Hair bleaching and its effects on hair and skin

Fashion they say is trendy, hence exempting yourself from following the current trends, you are ‘kolo’ (got no swag). Although some follow that current trend for the daring of it, others follow because almost everybody is trending in that trend.

Away from the fashion designs trending, trends including body piercing (clit piercing, eyebrow, lip, nerve, nose, etc.), hair coloring and styling (trimmed or short hair, galas, natural hair, perm, weaved-on, etc.) and skin toning-cum-bleaching also catch on with people these days.

For the purpose of this piece, I will be emphasizing on hair coloring. Hair bleaching, coloring or dying is the act of changing the natural color of your hair either to a desiring color regarded as more trendy or to the original hair color after it has been streaked by hairdressing processes or sun bleaching or to cover gray hair.

Hair coloring is an ancient art where our forefathers and mothers were using ‘Yoomo’ to cover gray hair, but in a ‘trendy’ generation as ours, treatment of the hair is done with various chemical compounds manufactured by some leading hair products like Dark N Lovely, Revlon, L’Oreal, NaturTint, Lovia, Perfect 10, etc. which comes with several colors to produce gradation and smudges to the hair.

These hair gradation or smudges are referred to as hair highlighting- where sections of hair are treated with lighteners, usually to create blonde streaks; hair lowlighting- where sections of hair are treated with darker hair color and also other hair lightning techniques where hair is dark on the crown and bit by bit becomes lighter toward the ends and splash lights, where a horizontal band of bleach hair stretches from ear to ear or from the forward to the backhead.

There are four most common types of hair dying. These are permanent, demi-permanent (sometimes called deposit only), semi-permanent and temporary.

- Permanent hair coloring causes lasting chemical changes in the hair shaft. Its coloring is achieved through the use of oxidation dyes. They are the most popular types of hair dyes, because the color changes last until the hair is replaced by new growth.

- Demi-permanent hair color is one that contains an alkaline agent other than ammonia and while always employed with a developer, the concentration of hydrogen peroxide in that developer may be lower than used with a permanent hair color.

- Semi-permanent dyes do penetrate into the hair shaft. They typically last for 5 to 10 washings. The hair color has smaller molecules than temporary dyes and these dyes only partially penetrate the hair shaft. They contain no, or very low levels of developer, peroxide or ammonia and are, therefore, safer for damaged or fragile hair.

- Temporary dyes cover the surface of the hair but do not penetrate into the hair shaft. Temporary hair color is available in various forms including rinses, shampoos, gels, sprays and foams. Temporary hair color is typically brighter and more vibrant than semi-permanent and permanent hair color.

There are many procedures of bleaching or dying the hair but the 3 main procedures of applying hair bleaching products to the hair include foiling- where pieces of foil or plastic film are used to separate off the hair to be colored; especially when applying more than one color; the Cap- when a plastic cap is placed tight on the head and strands are pulled through with a hook; and the tipping or dip-dyeing- where hair color is painted directly onto sections of the hair with no foils used to keep the color contained.

Hair bleaching products contains Hydrogen Peroxide, ammonia and toner with which the process known as oxidation. During this oxidation, ingredients release oxygen molecules that bind to melanin pigments and gradually dissolve the pigment.

The effects

While bleaching can help provide a myriad of different colors and bring your sexy back, it can also have negative effects on the health of your hair.

Hair coloring involves the use of chemicals capable of removing, replacing and/or covering up pigments naturally found inside the hair shaft and use of these chemicals can result in a range of adverse effects, including temporary skin irritation and allergy, hair breakage, skin discoloration, moisture and burning.

SKIN IRRITATION AND ALLERGY- Symptoms of these reactions can include redness, sores, itching, burning sensation and discomfort. Symptoms will sometimes not be apparent immediately following the application and processing of the tint, but can also arise after hours or even a day later.

HAIR BREAKAGE- Bleaching often causes hair breakage. Referred to as a “chemical haircut,” breakage is also a result of the porous nature of the hair after bleaching. The solution causes your cuticle scales to separate, so the longer it’s on your hair, the more separation you will experience. This makes your hair become even more brittle.

SKIN DISCOLORATION- Skin and fingernails are made of the same type of keratinized protein as hair. That means that drips, slips and extra hair tint around the hairline can result in patches of discolored skin. This is more common with darker hair colors and persons with dry absorbent skin.

MOISTURE: The process of bleaching can strip the moisture from your hair. As the bleaching solution comes into contact with the hair shaft, it causes the hair to enlarge, making the cuticle layer of your hair separate and open.

BURNING- Feeling a sense of tingling as the bleaching solution comes into contact with the skin is somewhat normal. However, it’s possible for your skin to have an adverse reaction or suffer a chemical burn from the product. In both situations, the tingling will change to a burning sensation. It may be accompanied by some redness, itching and the development of sores.

Although, it’s a trendy fashion hairstyle and some people dye their hair to look like their favorite musicians, actors, footballers and models with blonde hair, brunette hair, auburn hair, chestnut hair, red hair, brown hair, etc. the adverse effects on the brain, hair and skin needs to be considered.