Struc---Tures of The HAIR

Quick course on Hair Structure

Yep, this is boring. It seems every post I toy with the idea of leaving it out….why? I worry you will be screaming at your screen, “when is she going to get to the more interesting stuff” ! Then I remind myself… there was a time I found all of this fascinating and I couldn’t get enough, I will assume that is where you are from now on and keep trucking along.

Below the surface of the skin…………..the hair is called the HAIR ROOT --- Above is the HAIR SHAFT. So the part of the hair that you… color…you brush…you shampoo…you tease… you straighten is called the HAIR SHAFT. The part of the hair that is below the skin that we cannot see or touch is the HAIR ROOT.

The structures of the HAIR ROOT are the FOLLICLE, HAIR BULB, and PAPILLA.

The HAIR ROOT is housed in a sheath called a FOLLICLE which you can see here in the diagram. At the bottom of the follicle, buried deep in the skin, is the HAIR BULB. The cells that become a strand of hair are produced in the HAIR BULB, the living part of hair, from which the hair grows. How many people do you hear say “your hair is dead”??...well that is not (scientifically) the truth. Where one hair grows and dies….another one comes in its place. Therefore,I would not call that dead. That theory is just a matter of tearing the words, and what happens with each hair, apart. They say that because a hair does not “feel”: you can bend, smash, curl and flat iron a hair and it doesn’t hurt, but it “does grow” doesn’t it? I would call that “ALIVE”. When I went on a mission to solve the terrible problem we have in women’s hair thinning and loss, I studied exactly that, ‘where’ the new hair was formed and ‘how’ it was formed. Proudly, I can say that I have that issue solved in a whopping 84% of the women that follow my 12 step program.

At the base of the bulb, nourishing it is the PAPILLA…a mound of tissue with capillaries running through it. The papilla contains the blood and nerve supply that provides the nutrients needed for hair growth.

The Structures of the HAIR SHAFT are the CUTICLE, CORTEX, and MEDULLA.

The Cuticle is the outermost layer of the hair. It consists of a single overlapping layer of transparent scale-like cells that overlap like shingles on a roof. *****A healthy compact cuticle layer is the hair’s primary defense against damage. Remember this fact, this will come in necessary when trying to figure out why your hair or a clients hair is in bad condition. I use a microscope to look at my clients cuticle, that tells me whether their damage is deeper within or just on the surface and in the cuticle. Knowing that piece of information leads me to the type of conditioner I need to use to ressurect their hair condition. {There are very few conditioners that actually address what they claim to ‘in print’ on the packaging, I hate to blow your hopes & dreams. }

A healthy cuticle layer protects the hair from penetration and prevents damage to hair fibers. Oxidation haircolors, permanent waving solutions, and chemical hair relaxers must have alkaline pH in order to penetrate the cuticle layer and reach their target within the cortex. Those 3 solutions goal is changing the make-up of the hair as it is now …to a complete new one….Perms are changing the hair from straight to curly, Relaxers are doing the opposite, Oxidation haircolors are permanently changing the color of the hair from its original to a new one. In order to perform such a major change the change must reach the CORTEX of the hair.

The CORTEX is the middle layer of the hair. It is a fibrous protein core formed by cells containing MELANIN pigment. About 90% of the total weight of the hair comes from the cortex. The elasticity of the hair and its natural color are the result of the unique protein structures within the CORTEX.

The MEDULLA is the innermost layer composed of round cells. It is quite common for very fine & naturally blonde hair to entirely lack a MEDULLA, generally only thick coarse hair contains one. Men’s beard hair contains a Medulla, as far as Cosmetology…the MEDULLA is not involved in any of the treatments we deal with.

You will find the structure helpful as you move into more knowledge of hair coloring as well. Just let it absorb into your brain.....and allow your brain and body to become hair "brilliant" !

Stop . . .Drop . . .and Roll >> Short Cuts Return With a Bang!

Hair Cuts must not be done by YOU.
That is one thing I fully believe in having done professionally.

Problem is , how do you find a good Cutter?
Three of the best ways?

• Stop someone who HAS a great cut... {one of the best ways}.
• Call the top couple Salons in your city and ask if there is anyone that received their License from the Vidal Sassoon Academy ( thousands of Stylists from all over the world have)
• Ask Receptionist at your local Salon ( risky)
  

Short Hair is IN <> if you have never worn it, everyone must try it at least once in their life....look at Katy's hair....it never looked better...

I dare you . . . .



This is absolutely Smashing

Canceling Unwanted Tones in Hair & IN CONCLUSION

I know all these color wheels and colors seem silly to most of you ...there is a purpose.

There is an EXCELLENT reason for busting out the crayons and coloring again....

Hands down .....One of the most asked questions here on Killerstrands is:

HOW DO I GET RID OF THE "_______" tones in my hair......the 2 words that go in the blank are 'Brassy' and "yellow"

Which I have answered many many times.... and promise to still answer many MORE times...

I just thought it might be good to teach you to fish rather than to fish for you.....

Using these Color wheels can help you answer that problem every single time....so many hair stylists just don't understand this simple simple technique. I am hopeful that many of you will begin tosee the light at the end of the tunnel.... let me know if you are

If you have brassy or yellow tones in the hair........where do you find the solution?

Remember . . . a complementary color or the OPPOSITE color on the wheel NEUTRALIZES the tones you find irritating. So what color complements Yellow???? ...............Purple or Violet - - - makes no diffference which name you choose whichever you prefer

Some people LOVE Gold and yellow in their hair...as far as I'm concerned its the USA and anyone can have whatever tone they want. I am just here to teach you

"HOW" to get the tone you want.....and get rid of the tones you dont want.

That way you WILL have the beautiful hair everyone desires.

CONCLUSION

The Color Wheel is simple.

Remember the primaries.

Knowing these, you can name the secondaries.

Visualise these colors arranged on a circle.

Half the circle is cool;

half is warm.

Colors opposite one another neutralize each other

Cool contrasts- out warm and vice versa

Thats all you need to know

Keep It Simple, Hair Color Rules That Are Simple As Pie

The More You Know The Less You Fear
....use that as your mantra for learning this crap
Wouldn't you LOVE to understand how to color your hair perfectly?
So if you wanted to have blonde hair one month......and brown hair with just a few blonde ribbons a couple months later, you could do it yourself
and it would look like Julia Roberts hair
NOT Britney Spears

Education - Education - Education....and its not that hard. Promise.


Hair Color = As Simple as Addition and Subtraction

The first of many important coloring facts many Cosmetologists have not learned, so puts you ahead of them

<>When you apply Color(Tint) to the hair you are ADDING Color.

Color + Color = MORE Color, so the hair has more pigment.

f the color used is addition only, the hair will often but not always be darker.

<> Deposit Only tints (Semi or Demi Permanent Color) are frequently used to change tonal value without changing the lightness or darkness of the actual color of the hair. This is about the least complicated method of tinting hair as you will not have a "LINE OF REGROWTH" ( line where the new color has changed the old color) The Demi Permanent line I use called Color Touch (by Wella's European division) is probably the single best line of hair color on the planet. If I had to pick one line to use and get rid of the other 15 lines I carry...that would be it - which would surprize many because it is not permanent. This line imparts the most incredible amount of shine and moisturizers though....so it wins hands down as the "condition" of the hair is the most important factor for me.

<> When hair is lightened (no matter how little) you are subtracting pigment (lifting its called).

many think lightening hair is deposting a blonde color to the hair, it is NOT. Which is why every person ends up with varying shades of blondes. What is actually a happening is the colors are being LIFTED out of your hair to create a lighter appearance. If this is confusing to anyone PLEASE point that out. This is a trough concept the first time around for many, I want to be sure you are getting it, especially before we go on....

<> When you use a tube of hair color (Single process hair color) that is lighter than your own virgin hair that Tube of Color is a wonderful little tube of magic...... it performs many little works of wonder when it is mixed with the developer and applied to your hair.

That color performs "2" main chemical actions on your hair at the same time, it both #1: "lifts"(lightens) hair color out of your hair and # 2 "deposits" new color onto the hair. This is the concept that many do not understand. The chemical process performed once you mix that developer with that tube of color is a 2 step affar.....called Lift and Deposit.

<> Another way of saying this: Single-process hair color uses both (-) subtraction to remove pigment and (+) addition to replace or add artificial pigment.

BROWN is the basis of all Hair Color

Complementary colors ( remember what this is- extremely important) turn a brown of some shade. When 2 complementary colors are mixed they create the presence of the 3 primaries in uneven amounts.

For example: Yellow mixed with Violet will make a pale brown....because yellow, the stronger color, will dominate the formula. Violet is made from Red & Blue

When you mix yellow with Violet, you achieve a shade of Brown.

Mix opposites on the color wheel always results in a BROWN-ing effect. S I M P L E

these theories work in hair color - mixing house paint - dying your clothes - painting a picture - even frosting a cake....which is why I feel these little theories are worth teaching in high school to kids.

they teach kids the difference between

a teaspoon and a Tablespoon in Home Economics in high school, what's wrong with teaching the basics of COLOR?

EVERYONE will color their hair in the future...I am sure of it.

I'm of the belief that the way hair color is going in the very near future HAIR COLOR will be so rich, so conditioning and so strengthening to the hair that it will be mandatory for a good strong head of hair. MARK MY WORDS ON THAT

If hair color is done correctly even now, (that is a big "IF"), hair will be in better condition once it is done. Mine is and all my clients are... so it is nearly there already.

I cannot say this enough >> This does NOT include the boxed Kits, those are disastrous.

All virgin hair is a shade of Brown....which contains all 3 primaries

Whether hair is dark brown,

or black ( the bluest brown; Levels 1 or 2-4)

Auburn ( the most warm brown, Levels 5-7)

or blonde ( the most yellow or lightest brown, levels 8-10)

the color is an uneven combination of the three primary colors.

Uneven amounts of yellow + red + blue = Brown

a lot of hair Stylists do not understand this.........

Equal amounts of Yellow + Red + Blue = Black/Gray/or Platinum depending on the level

KEEP IT SIMPLE RULES

1.) Lightening the hair is when pigment is subtracted.

Which creates an imbalance of the Primary Colors.

Remember the Color Swatch charts I've showed you with the LEVELS going from top to bottom and then the 'tones' running across the top. Every line of Color chooses the "tones" they think will interest Colorists so they will want to use their line of color. Remember how much 1 Salon spends on this every month ( $5,000. - $20,000. = A LOT!) Therefore, the "tones" or "Series" that are represented are represented by one letter. You learn to figure them out.

For example a few sure shots are: N = Natural A= Ash G= Gold R= Red

2.) Brown is actually an uneven mixture of 3 primaries - red, yellow & blue

3.)Very blonde hair is brown with a dominance of yellow,

Red hair is brown with a dominance of red tones

& black is the bluest brown.

When you are lightening color, you are not actually dealing with brown, you are dealing with the Underlying or DOMINANT REMAINING PIGMENT ( DRP) : which is usually red, orange, gold or yellow.

#1. Warmth is released when you begin to lighten hair.

#2. The 1st pigment to leave the hair is during lightening is BLUE....therefore leaving Red & Yellow tones ( brassy)

Because blue is the first pigment to leave the hair, you would go quickly into the red zone, which is also the most difficult zone to leave.

A Horse of a Different Color: THE LAW OF COLOR never changes

Primary Colors are colors in their purest form

They are the 3 strongest and most influential pigments! Any color on earth can be broken down to yellow, red. or blue...including your hair colors.

The more familiar you are with these basics, the more you will be able to color your own hair, successfully....besides, its fun, useful and who knows....maybe you can color your neighbors hair with your new found knowledge!



Yellow is the lightest primary and is warm in value...its the color Colorists use most..it creates the most highlighted effect & is found in blondes...

RED is the medium bright primary that reflects more light than any other color; therefore, it catches the eye first...it is also the STRONGEST of the warm Primary Colors



Secondary Colors are created when two Primaries

are mixed together, there are 2 secondary colors.

Orange is the strongest WARM secondary color and is made by mixing red & yellow together.

****Note *****
That each Primary Color on the wheel is opposite a secondary color.
These opposites are the true key to success in hair coloration

If colors are opposite each other on the color wheel, they are called COMPLIMENTARY COLORS...What does that mean?

They C O M P L I M E N T one another....
When Yellow is placed next to Purple......both colors look their most VIBRANT..
Same with orange and blue..................Red and green

However when 2 complimentary colors are mixed together they Neutralize ;

neutralizing is the key to being a fantastic colorist