Alkalizing Agents
You have always wondered how the hair dyeing process works and what exactly happens? If you are dealing with hair coloring, you will certainly come across the term alkalizing agent.
What are alkalizing agents responsible for?
They are responsible for the swelling of hair structure. By opening hair structure, the hair color can first penetrate into hair. It also loosening salts and hydrogen bonds in the keratin to make hair more receptive to the hair color. The active ingredients of a hair color like color precursors, penetrate through the cuticle layer of the hair opened by the alkalizing agent and settle there. The concentration of the alkalizing agent decreases over the course of the contact time. In addition, the alkalizing agent serves as a catalyst (accelerator) for the necessary reaction between the color precursors and the hydrogen peroxide. Without alkalizing a coloring of hair, especially a light color would not be possible. The more you want to lighten your hair, the more hair must be swollen by the alkalizing agent. This is also the reason why bleachng attacks hair more than a tint. However, with a tint a light color is not possible.
Which alkalizing agents are there?
The most commonly used alkalizer is ammonia. You may have noticed a pungent odor during the dyeing process of your hair. This smell is typical of the ingredient ammonia. It is already included in the hair color or bleaching. Ammonia is responsible for opening the outer layer of hair, raising the pH to 10. Now your hair is ready to absorb the hair color. In combination with the oxidation component of the hair color, ammonia also removes some of the natural hair pigments, which makes it possible to brighten the hair by up to 5 levels. Grey hair can be completely covered and the result is a pure, stain-free color with a radiant glow.
As an alternative to the odorous ammonia, there is another alkalizing agent, which is often used in the hair industry. Monoethanolamine, short MEA, has a less intense odor and performs the same tasks in the hair dyeing process as ammonia. However, with a strong whitening of hair, ammonia is the most effective alkalizing agent. With lower color change and in conjunction with lower developer concentrations and short exposure times, MEA is the more recommended option.
The process of hair coloring is a very complex process, in which the initial state of your hair and the desired hair color play a major role. You should also stick to the recommended mixing ratios and exposure times to achive the desired results. In case of any doubt, we definitely recommend to ask a professional hairdresser for further assistentance.
