April 25, 2015

Hydrogen Peroxide Speaks Volumes !....Hair Color Can't Live Without It



Hydrogen Peroxide / Developers

Let me bring the concepts down … to the planet, a lot of this may seem unnecessary and strange sounding but everything needs to be taught and understood for those of you wanting to professional hair color at home front. All of the info talked about, needs to be said ...so I can refer to it as I head deeper into teaching hair coloring at home, be patient. If you want to learn information that would cost a tremendous amount of $$ plus years of experience, just read and re-read every post. I am teaching all our secrets - I don’t know a soul that would do that.}
Getting down to the nitty-gritty > to make a batch of haircolor to put on hair, this is the picture: You have a bowl…a tint brush …on one side of the bowl is some color ….squeezed out of a tube…on the other side of the bowl…..Is the “white stuff”…..which has no smell until the 2 substances are combined…then POW- mix the 2 things together and it explodes in aroma and changes hair color .


That white stuff is the Developer …or Hydrogen Peroxide. I snicker when I hear that some new hair color is great & wonderful because it doesn’t use peroxide. To me….as a chemist….as a Colorist…the last thing on the planet I would want would be a hair color that does NOT have hydrogen peroxide in it ! 

The only hair color that does not work with Developer is SEMI-Permanent Hair Color
A developer is an oxidizing agent that, when mixed with an oxidative hair color, supplies the necessary oxygen gas to develop color molecules and :

create a change in hair color

Developers, also called oxidizing agents or catalysts, having a pH between 2.5 and 4.5 . Although there are a number of developers on the market, hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) is the one most commonly used in hair color.


VOLUME is the measure of the potential oxidation of varying strengths of hydrogen peroxide. The lower the volume, the less lift is achieved; the higher the volume, the greater the lifting action. The majority of permanent hair color products use 10 ,20,30,40 Volume hydrogen peroxide for proper color development.

One of the best little tricks in the world of developer are TINTED versions, in other words we have Blue and Violet Tinted Developers in 20 And 40 Volume which helps when needing any sort of warmth reduction ( too much brass/blorange/Gold) if those are your problems give either Blue or Violet Developer a try.

11 comments:

  1. pish posh- your writing is great! :) I'm a hair & make up artist who has done some writing too - just happen to luck out. Some of the best beauty writing comes from the passionate :)

    I was on your site as I live in S'pore now and trying to find which % is which volume as I only know volumes - from eighteen years of doing hair you would think I would remember what the % were :)

    take care
    Andrea Claire
    www.aclairebeauty.com

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  2. Hi Andrea,
    Thanks for your question/comment...

    What in the world is "S'pore" ??? Have no idea what or where in
    the world that is...!!!

    As far as the percentages of "volumes"..... of Peroxide
    Here you go....
    10 Volume is 3%
    20 Volume 6%
    30 Volume 9%
    40 Volume 12%

    You must be European....they are the only ones that go by that rating...
    am I close?

    I will check out your site in a bit.....
    I'm just about to start writing a new series on here as well....so stay tuned

    Killer Chemist

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  3. Thanks KC :)

    Sorry - S'pore is short for Singapore - was lazy in writing all the letters :)

    I'm Canadian who relocated and am used to peroxides in volumes not %, which they were all % here. Thanks for shedding light - now I can colour away :)

    All the bottles in Canada have both the % and volume on them, but I never memorized the %.

    Can't wait to read your newe blog.

    xo
    AC

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  4. ignore the extra e on 'new' - I'm a moron :)

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  5. If I am a Level 2, and want a Level 5 color, how would I do this? Do I use a Level 7 color and a Volume 30 Developer? Or do I use the Level 5 color, but use a lifter that lifts 5 levels?

    Also, what tones should I use if I have very light cool toned Asian skin? Are red/gold/neutral/ or ash tones better for me? Thanks.

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  6. hi... i was wondering if using hydrogen peroxide 20 vols is safe on scalp?i have beautiful thick head of black hair and i am afraid of side effects like hair loass (if any). thanks.. i really like ur blog.

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  7. Hi,
    I was wondering if it matters what brand developer is used. I use Colorly color with 20% developer. I just use Sally's creme developer. It works well but I want my hair to be in the best condition it possibly can be. Is one brand developer better than another? If I change developer brands will it affect the tone? Thank you in advance.

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  8. I am terribly allergic to peroxide ?
    what can one substitute for holding the color?

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  9. The one and only way to color hair without peroxide is by using SEMI-Permanent Hair Color, which is BURST & BOOST. There is absolutely ZERO peroxide................and I realize this is not the goal you DESIRE.... but if you are allergic to peroxide, I'm sure you have gone thru the scarier-than-Hell experience of almost losing all the hair on your head as the heat and steam began to SIZZLE on top of your hair/head. The Stylist cannot even touch the foil or hair it becomes SO HOT - - -SO FAST - - -....

    Not pleasant and it should never be attempted again. Its quite rare, but if it happens to you, you will know it within 30 minutes or less! I've seen a bout half the people with this rare allergy..............grow out of it. So I would say 15-20 years after you first discover it, find a well qualified stylists and ask her to run a STRAND TEST only, so you are using a small piece of hair and have them watch it every couple minutes.....to be sure it does not begin to heat up. If it does, don't risk it, rinse immediately.
    Now....
    have you tried it with a hair color....in other words a Level 5-6-7 hair color ( NOT BLEACH)...there are few who can use it in that manner and it doesn't bother them. Its mainly the bleach that creates that allergic affect.
    Granted there are not as many radical hair color choices........but still you could be a red head ( there is not a man alive who does not like a red-head.....)
    my personal favorite is a Level 6 light cashmere brunette....its my # 1 color ( why? you never see it - I love rarely sen colors!

    You can always play a lot with BOOST and Burst. Apply ANGEL ROSE GOLD on top of light brunette hair and the result is a gorgeous Rosey Brunette.
    now you have some options.

    GL

    KC

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  10. It could also be an ammonia / ppd or resourcinal allergy vs peroxide; in which case Original Mineral hair colour is an option. [for my 2 cents] 💜

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  11. she's right I didn't even ask what was used that made you think you have an allergy to developer????
    There a couple things you can be allergic to ..........in hair coloring.

    What exactly was used when you discovered the allergy and what exactly happened?
    KC

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