Sun Kissed (Jerome Russell Bblonde Permanent Hair Lightener)

Member Name: carly_pussycat

Product:	Jerome Russell Bblonde Permanent Hair Lightener
Date:	21/08/04 (4628 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Brilliant professional looking highlights (eventually!)

Disadvantages: Their ratio was wrong and it turned out orange first time

Since a somewhat disturbing incident at Toni & Guy a couple of years ago whereby a ?top stylist? cut my boyfriend Chris? ear (which bled for about 3 hours) he?s only been to salons to have his hair tidied up a few times. He already owned a pair of clippers, so after the ear cutting incident we decided to experiment at home with some funky cuts (difficult at first but eventually mastered). Last year we thought it?d be fun to try out some highlights so invested in a Jerome Russell B Blonde kit from Boots.


WHAT WE PURCHASED:

 Jerome Russell B Blonde ?High Lift? powder bleach (for all hair types)
 Jerome Russell B Blonde Cream Peroxide (40vol 12%, 75ml)

Included in the powder bleach box were 4 x 25ml sachets of the powder, a pair of plastic protective gloves and the instruction leaflet.


PRIOR TO USE

Before you use this kit (well, before you buy it really) you need to check if the products are suitable for your hair colour. Jerome Russell suggest on the powder box that ?Fair to Medium Brown? hair requires 30vol (9%) cream peroxide and ?Medium to Dark Brown? hair requires 40vol (12%).

Once you?ve purchased the correct combination you need to fully read through the instruction leaflet. There are lots of warnings and precautions which I shan?t list here as there are too many, but be sure to read them all before beginning application.

The most important thing before application is to do a strand test. For those who don?t know what this is, it requires mixing up the solution and testing it on a few strands of hair to check that you get the correct colour and also that it doesn?t cause any adverse reaction to your hair or skin. There
are full instructions for this if anyone has any problems. They do also suggest a skin test behind your ear which would be a good idea if you?re applying it to the whole of your head but as I was only doing highlights on the very tips of Chris? hair I did not do this.


USING THE KIT

Unfortunately at the time we purchased this we had to buy all the components separately so I had to find a non metallic bowl to put the mixture into.

I mixed up the solution in the bowl as they suggest: one sachet of powder bleach to one bottle of cream peroxide (in other words a ratio of 1:3). I did not have a non metallic spoon so I had to use my fingers with the gloves on, which took a little longer but worked eventually. This created a pale blue paste, not too thin or thick in consistency. It does smell foul, as expected, but providing you?ve got a few windows open it?s really not a problem (it might be more unpleasant if dying your whole head blonde though).

I immediately applied the mixture to Chris? dry hair using my hands in the gloves. It was rather difficult to apply the mixture just to the tips as Chris? hair is quite flat when not styled up. I think it would be easier to apply to girls? hair because you can easily grab a small section at a time.

Eventually I got the whole of the middle section (top and back) covered and we waited the full 90 minutes for it to develop because Chris? hair is very dark brown.

Between 60 and 90 minutes it didn?t really change colour much so I knew that was as far as it would go.


RESULTS

After washing the mixture out fully (which is very easy), drying and styling Chris? hair we realised that it wasn?t quite the colour he wanted. It wasn?t bright orange but it certainly had a yellowish glow to it. C
hris had wanted bright blonde, as near to white as possible, so we were slightly disappointed.

In addition to this, the colour was quite ?block? and not as subtle and sun-kissed as we would have liked it.


HOWEVER?.

I trimmed his hair a couple of times after the colour and after it had grown out we tried again. This time we experimented using a higher ratio of powder to bleach (approx 1:1). In addition to this I had a little brush which had come in an Umberto Giannini hair dye kit I had used, which would hopefully make application easier.

Using the same application method as before but with the brush instead of my fingers we achieved an excellent creamy blonde shade on the tips which looked far more professional than the first attempt.


TIPS

Since then I have bought a brush which is about half the size of the Umberto Giannini one which makes application more subtle and evenly spaced (you don?t get any random clumps of bright blonde).

When highlighting Chris' hair I also find it easier to straighten it before applying the mixture because that way the tips are sticking out as they would be when it is fully styled and I can apply the colour easily without getting anywhere near his scalp.



PRICE

The powder sachet set that we bought costs £3.29 and the bottle of cream peroxide £1.40, both from Boots. However, I suggest if you want a professional result that you invest in a highlighting brush and a tighter pair of latex gloves because they really are the difference between blonde clumps and professional looking highlights (their gloves are thin, baggy, plastic, and break easily).

Alternatively you could buy the Jerome Russell B Blonde highlighting kit which is now available from Boots for £5.
49. It includes the powder bleach, cream peroxide, shampoo, tinting brush, development cap, gloves, mixing bowl, highlighting hat and hooks, and instruction leaflet. This would probably be advisable if doing female hair.


FINAL VERDICT

This is fantastic for doing Chris? hair because once we found the correct ratio of mixture we can get professional results every time. However, I don?t think I would ever chance using this on my hair because it would take an absolute age to grow out if anything went wrong. (But in saying that I wouldn?t highlight my own hair with anything so it?s no reflection on the product).

When doing Chris' hair after the first time I actually realised that I don't need a whole sachet so I just mix up the amount required. As a result this means the packet of four sachets lasts absolutely ages - so it's a very cheap alternative to salon highlights (especially for men when it only lasts a few weeks at most).

Only four stars because their ratio was wrong and they didn?t tell you that you could vary it to suit yourself.

Shame this site doesn't have the facility for pictures as I have posted pictures on another site!


carly_pussycat - dooyoo UK ©

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