Bleach quality, etc: 2 questions!

I'm not 100% sure, I think powder stays ok, but developer can degrade.

Good quality powder is far more important than developer. I'd actually say, good quality powder is vital, especially with low volume.

A good bleach will definitely give more lift with a lower vol peroxide than a cheap one, so less damaging.

So this is WHY I couldn't get light enough even with three bleach baths..
Thanks ! So do any of you happen to know a good quality bleach?

I use Matrix light master. Other good brands are Wella Blondor, (I have only used the cream version) Schwarzkopf Blondme, L'oreal Infinie platine, can't think of any others off the top of my head

I just saw that Matrix was part of L'Oreal so I'll try BlondMe I guess! (if someone who tried BlondMe sees this post please post your review 🙂 )
Thank you Wicked Pixie!!

BlondMe 9+ is amazing.  The only bleach that gives me the amount of lift I need in one go.

Yeah, L'oreal bought out Matrix quite recently unfortunately. I was thinking of trying BlondMe when i have used up my current pack of Light Master.

BlondMe 9+ is amazing.  The only bleach that gives me the amount of lift I need in one go.

Do  you use the developer that's supposed to go with it?

Loreal bought Matrix in 2000 I believe. Henkel bought Schwarzkopf in 1985. Nearly every beauty brand is owned by one of a few large corporations, who usually own other companies too ranging from everything to cleaning products to wine.

Most companies start off great with good ingredients, then they sell their company to a large corporation, and that large corporation will keep the packaging, but they quickly try to cut costs which typically results in replacing the beneficial ingredients for silicones, artificial copolymers, heavy surface oils, waxes, etc. They try to make the results feel the same with cheap, masking ingredients. Sometimes they will even put "New and Improved formula!" On the bottle.

Here's some of the main corporations:

Henkel:
Schwarzkopf, Citre Shine, Got2b, Smooth n Shine, Dial, Dry Idea, Right Gaurd, Tone, Renuzit, Soft Scrub, Combat, Purex, Loctite, Bonderite, Teroson, Aquence, Technomelt, 20 Mule Team Borax, Fels-Naptha, Persil, Sta-Flo, Trend, Zout

Unilever:
Dove, Simple, Axe, Caress, Tigi/Catwalk/Bed Head, Suave, Vaseline, Nexxus, Clear, Ponds, Q-Tips, Lever 2000, Tresemme, St. Ives, Noxema, Degree, Consort, Sunsilk

They also own:
Ben & Jerrys, Promise, Magnum, Klondike, Lipton, Popsicle, Breyers, Hellmans, Just for Me, Knorr, I Can't Believe It's Not Butter, Fruttare, Good Humor, Motions, Country Crock, Talenti

Loreal:
Lancome, GiorgioArmani, YSL, Biotherm, BioMedic, Kiehls, Ralph Lauren, Shu Uemura, Cacharel, Helena Rubinstein, Clarisonic, Diesel, V&R, Urban Decay, Guy Laroche, Garnier, Maybelline, Essie, Kerastase, Redken,  Matrix, Pureology, Mizani, Carita, Decleor, Vichy, La Roche Posay, Skin Ceuticals, Roger & Gallet, Sanoflore, The Body Shop, Yue Sai, Maison Martin Margiela, Paloma Picasso, Softsheen Carson, Vichy

Proctor and Gamble:
007, Clairol, Ellen Betrix, Hugo Boss, Lacoste, Naomi Campbell, Olay, Rejoice, Sebastian, Aussie, Covergirl, Escada, Head and Shoulders, Londa, Natural Instincts, Rochas, Old Spice, Bruno Banani, Christina Aguilera, Secret, DDF, Fekkai, Herbal Essences, Max Factor, Nice n Easy, Pantene, SK-ll, Vidal Sassoon, Dolce & Gabbana, Gucci, Ivory, Mexx, Nioxin, Puma, Wella, Safeguard, Anna Sui, Camay, Clairol, Zest

They also own companies like:
Always, Bounty, Dodot, Luvs, Naturella, Pampers, Puffs, Tampax, Tempo, Whisper, Ace, Alomatik, Ariel, Bold, Bonux, Bounce, Cascade, Charmin, Cheer, Comet, Dash, Daz, Downy, Dreft, Duracell, Era, Fab, Fairy, Febreze, Gain, Gala, Joy, Lenor, Mr. Clean, Mr. Proper, Myth, Rindex, Salvo, Sarasa, Swiffer, Tide, Viakal, Vizir, Align, Braun, Clearblue, Crest, Eukanuba, Fixodent, Fusion, Gillette, Iams, Mach3, Metamucil, Oral B, Pepto-Bismol, Prestobarba/Blue, Prilosec OTC, Scope, Venus, Vicks

There's also Estee Lauder:
Aerin Beauty, Aveda, MAC, Bobbi Brown, Bumble and Bumble, Clinique, Coach, Darphin Paris, Donna Karen, Editions de Parfums Frederic, Malle, Ermenegildo Zegna, Flirt!, Glamglow, Goodskin Labs, Jo Malone London, Kiton, La Mer, Lab Series, Le Labo, Marnier, Michael Kors, Ojon, Origins, Osiao, Perscriptives, Rodin Olio Lusso, Smashbox, Tom Ford, Tommy Hilfiger, Tory Burch, Aramis, Grassroots

Johnson & Johnson:
Neutrogena, Aveeno, Clean and Clear, RoC, Rogaine, Lubriderm, Purpose, Splenda, Stelara, Sudafed, Motrin, Rolaids, Benadryl, Bengay, Bandaid, Flexiril, Lactaid, Nicorette, Neosporin, Rembrandt, The Gel, Topomax, Ultram, Unisom, Visine,
Ambi, Aciphex, Actifed, Acuvue, Arestin, Axert, Benylin, Carto,  Codral, Comfyde, Compeed, Complera, Cortex, Dacogen, Ditropan, Edurant, Floxin, Haldol, Helioplex, Immodium, Inadine, Incivek, Intelence, Invega, Invokana, Ionsys, Jurnista, Leustatin, Levaquin, Levoquin, Listerine, Micatin, Motilium, Natrecor, Nizoral, Nucynta, Olysio, One Touch Ultra, Othro Tri-cyclen, Penaten, Pepcid, Prezista, Priligy, Procrit, Reactine, Regaine, Remicade, Reopro, Resolor, Rhinofebral, Ribomustin, Risperdal, Simponi, Sirturo, Spectazole, Sporonax, Treo,  Velcade, Vermox, Xatelto, Xeplion, Yondelis, Zeftera, Zevtera, Zytiga

Beiersdorf:
Nivea, Eucerin, La Prairie, Labello, Hansaplast, Florena,  8x4, Tesa

Louis Vuitton-Moet Hennessey  (LVMH):
Christian Dior, Benefit, Marc Jabobs, Bulgari, Nude, Guerlain, Givenchy, Kenzo, Fresh Inc, Make Up For Ever, Acqua di Parma, Sephora, Fendi, Chaumet, De Beers, Fred, Hublot, Tag Heuer, Zenith, DFS, Le Bon Marche, Berluti, Celine, Donna Karen fashion goods, Edun, Emilio Pucci, Fendi, Moynat, Loewe, Loro Piana, Nicholas Kirkwood, Thomas Pink, RM Williams,  10 cane, Ardbeg, Belvedere, Chateau d'Yquem, Cloudy Bay Vinyards, Dom Perignon, Domaine Chandon California, Hennessey  (obviously), Glenmorangie, Krug, Mercier, Moet & Chandon, Ruinart, Veuve Clicquot, Wenjun

So the same company, Unilever, that owns and makes Nexxus, Tigi/Catwalk/Bed Head also owns and makes Suave, Dove and Vaseline. Suave being the healthiest line out of all the Unilever brands for your hair. Using Dove body wash is going to be gentler and healthier for your hair than most Tigi/Catwalk/Behead products.

Loreal, the same company that owns and makes Pureology, Redken, Kerastase and Matrix is the same company that makes and owns Garnier and Maybelline.

P&G makes and owns Sebastian, Fekkai, Nioxin, Wella, as well as Head and Shoulders, Herbal Essences, Max Factor, Nice n Easy Box Color, and also your Bounty, Bounce and Tide Laundry Detergent  (same sulfates in all of them, shampoos and laundry soap!), and also your Mr. Clean products, Fairy, and Comet.

Estee Lauder really almost has a monopoly on Macy's with the brands they own. So when you're hopping from the Estee Lauder counter to MAC to Clinique, checking out the Michael Kors, Tommy H and Donna Karen, remember it's all Estee Lauder!  Your Aveda is just Estee Lauder too!

Anyways, Most of the companies start out small, pure, and ambitious. They will use good ingredients, make a lot of money, develop a loyal following, then they will sell their company to one of these huge corporations, they'll swap out the more expensive, beneficial Ingredients for cheaper ones, keep the packaging, keep the same price or RAISE it, sometimes they even have the audacity to say "new and improved formula!" Sorry, but they play on the ignorant bliss of the average consumer, professional or not, not being aware of or having knowledge about product ingredients.

Like Pureology started off as a husband, wife, and chemist. Great Ingredients, loyal, exclusive following much like how Aveda has amassed, then in 07 they sold out and sold their precious company to Loreal for $20 million i believe. Yet most people remain completely unaware of the ingredients changing because "well my hair still FEELS great!" FEEL has nothing to do with it. It's not the brand, the price, it's completely about the ingredients, nothing more. In all honesty the ingredients in your average expensive  $30-50 bottles of shampoo and conditioner do not vary from your  $3-5 bottles.

Anyway though, there is a massive difference in bleach powders, moreso than with cremes or oils imo. Not all bleaches are created equal! Some barely lighten even with higher vols, and are still very harsh even with low vols. Some though you're able to use lower vols with for less time yet still get lighter with less damage. The best ones imo are Matrix Light Master, Wella Blondor creme lightener, Loreal Infinie Platine, Blondeme, and Age Beautiful creme lightener.

I highly recommend Matrix Light Master though, i find this one the absolute best. It is a very powerful, high lifting lightener that you're able to use lower vols with for less time than you normally would, yet still get less damage because of these factors and more lift. It says it lifts up to 8 levels but I always use 30 on my level 1-2  resistant Asian, Hispanic and Middle Eastern clients and I've gotten plenty of them to pale yellow in 45 minutes or less. I never have to use 40 unless it's a level 1-2 and I'm only using it on the last section for 15 minutes.

My hair is a good, common example of how you're able to use lower vols for less time. I have extremely resistant yet fine, dark ash blonde hair, like a 6A. I had tried every lightener out there trying to get it past a golden yellow, using 40 vol, heat, partial heat, foils, caps, foils helmets, foil helmets and caps, different developer brands, max time, double processing etc and nothing would ever bring it past golden yellow. I got "lucky" with Chi creme and 40 vol once and got more of a banana yellow but my hair felt terrible. With LM, all I need is a 15 vol bleach bath for 25 minutes and I'm pale yellow, and my hair doesn't feel any different than it was to begin with.

It is a very thick powder, it feels more like a powdered clay, very similar in consistency to corn starch. It stays put, really doesn't expand, but since it's so thick,  even mixing at a 1:2 ratio it still can dry out. I always use it in a bleach bath formulation, and I always apply it to pre coconut oiled hair. The Lauric acid binds to the keratin bonds and chelates the damage that occurs, and helps keep the hair and lightener moist, the bleach bath formulation helps keep it moist as well. When using Olaplex just substitute a portion of the shampoo you would use, with the Olaplex needed for the amount of bleach powder you're using instead.

It really is a phenomenal lightener. I've been using it since it first came out and utilizing the coconut oil with the bleach bath formulation I have never had a problem, ever. Even if a darker haired client only lifts to an 8, one more 10 vol bleach bath for 15 minutes will get them to a 10

The only other time I would use 40 is if I realize I've missed a spot near the end of processing and the rest of the hair is already close to pale yellow

I know about that, katie. I just don't want to buy from L'Oreal because they support Israel's army, so it's political. But thanks for the clarifications 🙂

Do  you use the developer that's supposed to go with it?

Nope, I just use any developer.

Any developer is fine. Like I say, it's a lot less important than the powder.