Depigmentation Debate

The issue of depigmentation v. actual bleaching has come up a few times on the board regarding Great Lengths hair. I asked Rick, a cosmetics chemist who usually posts on going blonde, his opinion on whether you can take black hair to light blonde without bleach, but with a gentler "depigmentation" process, and this was his response:

Depigment the hair.
by Rick (the chemist) (no login)
So, the company doesn't use bleach? What do they call depigmenting the hair? I call it "bleaching".

The process used for "depigmenting" wool and cotton is also known as "bleaching". At least that's what my friends in that industry call it. One of the chemicals they use to depigment sheep wool is hydrogen peroxide. Of course, it's quite a bit stronger than what you would want to use on your head.

Rick

Well, I really have no intention of starting a big drama with the GLs people. I quite like their hair, actually, although I don't like their bonds or their prices. I just think that people should beware of claims like that. Ain't nothing "gentle" going to take black to light blonde.

I do think there are a lot of people (including a lot of stylists) out there who just want to assume the best-case scenario. So if a company says "We use a gentle process," they take that as gospel, and truly believe it, even though all the scientific evidence indicates otherwise.

:)

i am back for a day !!!! i have missed so much !!!
been working. look< i have been a hairdresser for 20 years and am certified with greatlengths. here is the thing . as i see it, their hair is still the best and a lot of people still over pay for it. i posted earlier the real prices of the hair.it really isnt much.
i will look further into the color process tomorrow and post it. however,the proof to me is in the feel of the hair. as for the bonds, i am noticing that the people that complain about them havnt been going to certified techs. the ones who have, like them but complain about the money.the thing is,the techs seem to overcharge because they know there are so few out there. that sucks.although,i do know how difficult it is to become a tech,that is no reason to rip people off . anyway,there is a new machine coming out in june i am eager to get my hands on and will post my findings then.as for the color process, i will post sooner,however,i do believe technology has found a better way to color hair without damaging the cuticle as it used to ,sooooo the possibility that GL uses a better method does not seem outside of reach.anybody remember when color used to have lead in it ???? we have come a long way from that in a short period of time.

Perhaps it's the superstrength peroxide Rick was referring to, or it's bleach of some kind, but imo, there's no way around it: They're using some harsh chemical to take the black to light blonde.

I think the GLs hair might stay in tact better than some other brands because: 1) It's Indian, rather than Chinese (which most extensions are, imo) and requires less processing than the Chinese hair; 2) it's not from brushes, but rather temple hair that's all in one direction cuticle-wise; 3) it goes through less of the other kinds of processing, such as straightening or perming. In other words, if you start off with better hair, you'll wind up with better hair, regardless of the bleaching factor. If it's true temple hair, it's probably never been blow-dried even; Indian women are amazingly gentle with their hair, and treat it with oils, so it grows and grows.

Along with a terrific batch of hisandher cuticle hair I had once, GLs was the best-quality hair I ever bought: strong, durable, thick. It stayed relatively soft, but the one drawback was that the hair didn't stay shiny; it became dull quite quickly. The hisandher hair stayed supershiny, and I attribute the difference to the fact that the GLs hair was blonde (and therefore bleached) while the hisandher was black (and therefore unbleached).

Again, I'm not dissing on the GLs hair because I do think it's high-quality. Nevertheless, I think the way they're presenting their lightening process is misleading, especially since scientists have confirmed that depigmentation can't occur without harsh chemicals.

:)

Oh, and about the bonds: My tech was certified but didn't cut them in half, like Oly does. If thats the preferred application, perhaps the company will start manufacturing the bonds that way in the future. It seems like people have more success when those bonds are halved. :)