What Are the Different Types of Hair Bleach?

Last updated November 13, 2025

People have been dyeing their hair since the Egyptians began hiding their gray with henna over 3,500 years ago. Yet, bleaching hair to lighter shades didn’t really catch on until the 1930s.

The last century has seen many advances in types of hair bleach, from classic bleach and peroxide rinses to ammonia-free hair bleach and hair bleach powder. While all these formulas effectively lighten hair, repeated use is notorious for potentially damaging the texture and health of your hair. By all accounts, anyone looking to go blond really needs to know the right way to bleach hair at home.

Types of Hair Bleach

Classic Hair Bleach

All the different types of bleach for hair push your locks toward the blond end of the spectrum by stripping away a pigmenting substance called melanin. Classic hair bleach works in a pinch, but the harsh chemicals penetrate the cuticle too invasively, leaving it exposed and highly prone to moisture loss. Typical side effects include split ends, coarse hair, breakage, and a yellow or orange tinge called ‘brass’. These are just some of the pitfalls that charcoal bleach helps prevent.

Hair Bleach Powder

Mainly used in salons for free-style lightening, powder bleach is a powerful agent that can lift black hair multiple shades to light brown. But what is bleaching powder? It contains toxic inorganic oxidizing agents like ammonium persulfate. It’s typically mixed with a developer in varying strengths, and results are unpredictable. The downsides are similar to classic hair bleach, plus it’s environmentally unsafe. Charcoal bleach is looking better and better, eh?

Ammonia-Free Hair Bleach

The shift towards ammonia-free hair coloration has led to many innovations. Garnier Olia stands out with its 60% oil-powered formula, infused with natural flower oils, designed to deliver vibrant, long-lasting permanent color with 100% gray coverage. This unique approach ensures effective color penetration while visibly improving hair's condition, leaving it shinier, softer, and healthier-looking after coloring.

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OLIA

B+++ - Bleach Blonde Extreme

Charcoal Bleach

While it may sound like an oxymoron, deep black charcoal is a natural ingredient that makes hair many shades lighter. It offers some other surprising benefits as well and is now being touted as one of the best types of hair bleach.

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NUTRISSE ULTRA COLOR

PL3 - Charcoal Bleach Ultra Cool Platinum

Is Charcoal Bleach Better for Your Hair?

Now for the big reveal: what is charcoal bleach for hair? This permanent hair bleach definitely shines where all other bleaching agents fall short. That’s precisely why Garnier has introduced new Nutrisse Ultra Color Lightening Crème with Pure Charcoal.

Activated charcoal has already made its debut to rave reviews for use on skin because it draws out impurities and soaks up excess oil and buildup. When added to hair bleach, it has the same effects while detoxifying to give the lightening process a clean slate. It’s also known to volumize hair and boost growth. And that’s not all!

We’ve combined this eco-friendly and odorless star ingredient with ultra cool lift technology to create our most advanced at-home hair bleaching kit. It has the power to lift red undertones and very dark hair to their blondest heights yet! Plus, it neutralizes with a deep blue conditioner fortified with five nourishing fruit oils that zaps any brass and stops breakage.

Now that you know that Nutrisse Charcoal Bleach leaves all the other hair bleach in the dust, why would you try anything else? But before you take the plunge, we suggest taking your desired shades for a test drive on our Virtual Hair Color Try-On Tool.

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