Embracing That Inevitable Gray Hair

March Special: Killer Chemist Answering K/S Group Members Questions 


From one of our ‘down-under’ members:
HI All,
I'm back, I suspect many of us go away and try different things and
come back.
I am now a light salt n pepper in the lengths and white at the roots.
The last of my years of color was cut off a couple of months ago and
it was a relief more than anything.
I've had the Go Big or Go Home kit twice, the Thriven is wonderful and
I felt wonderful after using it.  I loved the Gleam as well - Gleam on
my hair, legs, arms just beautiful KS.
I'm saving so I can afford to the largest pack available of the
Thriven.  I'm not sure about the Gleam though.  Will it give my grays
and white a yellow tinge?
So what have I been doing in between.  Well, I've been seeking a
product here in Australia that does what Thriven does... the search
continues.  Most recently I went to Price Attack and explained my
issue with yellowing of the hair, the lady recommended a product and I
purchased it.  The next day I used the conditioner she recommended as
recommended and bless her, I ended up a member of the blue brigade.
Not what I expected or wanted.  Add to that my hair became more
brittle and suffered more breakage than ever before.  She wanted the
sale and got it.
I'm now in the process of getting that blue out of my hair and
returning to a local product that has a similar belief system to KS
(SLS and Paraben free).  It's produced in the next suburb to me and is
called Trichovedic - check it out and let me know what you think.
Today is day 1.
Once my hair is back to its naturally healthy state and color again,
I'm going to give myself a head full of lovely thin dreadlocks and
between now and then I'll be back to shopify hopefully finding a
beautiful shampoo that will keep my white, salt and pepper hair away
from the yellow and allow it to continue its journey to the white.
Yeah yeah!
Now I'll be the old dragon with the dreads.
What shampoo does KS recommend for white/gray hair?
Is it available in 1ltr bottles?
As Thriven is green, is it likely to turn my white hair green?
Gleam also has a little color to it, will that affect the color of my
hair?
Yellow dreads on a middle aged women would look awful.

Wow, that is quite a Post and I thank you so much for writing these lovely words....you have no idea how needed they were at this particular moment.
Thriven/Gleam/Intensive/ILLUMIN  all small miracles in my mind ...
I love to hear how my work has affected your life & your hair...so far away.
Let me suggest that you NEVER EVER purchase a hair coloring product at an establishment with names such as : Price Attack, Big Lots, 99Cents store, etc. I actually would suggest that you NEVER buy anything in the hair aisle at one of these stores. I am not just saying that to drum up business...I am saying it because this statement is NEVER more relevant : " YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR". I hear so many people who end up here after trying to cut corners…unfortunately it just doesn’t work in the hair world. Think of how important your hair is to you……….then shop at a store that equals the way you feel about it.
Top quality products do not turn your hair colors even if they appear a pleasant color such as Thrivens’ soothing Mint-Aqua color. The Color I use to color is so diluted and of such high quality there will never be a tint of any sort. I would bet money that what you used had actual tint in the mix.
We have hundreds of customers who turn platinum (Gwen Stefani style) monthly.....they all use Thriven/Gleam and there is much MORE OF A CHANCE of their hair turning a color from one of these products than your Gray hair.
Gray hair has a very characteristic porosity........it is not porous….it is the opposite : Resistant. 
Gray hair "twinkles" when you look at it which is unlike any other hair color – the reason it twinkles? Is because of its unusual texture.......Bleach & Tone Clients hair is VERY porous, porous hair sucks up color like a starving lizard in the desert.
Gray hair's characteristic's make it RESIST the color.  What is the biggest problem for people with Gray hair? The color won’t stick, it fades too soon. Again, because of the texture.

The Color in Gleam is NOT COLOR. That product is 100% natural. There is not one drop of color in there. You cannot purchase or make Rosehips Oil – or any high quality oil -- that is clear. To get that you would have to refine it over and over and over until all of the xclent benefits were removed. You won’t see me doing that.
I checked out your local line you say is like mine & me. How can I put this nicely…..??? I do not believe in Brazilian or any other country’s SMOOTHING Systems and that is what his is based on. I’m just not on the bandwagon of frying the Hell out of your hair to make it smooth. I wish I could show you all the people who have written me with French Fried Hair that has all broken off – due to those systems. I find it weird that random people from around the world will write me to tell me what has happened after using one of these Straightening Systems. It is so sad to me…so just be very careful in trying new systems out. Do Your research….the Internet can be a wealth of information – sifting through it can be tough….but use your head.
Once you try one of the bazillion “NON-YELLOWING Shampoos (there are not that many that are sulfate-free) I think we carry all 2 of them. Alterna, & Pravana
I added the Litre size of the Pravana PURE LIGHT Shampoo to the store, I have seen it make gray hair sparkle – white…..only if you have tough to cancel that yellow they make a conditioner that is also the lavender color – so its ‘2’ applications of violet …but your hair really needs to be Resistant.


Thank you for your question and I hope I answered all your questions……  KC
Killer Chemist

Hairitage : Bleach Versus "High Lift" Blonding : the Lifelong battle

Maybe some Technical Aspects May Help You Decide

Here's the problem: Clients come in for professional hair color and ask for a certain blond ( light - baby wheat blond - like Gwen, Reece, Kate, Pamela, Gywneth, or Madonna - just NOT a yellow/brassy blond) then comes this request: but could you please NOT use bleach. They have a million reasons why they don't want me to use it, ranging from:

• it smells terrible
• my cousins hair looks terrible & she used it
• it burns hair off
• how could anything with the word "bleach" be good on hair
• my sister used it and all her hair fell off - -
• and every single thing in between

This went on for years ( btw : and still does !) therefore >> the hair color manufacturers heard this and went to work on something to answer this problem.

Why?

What is the first rule in creating a successful product or service?

** Find a "need" and FILL it **

OR

** Find a "problem" and SOLVE it **

Thus came this new big roll out of a new product to fill that need.
HIGH-LIFT Blond Hair Color
Some claiming they used double 40 Volume as a big grand answer to more incredible lift (which truly has nothing to do with the "lift"). This was probably about 16-17 years ago, just before I got into the biz, because it was brand new when I started - although its very hard to find info on the technical beginnings of this branch of hair color. As a beginning Colorist I didn't get the picture back then, not like I get it all now. As a well-rounded Colorist, now I feel I can sum up what it is and how effective it is or isn't. After 10,000 heads you get a feel for it.

The reason I feel you should understand this? Because they have High-Lift Blond "CLAIMS" everywhere now, and I want you to watch out for them. Most are bogus and they are the reason for many of the color corrections I have had to do over the years.

Color Correction became my specialty . . . I never pursued it, but there wasn't a soul in all of Malibu who did them, so I began taking them in slowly at the beginning. Its a specialty no one really wants, you are never paid enough for the time that goes into them, there is no book, no guideline, its a very tricky process because every single person has a different problem and story. There are never 2 of the same, think about that. Can you say NIGHTMARE ? This is why I know what I speak of when I tell you the stories I do. For 9 years every tricky color correction was funneled to me from all the stylists in town...its usually like that in every city across America, there is one Color Correction specialist. So if you need one - just ask a few hairstylists , they will know who it is. In Malibu they came to me so they wouldn't have to drive the 30 miles into the city and probably pay 30 times the price! With that said, here is my take on the High Lift Blond Battle.

"High Lift Blond" is basically, the marketing of the words themselves is really all they came up with. Making it sound like there is finally an answer to the problem of using bleach on the hair - it was an excellent marketing strategy, I wish I knew which company thought it up. The words "High Lift" must mean it lifts the hair Lighter than anything ever made. Thank the Lord. Its marketing boys and girls, pure marketing. What they did technically was ADD more ammonia to the existing blonds they had. The LEVEL 10 Blonds they had, including Level 10 Ash Blond - Level 10 Neutral Blond- Level 10 Gold Blond - all the standard highest lifting blonds they made ...they just added more ammonia. Ammonia is used in hair coloring to raise the pH - raising the pH allows the solution to penetrate the hair. Ammonia is an alkali; it swells the hair shaft, promoting penetration. It is also a catalyst and its primary purpose is to facilitate lightening by releasing oxygen, supplied by the developer.

The higher the Level of Color you are using the more ammonia (lift) and the less pigment (deposit). The lower the level, the less lift and the greater deposit. That's why a medium blond will cover gray better than a very light blond.

Too much ammonia is unnecessarily damaging but without ammonia, penetration, lightening and dye development simply does NOT happen. Ammonia or something like it is necessary for hair color to work. Manufacturers strive to put in just enough -- and not too much -- ammonia in their permanent hair coloring products - lighteners as well - its a very tricky procedure. Think about that when some of you go looking for organic hair color without ammonia. Yes, it won't smell yucky, but how in the world will it work correctly ? That is the biggest problem I find when the whole "natural - organic" hair color topic comes up - so think about that.

High lift blonds contain the most ammonia, to have the fastest and highest lift cycle. That much ammonia in darker colors would be overkill. Really great Colorists are aware of all these little tricks and tips I have given you here . . . I want you to at least read them once. . . hopefully you will come back and re-read them, its not an easy concept to grasp, I know I've watched many a blank stare on my assistants faces and these are young eager to learn - right out of Cosmo-School kids!

So that is how and why and WHAT high lift blonds are. But the real answer to: how many levels does a high lift blond lift? : I truly believe maybe, just maybe they have increased the lift by 1/2 to one LEVEL more than the 2-3 levels a Level 10 can and that is all. Every single company claims theirs can lift, 5-6-7 Levels - that simply is NOT TRUE. I've run multiple tests on over 15 companies high-lift blondes so I would have my own tests in front of my face and my own eyeballs - so I knew for sure - what they could and could NOT do. I like to think a High-Lift Blond will lift 3 maybe 4 levels depending on the porosity of the hair -

P E R I O D . 

That is your key and your guide to High-lifts, never think they will lift more than that........and that is PROFESSIONAL HAIR COLOR ONLY. Anything else? Under 3 levels PERIOD -- probably 2.

Hope This helps.
Killer Chemist