When it comes to post-lockdown locks, everyone's going for bold — and here to transform Angelenos' tresses with a taste of East London attitude is Bleach, which has opened its first U.S. outpost on L.A.'s own West Third Street.
Known for maintaining the manes of Alexa Chung, Harry Styles, Florence Welch, Maisie Williams and Georgia May Jagger (who's also co-owner of the stylish studio), co-founder and pro colorist Alex Brownsell soft-opened the edgy salon in early July. It was welcomed with a starry summer soirée on July 7 that drew Jagger alongside Paris Hilton, Charli XCX, model Barbara Palvin and beau Dylan Sprouse, Jordan Barrett and many others.
Guests will feel like as if they're being swirled through hair coloring process the moment that they step into the space, which features an immersive boutique that stocks Bleach's vegan and cruelty-free line of haircare, bleach, toners, dyes, at-home kits, and beauty tools ($7 to $28). A video projected on the ceiling showcases "what's happening to your hair from a macro/micro point of view," Brownsell told UncoverLA during Bleach's grand opening bash.
Services range from $500 to $700, or $1,000 if you prefer Brownsell to handle your hair herself. If you can dream it, chances are Bleach's stylists can create it, from single-hue neon shades, to two-tone hairstyles, to looks in a kaleidoscope of colors.
"The idea was you walk into the shop and even if you're not coming to the salon, you can still experience what it's like to be a part of Bleach," said Brownsell. "Our brand is about self-expression, it's about feeling, it's about smell, it's about the time of your life, and how do we create that in the shop? We managed to create it in there through the lens of the hair."
Visits will hear the familiar sounds of getting shampooed in the salon, while the boutique's floor "is an epoxy resin mixture of greens and golds which look like hair dye mixing together," continues Brownsell. The hand-carved black "amorphous shampoo blob sinks" were commissioned by artisans in Mexico and each hand-carved from one block wood, then polished, cut up, put on a plane, and carried in by no fewer than 20 people, she reveals. "It was so heavy, so it's never going to leave!"
The space "has been a long time coming," she said. Bleach first started scouting L.A. locations four years ago and inked the lease "about two weeks before COVID hit; we started building three months ago [in April] but we were working on the plans during [the pandemic]."
As far as how her salon's L.A. locale compares to her East London neighborhood (Bleach has three U.K. locations), Brownsell said she selected West 3rd Street for its walkability.
"It's one of the only streets that people walk in, so it feels a bit more London. Even this space, it's not huge, it feels really European, but I think the difference here versus London is people are really open to spending a lot of time [on their hair]," she said. "In London, people are interested in changing their looks, they are interested in experimenting, but they're not potentially willing to go to the salon for a whole day and wait six weeks for an appointment."
Scroll through the gallery above to see more inside the rainbow-painted space and see below for the address and booking info.
Bleach London, 8024 West 3rd St., West Hollywood, 90048; boutique open Wednesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.; salon by appointment only, (323) 452-9223
