My Review of Schwarzkopf Hair Color Expert Omegaplex Dye: L9 Lightener Plus

Verity is a Physics with Teaching Bsc (Hons) graduate. In her spare time, she likes to cook, read and play video games.

Background and Important Info

I purchased this product for £6.79 per box from Amazon. I was not sent this product in return for a review, this review is unbiased and features my honest opinions and experiences with this product.

I used this product to lighten my hair in order to dye it a vivid purple. My starting colour was a medium/dark brown, as shown in the picture below labelled 'before'. I did two different bleaching sessions, one week apart. The reason I did two sessions rather than one was because I wanted the lightest base possible before applying my purple dye, to make it as vivid as possible.

I used two boxes of lightener per session. I needed to use two boxes due to the length of my hair (just below shoulder length). There was a little of the product left over after each session (applying liberally) so if your hair is longer than mine, then two should still suffice. If you have shorter hair than mine, you will only have to use one box.

Before

The First Lightening Session

The box of dye comes with lots of smaller bottles and packets, and the instructions clearly state which packets should be added to which, and in what order. To avoid any confusion, I read the instructions thoroughly and lined up the products on my shelf in the order that I would be using them. The instructions were very clear and explicit, including pictures, and it was very easy to follow and plan out. I have included a picture of the instructions below.

The dye application was very easy and I was able to work the bleach into my hair with very little effort. As this bleach is very strong it did makes my eyes water when I was working it into my fringe and widow's peak, but it only lasted for a few seconds. I would recommend opening a window during this process to help the smell and fumes dissipate.

I left my hair to process under a shower cap. There is a lot of heat generated during the bleaching process and the shower cap did become hot to the touch, however there was no point during the process where I felt uncomfortable due to the heat. I also did not feel any burning sensations on my scalp. I did need to use a washcloth soaked in cold water, to rinse one of my ears as I accidentally got bleach on it and left it under the processing cap for over 15 minutes. It made my ear red and slightly tender for 5 or so minutes, but after washing it and holding the washcloth to it, it felt much better. This was my own fault for not noticing and not a problem with the product.

The instructions stated to avoid leaving the bleach on for any longer than 45 minutes, so I rinsed out the dye after 40 minutes. As it took between 5-10 minutes to apply the bleach, I counted 40 minutes from when I started applying the bleach and not from when I finished.

I rinsed my hair for about five minutes. I then applied the repairing conditioner that came with the bleach. I worked the conditioner into my hair with my fingers and then left it to soak into my hair for 10 minutes, before rinsing it out. After rinsing out the conditioner, I applied the violet anti-yellow toner that came with the bleach. I worked the toner into my hair with my fingers and then left it for five minutes before rinsing it out.

After rinsing all of the products out of my hair I toweled off excess moisture and then let it air dry. Obviously, my hair was dry after using this bleach, but the conditioner and toner that come with this product improved the dryness substantially, and my hair looked and felt much more healthy than after using other bleaching products. Pictures of my hair after this first bleaching session are shown below.

Based on previous experiences with other bleach kits in the past, I was expecting my hair to come out orange, or very orange tinted and brassy. I was absolutely overjoyed when my hair dried to a lovely blonde colour that wasn't saturated with yellow.

The Instructions for the Schwarzkopf Hair Color Expert Omegaplex Dye, Lightener L9 Plus

My Hair After the First Bleaching Treatment

The Second Lightening Session

I waited just over a week before lightening my hair again. This gave me time to do some deep conditioning treatments to help my hair regain some strength.

For the second treatment I followed the exact same process as for the first treatment, however this time I only left the bleach on for 30 minutes, as I did not want to risk doing any damage to my hair.

I was expecting the second lightening session to simply remove any brassy tones, I was very pleasantly surprised when it came out a platinum colour that reminded me of Daenerys from Game of Thrones. Pictures of my hair following my second bleaching treatment are shown below.

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My Hair After the Second Bleach Treatment

Other Points to Note

This bleach is strong. I have a towel that I use for dyeing my hair at home, after drying my bleached hair with this towel, the towel turned from light blue to white. I knew that this was likely, which is why I used an old towel. Be warned, do not wear clothes or use towels that you care for because they will get stained and bleached severely!

Conclusion

I have used other bleaching products both at home and at a salon, and nothing compares to how amazing this lightener is. This bleach delivered far above and beyond what I was expecting and the results really do speak for themselves.

I would have been contented to stop after the first session if I was choosing to stay blonde, the only reason that I continued with the second session was because I wanted the lightest base possible for applying my coloured dye. This bleach allowed me to achieve a platinum colour, and it is the lightest that I have ever been able to go before. I was stunned.

This is hands down, with a doubt, the best bleaching product that I have ever used. The instructions were straight-forward, the product was very easy to use and I achieved results that I have never been able to get before with other bleach products. 10/10, I highly recommend. This is now my go-to bleach for any future occasion.

A Full Comparison of the Different Stages of the Bleaching Process

My Rating of Schwarzkopf Hair Color Expert Omegaplex Dye, Lightener L9++

Share Your Experiences

This content is accurate and true to the best of the author’s knowledge and is not meant to substitute for formal and individualized advice from a qualified professional.

Questions & Answers

Question: Can I dye my hair after using Schwarzkopf Hair Color Expert Omegaplex Dye?

Answer: Yes absolutely! That is what I did after using this product. You can see from the article that I did 2 bleaching sessions. As soon as my hair was dry after the second session, I dyed my hair a very vivid purple. The colour took very well and after 2 years, and a bit of wash out, my hair is still bright pink! This bleach makes your hair an excellent base for applying colour, I highly recommend it.

Question: Can I go from red to blonde using Olaplex?

Answer: I would imagine that your hair would need 2 bleach treatments to fully lift the colour.

The first treatment would likely make your hair go either orange or pink/coppery depending on what type of red your hair currently is. But this hair lightener is strong so I absolutely think that red to blonde is possible with this bleach.

Question: Will Schwarzkopf hair color lift dyed hair?

Answer: That is a very good question. I have not tried this product on dyed hair so I can not be sure to what extent this product can be used to strip dye from hair. However, if this dye was able to bleach my hair from dark brown to almost white, I would bet that this product is capable of stripping some dye from hair.

© 2018 VerityPrice

Comments

joanne yates on June 25, 2019:

Purchased two boxes of this product ,so delighted with it,took my very dark brown hair to virtually white.There was a little dryness to the very ends of my hair,but nothing a little trim won't solve.Hoping there dusty silver permanent hair dye gets me the result I'm looking for.

Ellen on October 12, 2018:

Such a helpful review! I just bought this and presumed the colour will be vaguely blonde, but it looks great.

Your hair looks amazing in the pictures!