Bye-Bye ‘In-Depth’…HELLLOOO ‘in-TENSIVE’…the best Post-Color Application on Planet Earth

I’ve been using this one for 15 years. It has the absolute most wonderful ingredient list, with some very nice extracts, that lend wonderful properties to your strands  - - ESPECIALLY after coloring your hair.
There is YARROW extract, BIRCH extract ( the extract that is just wonderful for the scalp…both the leaves and the sap of the silver birch are mildly antiseptic and support the functions of the scalp. Birch extraction can promote circulation, convergence, resistance to infection. Birch is known for its purifying and detoxifying effects. Then one of the best extracts: HORSETAIL: Silica in horsetail extract not only slows down hair loss in both men and women, but also encourages growth of new hair follicles. Horsetail extract increases blood circulation, nourishes hair follicles and encourages hair growth. The amino acids and phyto-sterols in horsetail help strengthen the hair follicles while also reduces oil buildup on the scalp.
There is also Rosemary, Sage, and Nettle - - all 3 dynamite for the health and balance of hair. That is the purpose of IN-TENSIVE, to gently bring hair and scalp back to its natural acid balance after tinting, lightening and before and after toning. Light herbal scent removes all traces of residual odors.

I think it has been applied on every single one of the 10,000 HEADS; with the response . . .  .” WHOA, what’s that? now that smells nice… Its just an epic way to end a hair coloring or to even out the porosity in the hair.
The Directions : Apply this to shampooed and towel dried hair….this is another one of those . . . the longer you leave it on the better. I know everyone wants things to be quick and fast, but when applying the few conditioners I recommend, they must be left on at least 30 minutes, if not more. Now that I color my own hair at home… once I rinse the color out, do a light shampoo, rinse and towel dry….I put IN-TENSIVE in and leave it in the rest of the day. Once it dries out, it gives the hair this cool texture . . . so you really could where it in public.
Here’s the Link: 
 http://killerstrands.myshopify.com/products/killerstrands-in-tensive-porosity-ph-treatment
  Killer Chemist

Blond to Brown : Most Common Mistakes

Tip Drips Will Not Go Away : OK By Me
After just performing the Tip Drip Technique to my own Daughter who has had the same hair color for her entire 27 years: the same look she requested finally then popped up and ranked a full page in the newest British Hair magazine that I admire and follow. So it is time I point once again to this technique I love – admire and know full well you will get very few Hair Stylists to promote. My daughter went from almost waist length Platinum Hair to the look Drew Barrymore is rockin’ currently – and it just looks spectacular. Everyone – I mean everyone was raving over her new hair at Christmas. I bring this up because we are speaking about family members who know nothing about hair and I would have thought they might tag it “weird”…”unusual”, fun or the worst one of all “grown-out”!
You will never see an American magazine promote this Hair Color Technique and “why”?? What the look does is diminish the amount of times you would have to frequent the Salon, they are so into following what the hair color companies push on them that a look like this doesn’t warrant frequent visits. When they have you locked into the Highlight on top of Highlight look (that is sooo out-dated, remember my coined line “HIGHLIGHTS ARE HISTORY”) With this technique, it not only looks Rockstar Ready. . . it is a look that does not have you married to the Hair Salon & into having your hair touched-up every 2-4-6 even 8 weeks. This look can also be done at home with a little help as well.
Now I have also done a modified version of this look on a couple 40 & 50 year olds with shorter hair and I am just as impressed with the look. On the photo up above, take your finger or a piece of paper and cut off the length of the hair, see how great that looks? The thing about the women I do hair color on most of them know I always tell them when it is “time to change”. I never let anyone keep the exact same hair(color & cut) for over 2 years, the younger ones…only 1 year. But I suppose that may not be so practical for everyone. That is why I encourage everyone to learn the hair color LEVEL SYSTEM. If you take the time to learn the Level System you be able to change your hair color – yourself- every year or 2 - - as well. “New hair” is great for relationships ( keeps them fresh), wonderful for self-confidence   Once the look is completed you could go 4-5-6 months without a touch-up > which is why Salons, hair magazines, hair color manufacturers , NO hair care manufacturers likes this hair color technique. I completely admire any magazine for showing it, Celebs for wearing it (their Stylists are doing anything possible to discourage it ) and any of you for being ‘fashion-forward’ enough to rock it.  I hope more of you will consider it. . . keep watching the magazines, check out people at your school or local mall. . . see how many people actually have it.
 
So, the look is having the TIP DRIP technique, but having it done correctly . . . which I feel all of you can do at home – fairly successfully. You just need some guidance and that is what I am here to give you. I am going to take you through the technique, so you can, if not attempt it yourself…. you can ask your friend to help you ( be sure its the one that is pretty handy with hair, is an artist, or the craft-master of your town ). If all else fails - -  show it to your Stylist and ask if they can please give you the long lasting technique, assuring them you’ll come-in for an occasional touch-up. The problem with that last suggestion? I find through the hundreds of emails I receive that there seems to be an unusual amount of unqualified Stylists out there. Just be sure to do your research and always use a Stylist with numerous ‘glowing’ recommendations.
Its very hard to generalize with this technique as everyone’s hair is so different. What I will explain, as it is the most common I see and advise on, is the person with Level 9 thru 12 hair color – that would also be the color I worked on for my daughter and/or its the girl with over highlighted hair that appears to be solid platinum.
FIRST STEP
The first task is to mark the hair where you would like the dark to end as you come down from the roots. First of all do this to ball park it. You will use something very advanced and hard to find . . . . clips. Little silver clips you can find at your neighborhood drug store  - even your grocery store has them ! Use those for your first eyeball estimate and while you perform the actual coloring.
Performing this process in reverse like this, so many of you think there needs to be all this technical calculating and that just isn’t so. Hair grows at different rates around your head, I’m sure many of you have noticed that, but that is why this does not have to be any sort of a straight line. It would look completely fake if it was perpendicular to the floor and straight, so takes a few breaths and relax in this step. Put the clips in or little ribbons – rubber bands- ties, whatEVER works in your hair in a jaggedly uneven fashion. Notice the photos throughout this Post for reference. Decide for yourself how far down you want the depth (dark) to come, there is no ‘normal’  - - - there is no ’proper’- - when this technique first began over 10 years ago the depth was only about 2-3 inches. Now …I have seen them at every single depth from 2 inches of brown ( at least 2 inches or it looks like regrowth) all the way to 12 inches on very long hair. Hold your finger or a dark piece of paper on the photo of Drew Barrymore. Hold it at the bottom length of her hair, moving it up till it looks like she has shoulder length hair. See?? That even looks good on her hair if it was shorter, so do not think you have to have super long hair for this technique to work. I love it on shoulder length hair. To be perfectly honest I will bet big money on the fact that Drew’s long length is clip-in extensions . . . Hollywood finally woke up to the damage and the fakeness of the other type of extensions ( thank the Lord). . . I’m sorry, in my world for the first 10 years the only people we saw with extensions were high dollar adult film stars, that is a vision and association that is hard to forget.
NEXT STEP:
Then know that you cannot just put brown over blonde and it will stick  - -  that just ‘’ain’t gonna” happen no matter what. When hair is very light blond, something has been taken from it, do you know what that is ? ? ? The ‘warmth’ has been removed . See now this is the opposing problem. When one had darker hair and is wanting to go light except for the fact that they have a Helluva time getting the ‘brass’…the ‘gold’…the ‘orange’ and/or the “red” out of the hair to make it white and to LOSE THE WARMTH…. Now going the opposite way and wanting to make light blond a nice warm brown so it is not a green brown or so that it does not shampoo out . . . you MUST replace the warmth you spent very long in getting out out. How? Be applying Red and Gold ( the normal warmth colors) we have in a nice warm brown. That does not mean you need to use a warm ‘brown’ that is how and  why people get it wrong all the time.
You want to use a Level 8 Gold and a level 8 Red….combine them in a top of the line Demi-permanent line of color such as Color Touch. You apply this kind of bright and crazy red/Gold, and process 30 minutes, following with IN- Tensive for 25-55 minutes, RINSE and dry the hair.
Now you are ready to apply the brown. Yep, right on top of the bright red/gold. It can be any shade of Brown but I do not feel it should be any darker than a Level 5 in Wella ( they run a full level darker). I love a level 6 or 7 in Wella which would be a Level 5 or 6 in any other line.
Then process and follow with IN-TENSIVE as always and I always like to follow all my color treatments either with a 45- 60 minutes THRIVEN treatment, or if you are home an overnight one. It is the ultimate refresher.
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The goal of Killerstrands Hair is and always will be : honesty in Hair Care, Hair Color and Hair Product Education. What I say will many times not be the popular thing you hear, what I say is the Gods honest truth… you will see. I’m a fanatic in my life . .  everything I have ever done I have been the best at. . .or one of the best, its just something I was born with. So as I took up hair I thought I would just relax after having a rip roaring life in the movie industry, but I took up hair as I did everything else. In the first 5 years I had my own first product in the Salon, as I found no deep conditioner that truly worked ( it is now called THRIVEN http://killerstrands.myshopify.com/products/thriven). The Hair industry has changed so much, a few very very large corporations have bought up all the small companies – so there is very little independence in hair information and very little truth. Killerstrands is your home for that now.
I receive many hundreds of emails now, and I need to tell everyone, that for the first 2 years I did my very best to get every email answered. The volume is so massive anymore that it has now become impossible to answer questions personally anymore. I would have to close the store to do so, but I wanted everyone to know this from my own mouth. I am not ignoring you, there are just hundreds of people asking questions of me weekly. If you have any personal hair questions… please do your best at searching the Blog’s Archives – if you have no luck there, please ask in the group. Ask each other, the group seems (so much of the time) to be members waiting for the Managers answers . .  get some dialog going between each other. See what comes of that angle I would suggest.

Sometimes, I Prefer You Read What Others Say about the Blog, Group, Store and Me – topic? Female Hair Loss & the Killerstrands Trinity

Your hair is still falling out?   Oh noooo...
I'd assumed that problem resolved when you washed the stress of “man’s name” out of your hair.
Might I urge you take a look at the information at this link:   http://killerstrands.blogspot.com/search/label/Female%20Hair%20loss
And also:  http://killerstrands.blogspot.com/search/label/Female%20%2F%20Men%20Hair%20Loss
I have become a huge devotee of this woman!  I have read, no - studied, every word of her blog - more than four years of filet-mignon-quality information.  She’s an extraordinary expert on hair - passionate, invested, knowledgeable, and, at this point, a breath-takingly generous educator.  She was trained in Santa Monica,California -- at the famous Vidal Sassoon Academy, developed and maintained a prestigious and loyal Malibu clientele, and honed an exceptional reputation as a colourist... and then, apparently, became gravely ill.  Because of the severity of her illness, she does not practice her craft in the salon, anymore. Instead, four or five (?) years ago, she began the work of transferring her considerable expertise --about everything related to having healthy, beautiful hair --to the consumer/end user.   She feels there are too few adequately trained stylists/colourists out there -- especially colorists; she decided she would educate the end-users -- the ones who care about their OWN hair and are invested in becoming their own experts.  For the first couple of years, it appears to me, she wrote the blog and, in response to individual requests from readers, began to share with them (“underground”) her professional, salon-quality hair care products, because she wanted them to have the best available products rather than the substandard stuff.   She continues to make exceptional (otherwise not accessible to the average “lay-person”) products available to her readers, but she appears to be less stealth about it now.

It was her own illness, as I understand it, that prompted her to delve even more deeply into the problem of female hair loss, and to become an expert in, and an advocate for, the “best practices” for its treatment and prevention.  
She has also developed a couple of her own products and sells them; she uses the highest quality oils and all-natural ingredients.  Apparently, she first developed them for, and used them on, her Malibu clientele, and as a result, generated a bit of a following for those products.  Over the years, she has continued to refine and improve upon these products, and she makes them widely available through her e-store; the following has now become a full-fledged cult! 

I use three (at least) of her products on a daily, or near-daily, basis; they are luxurious (!), and way cheaper than you could buy a substandard (in my opinion) “equivalent” at, say, Whole Foods or Planet Organic. Most people love "Gleam," which is a dry oil.  I use it daily on my skin, and most people seem to use it at least daily, even multiple times per day, on their hair (for which it was designed), but I only use it on my hair on the weekends, because it has the uncommon effect of leaving my hair looking very oily. (I’m sure it would not have that effect upon your hair; nobody else seems to report that problem. But my hair is, apparently, layered in Teflon, so nothing soaks in!)  My personal hair care favourite is her, "Thriven," which is more creamy/gooey in its consistency; I apply as a leave-on conditioner/protectant, every day.  I hope I am never again without it.
She has an e-store with an incredible range of products -- tools, implements, hair care products (shampoo, styling goops, thermal protectants), professional-quality hair colour,  and a bit of skin care (which, excitingly, is a segment of her line that appears to be growing.)   The store is a veritable playground!   "Arts and Crafts for Grownups," as I like to think of it.  Here is the link:  http://killerstrands.myshopify.com/
I purchase ALL of my hair care paraphernalia from her store. Everything.  Even with the international shipping costs, it’s so worth it.
I believe you will find some magic, in her guidance, to help you get control over your [traumatizing] hair loss.  Next time I see you, I'll try to remember to scoop out a sample of the Thriven and a couple of squirts of the Gleam for you to try. (Remind me!)
M.  R. Ph.D.                  Registered Psychologist
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I cannot remember a more flattering and well written complimentary letter  - - it is the most perfect time to post, with the recent horrifying phone call I received.  Please see the Group and Store for additional information, Thank You MR, you have been a wonderful
Killer Chemist