Dye By The Seat Of Your Pants

JUST SAY "NO" TO 
BOX HAIR COLOR KITS 
(and why)

Boxed Hair Color Kits should be banned from the shelves of every store


Plain and simply:
they are FALSE Advertising

I believe the manufacturers should get in trouble, for false advertising!

My goal is for you, the consumer, to have the proper tools to complete a good head of hair color on your hair -- yourself.
But . . . .
it is now time for the system to be revamped into separating the Tube from Developer. That's what needs to be done - very simple, the manufacturers know it, but they need to know YOU know it.

ALL BOXED HAIR COLOR SHOULD BE TRASHED

Because they do not work correctly except for on a small percentage of consumers and even on those, the results are dismal. Those of us that are Hair Stylists, have known that forever and we never say anything . . . why? Because its “job security”. Every single month of every single year we have a number of new clients sit in our chairs that call with the same story, “ I colored my hair at home with a kit and it is destroyed” can you please fix it???

How ridiculous is that?........so they paid $9.00 for the boxed color and $200.00 to get it fixed minimum ! How silly is that?

The huge multi-million dollar companies that run the hair industry…are just getting bigger and bigger and the true “care” for your hair is being lost. The big companies just don’t care. You know those DOVE “real Women campaigns where they show “bigger” women and their hair…..well DOVE still uses Sulfates in all their shampoos, the ingredient that has been proven over and over to cause hair loss, thinning, in women and men. Why? Because it costs pennies. Like I said they don’t care about hair….not really. They almost had even me tricked, then I read the bottle of their shampoo.

A big blow came to me this past month when I found out the one shampoo that I have had all my clients using for the past couple years…PUREOLOGY, was sold to L’Oreal. There just is no end in sight of this, its so sad to me. I will never buy PUREOLOGY again. 

The new recommendations are Milk Shake, LANZA or SUDZZ Shampoos... the staff put 12 of our shampoos through a month long test (incl. me) > I was looking for the shampoo with the best creamy lather which is what you get with the proper ingredients being used, results came back with those 3 being the Top 3.
 
Now as for the Boxed Hair color Kits I am so livid about…
there is just NO way possible that they can put the proper components in one box. Why?
 
Because when coloring hair -- any good colorist has to have at least the KILLER 15 questions answered first, before coming up with the proper formula. Without those questions answered, there is simply no way you can just throw in a box:1 tube of color and 1 specific 

Developer
and claim that it will work on ALL women that purchase it.
So it is a out and out LIE, false advertising and any other form of perjury you can think of.

How about this scenario . . . .



What if a Redhead ...
An African American ...




A Blonde ...


and a Brunette ...
All walk into the store . . . . to buy the hair color of Medium blond in a box....
Which one of those 4 poor unsuspecting consumers is going to have the proper outcome?
Do you think all 4? Hell no, 1............maybe.
 Logically I think most of you can figure that out, that, if they all start with a different hair color...that probably only one of 4 should have a good outcome.
Right?
Yes > Correct.
How in the world.....with one formula in that one little box . . . could all four of them have decent results?
THEY
CANNOT
it is
mathematically/ Scientifically/ chemically Impossible
 So 3 of those people will have hair disasters ..and go seeking help from the closest Salon. 
Well, guess what public (that's you) ?? 
The same people that make BOXED COLOR.........own the companies make professional hair color. So that means they have made you a huge customer of theirs by both ruining your hair, then fixing it ! Now, who feels like you have been suckered?




In that Kit box is:

•  1 tube of color…………… 
• 1  bottle of developer………………………

Yet . . . .
In my Color Room alone I have well over 150 Tubes of different Colors to choose from
Developer comes in 6-10 levels (3 Volume, 5 Volume, 6 volume,10 vol, 13Vol., 15 vol.,20 vol. 25 Volume,,30 vol.,40 volume and even 50 Volume)
So if you were to do the math (if I did math well I wouldn’t be doing this). . . How many options does that multiply to be ??

Zillions. most likely
 
The point being... that all those options are necessary in order for the hair color formula to work properly... you or anyone coloring their hair deserves the opportunity to have the proper hair color when the process is complete. Especially if you are selling a product that is supposed to color hair.
When you buy one of those kits, you are opening a box of Color "FAILURE"
You have about a 20% chance to succeed, and I do not find that to be fair to you at all !.

I’ve written about this subject previously, there are a few variables when planning to color your hair that must be taken into account in order to have the proper rich color without any damage. Those variables are NOT taken into account with those damn Hair Color Kits.

When determining the color formula you are going to apply to your hair > a simple fact like: having dry hair that is porous compared to oily hair that is not….can make a huge difference in the formulation. Just knowing that one fact can prevent hair breakage, and make the difference in having shiny hair when the color process is complete compared to having damaged – dull hair.

Do they ask you those questions when you buy a box of color?
Or print that anywhere to be found?
NO NO NO.
I understand now that people need to be able to color their hair at home, for many many reasons. Convenience I have found is even a big one. I never quite understood the concept before when I was in the Salon,
now I get it.


Would many of you consider baking a cake without a recipe?
Or making cookies without any knowledge of how to measure ....or knowing the difference between a Tablespoon and a teaspoon.
Same thing with Coloring your hair. 

Once you have the basics down, which you can learn by reading this, the Killerstrands Blog, hop over to the Killerstrands Store,  I will show here with links the items I feel you need to begin to learn how to color your own hair professionally:
First of all:

• Join our Group, for a nominal fee monthly, you will get direct help from KC, as well as access to all the people who have come BEFORE you, a wealth of knowledge.
• Purchase the Tools kit
• GLEAM : KS Dry Hair Oil, apply prior to coloring, nightly treatment, truly conditions hair
• Color Wheel
• hair color (from KC in group)
• Peroxide Wheel
• INTENSIVE made by Killerstrands ( pH balancer & porosity equalizer, locks in color after rinsing out. 

 Now, remember I have different directions and instructions than you have ever seen regarding hair color and the processing of it. So open your mind and get ready to begin the path to becoming a Crib Colorist. This is how the celeb's have such beautiful hair....and its just not that hard for you to achieve it as well! ! ! 

You will have to do some reading and you may not quite understand a few of the theories but I am trying like Hell to turn Crib Coloring into a HOBBY on its own, like cooking has become. I feel like so many of you.... male and female, would love that to come true..

So send your friends to Killerstrands, let people know your secret, because the larger we grow the more products we will be able to come up with. 

The Group is kind of a slower procedure, if you want a fast Consultation we have that as well.

Thank you so much and remember The big hair companies are getting your  money twice!

Wella's Illumina 11 NEW SHADE CHARTS, YOU MUST CHECK THEM OUT !

People have asked me about these, they were out in Europe first, but now we have them all:

Wella's Illumina - new additional colors added

 Announces:

11

New Shades
 

The new colors above are the darker neutrals 4/ & 5/

           Head over to our Store's website for 

 new shade's - Chart and more information

Quit Weighing Yourself ... Weigh Your Haircolor

Many Colorists use a digital scale for mixing hair color and its about time I stress the importance of it to you.

Mixing the precise measurements of developer to color is made more precise by using a digital scale for measuring your hair color mixtures....which are also just as important as the processing times. A digital scale allows for the precise measurements that ensure a constant in your formula & maximize the effect of the hair color chemicals which contributes to keeping a HEALTHY HEAD OF HAIR . The easiest way to obtain the expected results is by strictly following your hair colors' system and weighing the color and the developer precisely by weight - instead of by volume. It really works out best (please don't let this scare you)   I want you to consider starting to weigh in grams instead of ounces. I know it sounds scary because we were not brought up with the metric system - but when formulating any personal care products you must weigh in grams because of how easy it makes life! A great addition all the better scales have is weighing in both so you can switch back and forth


There a zillion and one places to get digital scale's now-a-days . . . . let see. . . why would there be over a million places to purchase scales on the Internet ??? Could it possibly have to do with something illegal ??? Walmart, Target, Macy's online....all have them. I considered carrying the one I like, but the competition is so damn crazy I have decided to just give you a link to places to get them. ( the one I bought a hundred and fifty years ago)  buying them online - so I don't want you to make the mistake I did!

I still remember when I bought my first scale online.....I considered them all........ the price....how they looked and sounded & thought I finally chose the right one. So, don't make the mistake I did.........I spent about $ 20.00 on my first one and it was the size of a deck of cards ! Which only weighed to about 3lbs. Anyway, needless to say I had to purchase another one that was a more decent size and worked well for hair color measuring of all types. Escali makes a great scale and many of us purchased this one in Cosmetic Chemistry class. I have had this scale for over 10 years (knock on wood) and its a champ, simple and works for everything even shipping if need be....Here's the link to purchase it online even !
: http://www.target.com/p/primo-digital-scale/-/A-688856#prodSlot=medium_1_22&term=scales

The new line we are heading for gives some of its very cool beautiful color suggestions and they given in grams! Just trying to get you prepared...!

For Beautiful Hair!

thanks,
 KC

Hair Colorist of the Years 's . . .Winning Hair Color

Keep an Open Mind . . . 
                     Hair Color is truly becoming its own Art FIELD.....
                       a true and realistic ART Form ! 

   Its why I got into this field in the first place...
                                             I have this side of me that always must be doing something "Art" based 
                                       and its as if I don't scratch that itch ......it bothers me.  But enough of that ... let's enjoy this ......
                                        I truly think it is a beautiful piece  of ART work ...............

                                              Don't YOU???

Tint On Wet Hair OR Dry Hair & Pulling Thru

A great couple questions asked by a group member, that just had to be make it to the Blog

 

1. Always Tint Permanent Hair color on DRY hair
2. Always Tint Demi-Permanent Hair Color on Wet hair
4. Always use Bleach on Dry hair
5. Always begin and use Oil Bleach on DRY Hair
6. Always apply bleach highlights on Dry Hair.
7. Always Apply Toner to Wet Hair

When we say wet hair we mean wet hair that is gently and carefully towel dried or air dried for a while so the hair is what I call Wet/Dry. NEVER dripping wet.

 When Pulling Hair Color thru at the end of processing, what do I use?

Pulling thru: always mix up more than you need at the beginning so there is left over....just when you are getting ready to pull thru, squeeze a shot of 20 Volume ( or the developer you just used if that is all you have) into the old color........mix really well and begin putting it on quickly all over the hair NEATLY in quarters, being sure to get it even and using a giant wide tooth comb (we sell plenty great ones) comb that thru quickly

Hair Color Is Becoming An Art Form & Is Completely & Utterly BEAUTIFUL (see below)

 I was going to write you this cold Post about the statistics in the hair industry because I feel it is all relevant....It started like this......... The Total U.S. Salon Hair Care market rose 3.5% to 61.3 BILLION dollars in 2011 - - EVEN in a recession the hair biz rose -- which I think is hilarious. The Congress and the country better wake the Fuck up . .  because Hair color is becoming an art form and no one will be able to stop it. I AM JUST SO HAPPY ABOUT that thought.... Check the following Photos out. . . and be sure to tune in tomorrow. . . . I have some of the youth's idea on hair color.....its all just 'the bomb' ...if you ask me..

This photo wins the KILLERSTRANDS AWARD 

for just the BEST EVERYTHING :

hair- photo- make-up- model- haircolor - just everything. 

.....maybe she did it herself ? 

KC

Killer Chemist

I have Hair (TIA) Advertising “BLOCK”. . .

. . . heard of Writers “Block”?

Once again, in my never ending attempt to write a post educating you on the wonders of hair color . .  I get side-tracked and stumped by this one topic:
(TIA)   TRUTH-IN-ADVERTISING 
Not wanting to talk about it, as I dislike people that harp on negativity - - it just keeps getting in the way. Many times I hit “DELETE” and you all get nothing. Which is simply not fair . .  I have soooo much to say and a list a mile long of topics to write on. So for just this once and because it is the first day of the New year, I will show you what happens - - so you understand…that way I can just tell you, in the future, to see the Post from January 1 on TIA and hopefully I won’t have to talk about it much any longer.
Interspersed with this yucky topic I am going to give you some gorgeous new photos of blond styles and colors that will set the trends for the beginning of the new decade ….so its not AAAAAAAAAAALL bad !
Another slight problem is:  I can see my writing on this subject has hurt me financially in the past 2-3 months  - - I used to have big advertisers run ads on the Blog which did help me afford to keep this entity FREE to you, the reader. These advertisers have left, and I am very very sad. But if they have not come back yet, I doubt they plan on it in the future – so here goes:
I would guess most of you at one time or another came to Killer Strands for the same reason that many continue to do today and tomorrow . . . and most likely the next day - - - and that is for one of the “BIG 3” I call it.…
The BIG #3 Hair Disasters that routinely happen by the thousands – 24 hours every single day  -- 7 Days of the Week – 52 weeks of the year… Year after Year after Year…..that is one Helluva lot of people being affected by the following:

1. Unqualified Hair Stylist
2. Boxed Hair Color - disaster
3. Incorrect recommendation by S_ _ _ _‘s Beauty Supply via – unqualified Sales person

The Big 3 get in the way almost every single time I attempt to write a POST to you about so many subjects….WHY? 

Well, here was today’s predicament – I’m hoping this will clarify easily :  I wanted to write about how to put together a very simple kit for those men out there that simply wanted to color/cover gray hair, they can do it at home, at their own convenience and I was going to give a tricky little method Sassoon came up with so it looks a little more natural with a Level 8..Level 6 and a Level 5. .  Simple enough – right?

Being as I am not a writer, but a very enthusiastic hair colorist/chemist . . . I find I must get inspired by some new facts, figures or theories, formulations…. and know my subject – learn more than I already know…hopefully more recent info than what’s in my brain already. So I always do some research on whatever the topic is for the day….
Now, I attempt to research Men’s hair color that is in those ‘boxed kits’ to figure out why it looks so weird . . . then I discover that many of them use metallic salts to color the hair, their kits aren’t even advanced enough to be like the women's boxed hair color kits. Where a Tint + a Developer is used  - - mix together / apply & process –  a very simple chemical reaction that takes place in order to color hair – most of you generally understand & its been around for well over 50 years. It is not at all degrading to the hair – in fact quite the contrary.
….BUT, Metallic salts is archaic, its so old and unpredictable I truthfully thought it was a banned substance. . . . it is very similar to Henna. Henna/Metallic Salts are the 2 applications that I was sure were not used and if they were I was to stay very very far away from them – I was told this 17 years ago. What is it doing in Mens Hair Color Boxed Kits?  Also….one cannot apply regular hair color on top of them….some sort of fizzling and hissing and yucky- dangerous reactions begin to take place… and Lord knows what could or could not happen to the poor hair strands.

I will not touch a persons hair that has HENNA on it. I heard dozens of horror stories from European Hair Stylists, that pretty much scared the crap out of me. So if this is what a lot of these companies are using to color men’s hair, I just discovered why their hair looks so weird when they attempt to cover their own gray.  

THAT IS SO ILLEGAL, and just sooooooooo WRONG. Like so much of the PUBLIC HAIR COLORING choices out there, I don’t understand why these companies get away with… Why do they get to do things that are terrible for hair, encourage hair loss and don’t even color but build up layers of metal on top of the hair strands – that’s (vaguely) how the metallic salts work to cover gray. I never wanted to fully understand it, as I said I heard it was being banned and discontinued.

THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS when I go to write a post, I discover some other bizarre and weird/wrong and NOT COOL discovery about public hair color that I cannot believe exists and I am so shocked and confused….I can’t really tell the story correctly without telling people this type of background. This needs to be said, so that one person brings the topic up…its not fair to men. Why don’t they get a decent hair color system? Because they are men?? I LOVE MEN . . . . they are one of the greatest joys on planet earth… It would be absolutely no fun without them…and I feel they should be taken care of at the same level as we are. There is not a woman alive that would put up with Metallic Salts covering their gray, I guarantee you. Pieces of various colors of metal close to your own color build up on the gray hair ONLY to give the illusion of the gray disappearing. It does not work and looks bizarre.  . . .
SUN-IN used to used Metallic SALTS to lighten hair which is why so many had orange hair…. it depended on your DURP as to whether SUN-IN would WORK on a certain person’s hair. I had heard someone sued and won about SUN-IN and that is what stopped the use of METTALIC Salts for hair color about 18-19 years ago… so am still stunned that Mens Hair Color is using it..
I stopped writing about them… because of all the advertisers I lost, but I can see now they don’t plan on returning. I can understand I guess. But what I can’t understand is why these companies do this. There are such easy and gorgeous colors they could put in those boxes…. I don’t understand why they put crap in them . .  and why they don’t use the good products, I guess it all boils down to “PROFITS.
So, there you have it. . .TIA or TRUTH in ADVERTISING is a huge HUGE issue to me. It gets in the way of all the Posts…So, now that you (hopefully) understand I’m hoping it will be easier for me to just plow ahead…. But I have a BLOG that I am trying to use to get my message out, for everyone to learn how to properly care for their hair and to let them know that they too can have longer shinier, thicker hair. . .  if they just follow a few rules, its truly not that hard….
I know – first hand - - -  I live it. I follow every single thing that I preach to you about.

I’ve always lived a very disciplined life, 10,000 HEADS to me is just another extension of living a healthy life I feel. I can’t participate in any of the exercises….I come from a different place - - - I would give A N Y T H I N G to be able to exercise again. So its weird to hear people complain about having to exercise …or practice YOGA to improve their hair’s health. If I could do that again, I would be a super happy person. Remember that next time you check out the local YOGA schedule…
Remember how super lucky you are that you CAN practice YOGA, and that you have the health to do it with….it truly sucks not being able to to do those things. Boy do I miss it.. . .
Happy New Year one and all
Killer Chemist

KillerStrands Has Grown:1st HairColor Only > Web Store

Come browse the very first hair color /hair health e-commerce site

I'm so sorry I have not kept my Posts up, I am very hopeful with our new store . . . .  it will ease up the amount of emails I must answer and write


Please come visit, shop around. . . .  enjoy yourself. . . .  this is our first attempt. . . be nice.
Most was put together by my very loyal, diligent and sweet staff. . . I am blown away at their kindness. Please, take a minute and thank all 3 of them - there is no way I could have done this alone  . .
All 3 did a whole lot of work - -  for a whole little bit of $$$  ....Andre, Nik and Amber . . . .have been just wonderful in this endeavor.


I never thought I would live to see this day, so this is very enlightening for me


We began with a Blog
Added a Group............(which just passed 1000 members btw)
and finished off with a Store . . . . .

The First  Exclusively HairColor Web store

http://www.KillerStrands.com



Shop shop til you drop . . .
You know the email if you have questions - Killerstrands@gmail.com
I am assuming this will be problem-free.....this is a first for me & us . . . so be patient