The bright side: E8’s most colourful hair salon is coming for your make-up bag

Emma McCarthy talks dip-dye tips and glitter lips with Bleach London
Lou Teasdale and Alex Brownsell
Emma McCarthy17 July 2017

When best friends Alex Brownsell and Sam Teasdale launched Bleach London as a one-chair salon in the back of Dalston’s WAH Nails bar, the goal was to give their pals a place to hang out and play around with some rainbow highlights while waiting for their nails to dry.

Seven years, three salons, a successful product line launch and countless pots of peroxide later, the cool, wayward rebel of London’s hair scene is at the root of the dip-dye generation.

And now, Bleach is undertaking its brightest makeover yet — beginning with the launch of a new make-up line, created by Sam’s twin sister Lou Teasdale who rose to fame as the long-time hair and make-up stylist for One Direction.

“Her experimentation with make-up fits my approach to hair,” says Brownsell. “I can’t wait to see what people come up with when they combine the hair and make-up products. It’s going to look like there was an earthquake in Dulux.”

Bleach’s glitter shadows (£5)

Much like the technicolor hair dyes on which the brand was built, the 100-piece make-up range is not designed for shrinking violets. Think mix-and-match lip kits, build your own palettes, glitter shadows and strobe highlighters, all at cheap-as-chips prices.

“Initially we just wanted to create some lip kits in the iconic Bleach colours like Awkward Peach and Washed-Up Mermaid, but somehow it just turned into a full range,” says Lou. Her favourite product is the holographic elixir; “It’s really good to use as a moisturiser and I use it when stuff like my gel browliner dries out — just add a drop and it comes back to life.”

For Lou — a high-profile make-up artist with no shortage of offers from big brands to create her own line — joining forces with Bleach was a no-brainer. “I always have the Bleach customer in my head — she’s just like our mates,” she adds. “We attract a lot of alternative kids but also people who just want to buy into the anti-glam vibe of the salon.” Working with friends also allowed Teasdale maximum creativity with the collection. “We did everything ourselves. It’s great being able to create with no restrictions. Rather than scouring the market trying to find what you want, we just got to make it.”

A model sports Bleach’s new make-up line

Affordability was also key for sister Sam, the business brains of the operation. “Price has always been important,” she says. “The Bleach girl or boy might be still at school or university, or working in the creative industry, not necessarily a huge earner. Bleach achieves aspirational and accessible at the same time.” As well as make-up, the brand is launching new hair products including a softening Hair Elixir, two new colours — White Heat and Bold as Brass — and a “Too Posh To Wash” dry shampoo.

Another new addition to the brand is Georgia May Jagger — a long-term friend, fan and now business partner. “Alex and I have been working together for years — she was actually the hair assistant on my very first shoot,” says Jagger. “It’s really exciting for me to be part of it because the hair and make-up is exactly the kind of stuff I couldn’t get enough of growing up.”

Bleach’s lip kits (£12)

A style chameleon, the model is savvy to the power of transformation. “Changing your hair can literally make your career,” says Jagger, who has previously turned her hair rainbow at Bleach’s backwash and is planning to “do pink and orange” this summer.

“If I wasn’t modelling I would probably change the colour every few weeks. As a teenager I used to experiment a lot with magenta and blue, and I never used gloves, so my hands were always stained pink.” One thing Jagger — a staunch environmentalist who works with the ocean conservation charity Project 0 — was determined to introduce was a sustainable focus. “The new Bleach line is all vegan, with recycled packaging,” she adds. “The eyeshadows come as individuals so you can choose the colours to put in your recycled pallet.”

As well as being socially conscious, Bleach is also aware of the strength of social media. Bleach and its founders have a combined reach of more than five million Instagram follows, with the images on its brand account amassing more than 100 million likes. It was through social media that the decision was made to launch in the US. “Instagram has showed us how much of a demand there is for our products internationally,” says Brownsell. “We receive hundreds of comments each month from people all over the world asking when they can get hold of the products — and this week they finally can.”

Bleach's signature technicolor hair colours

Since the launch of its consumer range in 2013, Bleach has sold more than £10 million worth of hair products in partnership with Boots, with the count of retail locations reaching 1,200. This year, the brand will start to sell in Selfridges and more than 200 Superdrug stores across the UK, along with opening a new Brixton salon.

For Midlands girl Brownsell, who began her career sweeping up hair in her mum’s salon (“shout out New Image, Daventry”), the capital was the place to chase her rainbow-tinted dreams. “I knew I had to get to London to achieve anything. It’s always changing, for better or worse — just like our hair.”

Now Bleach has found its niche as the alt-beauty anti-hero — a movement which, it turns out, is not so niche at all. “We don’t aspire to traditional standards of beauty,” says Brownsell. “So many brands push this idea of the perfect body, face or hair. Over the last seven years, I realised that beauty is just confidence and everyone has the right to experiment as much as they want to achieve it.”

Female empowerment is also manifest within the brand’s management. “I’m lucky to work with my best friends — it’s like we’re in a massive episode of The Apprentice,” says Sam, while her sister Lou adds: “There’s too much respect for what each one of us brings to the table for anything to break it up.”

Brownsell agrees: “Work is just like hanging out. We’ve got a deep love for each other that we have to remind ourselves of every time we fall out. It’s a cliché but I don’t think any of us would change it for the world. It’s funny how often men try and get involved with the business and give us advice we didn’t ask for. We’ve come this far without penises at the party... I don’t think we’ll be needing one any time soon.”

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