What does bleach do to hair structure?
Bleach works by going into the hair shaft and reacting with the stable pigment molecules, breaking them down into components that will wash right out of your hair and down the drain. But when it does that, it also breaks down the natural fatty acids on the hair shaft, weakening the strand.
What does bleach for hair contain?
Hair bleach contains ammonia and peroxide. Ammonia is a colorless, pungent, suffocating, high-water-soluble, gaseous compound (dictionary.com) usually used in fertilizers and disinfectants. Peroxide, also known as hydrogen peroxide, is a liquid that is simply used as a bleaching agent.
Where does bleach sit on the hair structure?
Bleaching is the process of making the hair colour lighter. Bleaches are alkaline and so have the effect of opening the hair cuticles on the outside of the hair shaft, enabling the bleach to reach the cortex where the natural colour pigment is found.
What does bleach actually do to your hair?
Normally, bleach is used to lighten hair. It reacts with the melanin (the part responsible for the color tones in your natural hair) in the hair, and removes the color in an irreversible chemical reaction. The bleach oxidizes the melanin molecule. Although the melanin is still present, the oxidized molecule is colorless.
What are the different ways to bleach hair?
There are different ways to bleach hair, including at the salon and at home, using bleaching kits, hydrogen peroxide, and natural lighteners. One of the most popular ways to bleach is to have it professionally done at a salon.
How bad is bleaching hair?
Possible Damage to Hair from Bleach. Unfortunately, bleaching agents don’t only affect color molecules in your hair. The bleaching process also weakens protein bonds, making the hair brittle and more fragile than normal. The hair’s natural keratin is weakened, resulting in structural damage to the hair.
What color does bleach make your hair?
The bleach oxidizes the melanin molecule. The melanin is still present, but the oxidized molecule is colorless. However, bleached hair tends to have a pale yellow tint. The yellow color is the natural color of keratin , the structural protein in hair.
