The late Kurt Cobain was best known for being the frontman of Nirvana. But he was equally important to the rise of the laid-back grunge aesthetic that ruled the 1990s and did away with the opulent and grandiose way of dressing we associate with the late 1980s.
Characterised by a sense of slovenliness, Cobain’s wardrobe consisted of baggy and often ripped thrift-store-bought jeans, slouchy and loose T-shirts, threadbare mohair-blend cardigans, plaid shirts two sizes too big and beaten-up Converse Chuck Taylors.
His hair was much the same. Synonymous with the care-free attitude of the grunge movement, Cobain’s rooty, straw-hued dye-job is as iconic as his MTV VMAs arrival with Courtney Love.
We spoke to Alex Brownsell, cofounder and creative director of Bleach London, to find out how you can get this hairstyle for yourself.
What do I need to do to achieve the messy bleach effect?
If you’re starting on virgin hair, you can create an intentional root, instead of an all-over scalp bleach, for the lived-in look. To make sure this blends naturally, you want to create a highlighted effect near the root to avoid a harsh band of colour. You can use our Balayage Set, which comes with a tool called the Balayage Board – using this makes it easy to apply and blend.
Step one
If your hair is long, always start by sectioning your hair in four quadrants (like a hot cross bun) and secure back with Crocodile Clips. You’ll work through one section at a time.
Step two
Mix your bleach, then, starting with your first section, apply the bleach through the lengths, leaving about a two- to three-inch root.
Step three
Then, grab the Balayage Board to blend the bleach into the root. Taking small sections at a time, put the board underneath the hair and use the teeth on the board to roughly backcomb, so you have some scrunched hair at the top. This will make sure the bleach applies in a blended, imperfect way and doesn’t create a chunky or block effect.
Step four
Paint the bleach up the root, leaving the backcombed hair and about an inch at the scalp untouched for the grown-out look. You can use kitchen foil to seal your sections and avoid bleach transferring. Repeat and make your way through each section.
Step five
Rinse the bleach once it has lifted to a pale yellow colour. Check to see the colour by scraping some bleach back with your tint brush. You might want to rinse sections at a time in the order of application.
Step six
Once you’ve finished bleaching and processing each section, follow with Champagne Super Toner to correct any brassiness.
Step seven
If you want to add more warmth and gold to the blond tone, finish with Just Like Honey Super Cool Colour.
Use the Balayage Set, which comes with a Plex Bleach Kit to lift the blond, the Balayage Board to help create the blended root during bleach application, and Champagne Super Toner to correct brassy tones to sandy blond.
For all the tools you need to mix, section and apply, use the Home Dyeing Toolkit, which comes with a tail comb, eco-conut reusable bowl and tint brush and crocodile clips. To create a warmer golden blond, you can add Just Like Honey Super Cool Colour as the final colour step and style with Swamp Spritz. Use on damp hair and let it air-dry for added texture.
This blond is a low-maintenance look. It’s a natural sandy colour that needs less toning and the lived-in effect means you don’t have to worry about bleaching your roots as often. To top up golden tones, use Just Like Honey Super Cool Colour every few washes. To keep the hair hydrated, make sure to use treatments like the Reincarnation Mask to moisturise.
One box of bleach is enough to lift very short hair or if you need to touch up root regrowth, but to create this blond on longer hair you’ll need at least two packs. The great thing about this messy blond look is that you don’t need to be super precise with the blended root application. But if you don’t have someone who can help apply the bleach through the back sections of the hair, set up two mirrors so you can see the back of your head.
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