Our First Test Case - Hair Color Example Case

OK here we go Jo..............See this hot ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ photo up there ? ? ? ? That is RIBBONS of lights.... I just call them ribbons, my clients all have ribbons...its a very common term here in weirdo california. . . . . how nice are they? cool, huh? know why? The color on this girl is our goal FOR YOU, and it isn't hard. Why is this such a great idea for your hair????
~No Regrowth ~ Contrast is dynamic ~Cheap
~Do it Yourself ~ Lasts a long-long-long time!
NOTHING LOOKS BETTER...............NOTHING.......its my fav hair technique. I'm giving to you, when the 'girls' show up...
I've come up with a new way to truly-honestly-completely display to you how to do the ribbon lights around the face that I can't wait to show you. What we want to learn is how to put a cool dozen blond ribbon lights around the face. We want them light enough...not too light....We want them scattered not one after another tightly knit...We want them Blonde not YELLOW not ORANGE..... just a beautiful light sunkissed blond.
BUT...........in order for there not be any questions I have come up with a solution before the problem arises...I ordered a few human hair mannequins..I get them from back east....I tried it on a human model........it didn't work.
Its a long stupid story, we're going with mannequins. This will rock I promise. Any day now....because I can't wait to do these with and for you. Its a breeze. Get your supplies. Be ready to go when I get the "girls"... I've given you the list.  Foils, comb, tint brush, tint bowl, yada yada, peroxide and bleach. Now, don't ditto me....as I bought a small yahoo of bleach. It is totally going to be a self sufficient - do-it-yourself whup-de-do. The one precursor here is this......IF you have never EVER colored your hair before....and have completely VIRGIN hair... AND It is a LEVEL 7,8 or 9... you can accomplish those Ribbons with a Blond highlift and/or a blond tint, which is (yes) not as damaging to the hair. BUT....BUT think about this.... you are putting 12 dinky little foils in your hair.... that small amount of hair color will not do enough damage to even blink at, I wouldn't bother. But if you really want to give it a go. Go ahead and purchase a tube of LEVEL 12 HIGHLIFT ASH...( why Ash? use your color wheel.... what color is ash? Ash=Green/Blue tones...... What color is Green opposite from on the color wheel? That's how it works.....you want to SQUASH a color in your hair color? Go across from it on the color wheel. I will throw a color wheel on the page for you to gander at. Yellow is a common mistake in hair color especially blondes, if you your hair is pulling Yellow and want to get rid of it......where do you go? Violets?

Right? Think of some of those violet rinses and shampoos you see for the Gray hair's.... see why? Gray hair has a strong tendency to pull lots of YELLOW....its your Grandma's biggest problem in life. "Yellowish - Gray hair" Lavender conditioner knocks it into next year!

Back to you....why would you think buying an ASH High Lift Blond would be my first choice for you without even knowing your hair color? (I didn't ask).... ash toned high-lift blond 'counteracts' any REDs/ORANGE in the blond. If you're Hispanic,Asian, pretty much any ethnic base....you have tons of red/orange in your hair.....fighting it is the hardest job.

Most of people have brown or black hair, very few people have light hair. As a busy Colorist one reaches for ASH colors across the board more than any other tone. Which probably seems odd to you, I watch new Colorists they think "I want rich warm golden blond - I never want to use ash blonds....green?blues? yuk!

What you are doing is "countering" the offensive colors....and although you are not using in that one little dumb tube of Color something that says" warm golden blond " you want a warm blond you do not want an Orange blond...... I promise you...... and that is what you are creating by using the ASH blond. if you can just start absorbing this a "little" bit...you are on your way to understanding the PRO way of COLORING Hair.

HERE IS YOUR FIRST TEST CASE>

Lets see how you do.

The color you PREFER to be is: Level 7

Your hair's NATURAL color is: Level 4.

( PRINT the chart out and put it on your fridge so it gets emblazoned on your brain)

Did you figure it out?

Now come on, I have people emailing me all the time and wanting the answers to their individual hair color questions, which I love & adore to do DO NOT get me wrong...BUT wouldn't you feel better about yourself if you could figure it out yourself? Its a teeny bit of math and a dash of common sense. Up till now no one has given the rules out -- so it seemed like some big mystery.

Guess what? It isn't ! I hope to bust that open, here and soon.

OK. let me explain it.

Subtract the natural color from the Level you want to be ( or your friend, client or dog!)

Add the difference to the preferred color Level .This will give you the proper color Level to use to achieve the desired results.

Add the difference to the preferred Color Level. This will give you the proper color level to use to achieve the desired results.

Preferred level of Color......................... Level 7 Blond

Natural Level of Color(subtract)........... (-) Level 4 Brown

Difference = 3 LEVELS



Preferred level of Color......................... Level 7 Blond

Difference (add)..................................... + 3 Levels

Level to Use.................................... = Level 10 Blond

The level of Color is a Level 10 blond

(with a blue base)or the orange{remaining pigment} will show through.

( Refer to Fig. 2.2 - tomorrows post + the thorough explanation) Think about it. Go back Review. Is this answer right?

Bits & Pieces : Learn To Formulate Hair Color

Here are bits and pieces to help with Tuesday's Post and your first HAIR COLOR FORMULATION problem

Try the first Formulation quiz

You are a Level 4

and you desitre to be a Level 7

DL Hair - simply for fun

On Your Mark Get Set Color ! Begin Hair Color Formulating

Know why this is a good tool?

Once you realize what you have to consider to color your hair (correctly) it will prevent you from making mistakes (I hope).

Begin with answers to these questions:

1. What Level of color ARE YOU ? http://killerstrands.blogspot.com/2007/07/today.html


2. What Level of color do you DESIRE to be? http://killerstrands.blogspot.com/2007/07/today.html


3. What TONE or color do you want . . . Lordie,. . . . I forgot Tones ???! I am soooo sorry. This is so hard - every single company has different tones....but they are important. Like do you want an ASH Brown or a RED Brown > those are tones and are completely opposite colors and are very important.OK, I'll have to take one last hiccup and spend one full post on TONES /SHADES, that is the "key" to have a Chocolate Brown versus a Caramel Brown,it probably doesn't sound that different. It is. I swear. We've come this far, we must finish the race...correctly. What an Idiot. Well, now you know me...Space Case UNLIMITED. I'm sorry. Lets finish this.


4. Do you need a base ( first 1 inch of hair) Are you dealing with Grey hair (at all) how much?


5. Fine, medium or coarse hair?


6. What's the previous damage...?
7. The single most important question . . . . What type of artificial hair color do you have on your hair already? What was it and when ? Be completely honest about this answer please.
   

OK...get the answers to these down. If you aren't coloring your hair now, then make-up something you want to try in the future. Color the neighbors hair. Just play around, get familiar with 'Levels'. Be able to answer the questions easily. Tomorrow I'll zip over tones and shades. . . . so we will be complete...sort of! Thank you for hanging in there.

For those of you serious about learning and practicing home HAIR COLORING The Pro way... You will want to pick a line or two of color that you will use. There is a couple ways to go... I have been scoping out what you are able to purchase without a cosmetology license...its a whole different world. I have put the public lines of hair color thru a number of tests and I cannot find one that I would recommend - therefore I have made available to you the professional lines of hair color that will knock your socks off. Just send the store an email with ORDER in the Subject and I will get back to you Killerstrands@gmail.com.

The idea is to get AWAY from using a kit that only has ONE Volume of developer in the box. You need much more leeway in deciding which Volume of developer to use on your hair.

If a

• - - Red head
  
• - - a Blonde and a
  
• - - African American (black hair)
  

all go into a store to purchase a box of color to become a LEVEL 6 chocolate brunette - those boxed kits will lead you to believe that all 3 of you can purchase the same box to get that color. I hope you can see - simply from common sense that would not be true.
As a Top Colorist in LA I want you to know if everyone in those 3 groups - purchases that box of Color to become a Level 6 chocolate Brown.... NONE OF THEM will get the right result. Did you notice which category I left out?
Brunettes.
That is the only group that I could guess "might" get good results.

It has to do with which VOLUME of developer is IN that box.... and all the variables I have reviewed and will review with you - - of your hair . Its simple insane to think you can get the proper answers in 1 tiny box without considering all the variables to make a correct decision.

Alkali, Hydrogen Peroxide and Mohawks

THE EFFECTS OF ALKALI And HYDROGEN PEROXIDE

Hydrogen peroxide alone will not lighten hair easily; it alone is not a decolorizer because of its acidic pH level. It must be combined with an alkaline source to produce a chemical reaction with the color dye and the pigment in the hair strands.

The most common alkaline agent used in haircoloring products is ammonia.

In addition to maintaining stability of the dye , ammonia swells the hair strand, which helps the dye molecule penetrate the cuticle and cortex layers. Ammonia also acts as a catalyst to activate hydrogen peroxide, which helps the dye molecules to couple and form.

Hydrogen peroxide in combination with ammonia will break some of the internal disulfide bonds found in the cortex of the hair.

This IS IMPORTANT:

Disulfide bonds are responsible for hair's stability and strength.

In a typical haircolor process, approximately 10% of existing disulfide bonds are destroyed. In a highlift color or bleaching, 15 — 20% may be permanently broken. The destruction of disulfide bonds leads to the production of a new molecule called cysteic acid. Although this is an inevitable side effect, an appropriate protein/moisture balance can be achieved through the Deep OVERNIGHT Conditioning Treatments I preach about all the time.

I am a true believever that overnight DEEP Conditioning can solve/repair the disulfide bond breaking that occurs when lightening hair. I hope this helps you see now, why I say "lightening the hair" weakens the hair strands....while "same Level or darker" hair color "strengthens" the strands.Read the paragraphs over and over a couple times... it will sink in promise.

• If you understand how the hair gets damaged then it helps prevent you from damaging it, continuously.
• It's important to understand the individual components of haircoloring products and their primary functions.

Essentially, most haircolor requires dye and developer to produce a result.

DYES
There are two general categories of dyes: oxidative and direct dyes. Oxidative dyes are extremely small colorless molecules that penetrate through the cuticle and into the cortex with the aid of an alkaline substance such as ammonia. Direct dyes are pre-colored molecules that coat the surface of the hair and do not require a reaction with hydrogen peroxide.

DEVELOPER (HYDROGEN PEROXIDE)
In order for oxidative dyes to form colored dye molecules, oxidation must take place. Oxidation is the chemical process of a haircolor dye reacting with a developer to form visible color. Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) is one of the most predominant oxidants used to develop color.

Hydrogen peroxide can be considered 'super-oxygenated' water, and is categorized by volume — most often 10, 20, 30, and 40. "Volume" refers to the 'volume' of oxygen gas contained in one 'volume' of hydrogen peroxide. It is a measure of concentration.

Each volume corresponds with a percentage level as follows:

Developer (Hydrogen Peroxide)

Volume Percentage of H202 Lifting Ability

10 Volume or 3% Deposits only
20 Volume or 6% Lifts Up to 1 level

30 Volume or 9% Lifts Up to 2-3 levels

40 Volume or 12% Lifts Up to 3-4 levels ......................Memorize these - its easy

Lower volumes of developer are used for minimal lift and staining techniques. Higher volumes are used when increased lifting of the natural pigment is desired.

Hydrogen peroxide has a dual purpose in the haircoloring process. First, it reacts with the melanin, breaking down the natural pigment and lightening the hair. This is what is referred to as 'lift'. Second, hydrogen peroxide develops oxidative dye molecules creating 'deposit' into the protein structure of the hair.