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difference between bleach, hair dye and toner

What’s the Difference Between Bleach, Hair Dye, and Toner?

Yes, we get tired of our dark roots every now and then. We want to freshen up or look special for different occasions by trying on new colors. If you are the same as us, then you’ve most probably heard of bleach, hair dyes (semi-permanent / permanent), and toners.

So what exactly are the differences between these and what do they do?

Bleach
Very simply, it is a potent chemical that removes our natural or artificial hair pigment (in contrast to dyeing). The lesser the pigment you have, the lighter your hair will be. To bleach the hair, you mix a powder bleach with cream peroxide (also known as developer) together. Depending on the peroxide volume, each application of bleach can lift the hair color from 1-2 levels to 3-4 levels.

While bleach is a very powerful and effective product, it does affect the hair and dry it out. We recommend customers to exercise care when using these products as you may fry your hair if not used correctly. Try doing a simple treatment with Olaplex No. 3 Hair Perfector before bleaching, as it protects your hair and minimizes the damage. Aftercare should include the use of special shampoo and conditioner, and the application of hair mask at least once every week.

Permanent Hair Dyes

Something that almost all of us are familiar with yet unsure of what happens during the dyeing process – When the hair is dyed, the cuticle is opened and color pigments penetrate our hair. Dyeing our hair with these dyes are permanent, which means that they do not wash out but grow out over time. The greater the difference between your natural hair color and the dye tone, the more visible the regrowth. Permanent hair dyes are also the common options to cover gray hair.

Temporary Hair Colors

True to its name, these products rarely last past your next shampoo. They usually come in different forms from color mousses, hair mascara, spray-on colors, and colored-tinted shampoos.

Semi-Permanent and Demi-Permanent Hair Colors

Both semi-permanent and demi-permanent work quite similarly but they are different in their formulation. Semi-permanent hair colors do not require the mixing of developers, and deposit colors onto the hair with no lightening effect. As these colors do not penetrate into the cortex of the hair, they typically last from six to eight weeks and gradually wash out with each shampoo.

While demi-permanent hair colors also deposit colors onto the hair with no lightening effect, the color molecules are smaller and they penetrate into the cortex of the hair. Demi-permanent colors require the mixing of low-volume developers, and the colors tend to last longer than semi-permanent ones. However, the shades fade when the smaller color molecules come back through the cuticles after each shampoo.

Toner

It deposits the color on your hair without opening the hair cuticle. It simply coats the exterior of your hair with the shade without penetrating the hair structure. A toner does not achieve a drastic change in color, it is mostly used to tone brassy blondes. We usually recommend customers to tone the hair after bleaching to rid the undesirable brassy shades.

We hope this post provides a better understanding of the products. If you are still unsure whether the shades suit your natural or existing hair color, simply write to us at hello@wunderkult.com

XOXO,
The Wunders

Get Your Unicorn Hair

Wanna take the plunge? Decided to go grey, pink or purple? This blog post will serve as a guide for anyone who is keen in achieving fancy hair color.

Before we proceed, here are some points to bring across for those who have never tried fancy hair colors:

  1. Yes, to achieve ash grey or any fancy hair colors (e.g. red, blue, pink, purple, green, yellow, orange… etc.) bleaching is definitely required.
  2. No, the colors will NOT turn out on our naturally black/dark roots or dark-colored hair.
  3. This is especially so for ash grey hair. It requires the hair to be bleached till it is extremely light blonde (almost white). That said, the hair will be more damaged during the process for our black/dark brown roots.
  4. Ash grey and fancy hair colors are considered high maintenance. You’ll need to take extra care before, during and after coloring your hair (e.g. pre-color treatment to minimize damage, and post-color maintenance to keep the colors as much as possible).
  5. These high maintenance colors start fading the moment you wash your hair, and they continue fading on every wash. It is recommended to use color shampoo, silver shampoo, purple shampoo.. etc after dyeing.

At this stage, you’ve absorbed the points above and is ready to have your hair bleached and dyed. Check these points below to prepare yourself (or rather, your hair):

  1. Prior to the bleaching, stop any chemical treatment such as straightening, perming, or other dyeing as long as possible. It is always healthy to give your hair a break in between to minimize damage as much as possible.
  2. Do a deep conditioning treatment a week before bleaching your hair.
  3. We recommend customers to use OlaPlex No.3 Hair Perfector two days before the bleaching. Thereafter, do not wash your hair till the day of bleaching (the natural oils in our hair actually helps protect our scalp against damage from the bleaching process).

Next, achieving that desired color of your choice:

Step 1: Bleaching. If you are aiming for ash grey, you probably need a lot of staggered bleaching over a course of few weeks to months till your hair is almost white.

We have a few bleach kits available for you to choose from – La Riche Directions Bleach Kit Volume 30 & 40, and Sparks Volume 20 Bleach Kit Set.

 

Step 2: Toner. Depending on the tone of your hair after bleaching, it is necessary to apply toner to rid the yellow brassy tones. Otherwise, the colors might not turn out as ideally (e.g. a blue shade will turn greenish while yellow will turn into green).

Here, you can try our La Riche Directions White Toner and Wella Color Charm Toners.

 

Step 3: Dyeing, the final step to getting your desired hair color. Choose from our full range of color palettes available from La Riche Directions, Sparks, Anthocyanin, and Persona Intercell.

At this point, the good news is you’ve probably achieved your much-desired hair color (saving the bucks $$$ from visiting a hair salon). But, things doesn’t end right here and we are about to move on to caring for your freshly colored hair:

  1. Bleached > toned > colored hair are very sensitive, dry, and prone to breakage. Though its a little tough in our humid weather, try not washing your hair until 2-3 days later (again, the natural oils buildup will protect your scalp while keeping the fresh color a little longer).
  2. Before your first post-color wash, apply the OlaPlex No. 3 Hair Perfector treatment again.
  3. Alternate between post-color shampoos such as Matrix So Silver Shampoo and Matrix ColorLast Shampoo.
  4. Try not washing your hair as often, probably just once every 2-3 days. This will keep the colors vibrant as long as possible.
  5. Styling heat and high heat from hair dryer will cause further damage to your hair. Try letting your hair air dry or use low heat with the hair dryer or other styling tools.

We hope this post helps! Feel free to write to us at hello@wunderkult.com if you need any help.
Have fun dyeing your hair!

XOXO,
The Wunders

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