  5. Did you manage to try out the conditioner solution i've heard that comes with the box of bleach?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi! apologies for my late reply. Yes, I have. As I buy the Bleach products a lot, I have so many of these conditioners lying around, as well as a huge one that I bought as part of Boots' 3 for 2! It's not too bad a conditioner - smells lovely and feels like it does work on my hair. For pastel colours this is really great for mixing as you're deep conditioning whilst colouring! I usually end up using this once or twice a week for about an hour or two, just to give my hair that extra bit of life, whilst using my regular oil/serum also.

      Delete
  6. Hey, this is a great review, my hair is naturally very dark brown, VERY! however I have had many sessions of blonde highlights from hairdressers so my hair is like blonde-brown, and it never ever seems to be an achievable 'blonde' look it just looks like a mousy brown with a few blonde highlights. im always scared to use bleach on the roots incase my hair came out as it's so dark however do you suggest getting it and putting it close to the roots and on some of the browner hair? I don't mind a bit of root, thankyou! x

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello! Apologies for my late response.The problem with dark hair is that bleach doesn't always react very well with it. My natural hair colour is mouse-brown with undertones of red, so when I first went round to going blonde, I pre-lightened it and then bleached it all over afterwards so that it wasn't hideously damaged! How much of your hair are you looking to lighten? You could always go for a wonderful brown root to blonde look? It can look really lovely!

      I would definitely suggest a pre-lighten before you pop any bleach on your hair however!

      Delete
  7. how long did you leave the toner on for!?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi! Apologies for the delay. The booklet says 20 minutes, so that's all I left it on for. I have been using a different toner as well to see the results from that, so I'll be posting another review of that soon!

      Delete
    2. thankyou for the feedback, did you apply it to wet or dry hair? i brought the product today and really want it to go right! i have light blonde hair with brassy parts on my ends

      Delete
    3. You could apply to either! In the photos above I had used the bleach on my roots, didn't condition it and left it to dry naturally for about 20-30 minutes so it wasn't totally dry or sopping wet! You could also apply it to dry hair if you liked :) now when I use these products from Bleach, I use the bleach the night before and use the deep conditioner for a few hours, wash it out and sleep with my hair wet, then I'll use the toner on dry hair the next day, and then after I wash it out I'll use the deep conditioner for 20 minutes :)

      Delete
    4. Thankyouuuu! :)

      Delete
  8. Ohhhhh so nice! but they don't ship the product to Japan.. :((

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh no! I could try to ship it to you if you like?

      Delete
  9. in your review it said that some people were disappointed with the bleaching in the bleach london shop.i wanted to go the the shop to get my hair done because i don't want to bleach my hair by myself and now i'm scared.would you recommend doing it by myself or going to the shop ?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello! I don't know anyone who has had their hair bleached at their salon, I know those who have had their hair coloured at their salon, and haven't been happy with the results, as they didn't last as long as they had originally hoped!

      Bleaching your hair is a lot easier than it sounds/than others make it out to be, with the only risks being that if you don't do it properly, you could ruin your hair.

      Do a tonne of research before you bleach it! I first went blonde about 7 years ago and did a whole load of research on how the hair is actually lightened, the best products to use etc, although, back then, there weren't many great drug store or shelf bleach kits you could buy, and I'm pleased to say that I love the Bleach London kit!

      Enlist the help of a friend too :) ideally someone who has experience with bleaching or dying their own hair!

      Delete
    2. thanks for the help !:)

      Delete
  10. How long do you leave the directions silver toner on your roots and hair for?

    ReplyDelete
  11. Hey, did you use the the WT straight after the bleach? I'm looking at bleaching from red and then going blue.

    ReplyDelete
  12. My hair is a golden/ dark blonde do you think the bleach blonde would take or would it just go ginger?

    ReplyDelete
  13. Lovely favorites post!, Yes!!!! I love this post!!, I fan of your site.
    You have to keep doing such an article even future.
    LOVE yours in this post!

    Best Funny Jokes in Hindi

    ReplyDelete