We report the direct observation of the quenching of the weakly absorbing transient due to the amino radical by oxygen and, hence determine, by a totally direct method, the corresponding rate constant (k = (1.1 +/- 0.1) x 10(9) dM(3) mol(-1) s(-1)). We also report the rate constants for the reactions of the amino radical with several amino acids and models of black eumelanin and blond/red phaeomelanin. These reactions lead to a mechanism, based on free radicals, that can explain why ammonia is useful in commercial hair (melanin) bleaching, avoiding excessive amino acid (hair protein) damage.