Bleach London Brixton

Bleach London started when co-founder Alex Brownsell bleached and coloured friends' hair at home. The experiments grew into a single chair in a corner of a nail bar and then a full salon. The Dalston salon is the original East London flagship, and the brand now also has a Brixton salon and a four-chair salon in Los Angeles, its first in-person space in the USA.

The company says it was the first salon to focus on colour rather than cutting, and it describes itself as London's leading colour salon. Demand in the salons led to an at-home range of bleach kits, toners, semi-permanent dyes and care products, with formulas refined over ten years. The site also says the products have been used by celebrities, on runways and on magazine covers.

Every visit begins with a consultation, which must take place at least 48 hours before the appointment. Consultations don't need to be booked, so anyone can drop in to talk through their hair with a stylist. Prices depend on the service and the stylist. A first appointment includes products, a treatment, a trim and a blow dry, and every colour service includes a toner, Plex treatment and blow dry. Add-ons such as Double Toner or Cleanse can only be added to a colour service, not booked alone.

Dalston and Brixton are open Tuesday to Friday 10am to 8pm and Saturday 10am to 7pm, and closed on Sundays and Mondays. The Los Angeles salon is open Wednesday to Saturday 10am to 7pm and takes appointments only. A 50% deposit secures a booking and goes toward the service price, but it isn't refunded for no-shows. Cancellations or changes need at least 48 hours' notice. Clients arriving more than 15 minutes late may have their appointment cancelled or moved. Under-16s must be accompanied by a parent or guardian, and colour services are not carried out on under-16s. An allergy test must be done at least 48 hours before an appointment.

The brand focuses on vegan, PETA-approved products in recycled and recyclable packaging, and it has offered refillable glass bottles and a plastic-free shampoo bar. It does not use palm oil directly and is working to replace palm-derived ingredients from some suppliers.