The White Stuff - is - The Right Stuff ~ Permanent Haircolor ~ the Conclusion

H2 O2 Hydrogen Peroxide's effect on Permanent Hair Color

+ Deposit and Lift = exactly what that means


OK with every boxed hair color kit, with every hair color you have ever performed there has been this white stuff you mix with the hair color. People have talked about it for years: peroxide. . ."peroxide blonds" like peroxide is a "big-bad-mean" liquid. Again we are back to one of those word phobias. People hear a word like 'preservatives' like 'bleach', 'ammonia' and now 'peroxide' and through a process similar to that game Telephone when one person hears one word promptly gets discombobulated through the process of time, laziness, misinterpretation. The original story gets twisted & completely out of whack and the truth is the farthest thing from what is popularly known about the original word. That is what happens to these technical terms and they never get cleared up.



I feel the big hair product manufacturers like to keep you (the public) in the dark, fear keeps you in line. You listen to their commercials & ads if you don't know the truth, and buy what they tell you to. Many don't understand the hair color process so the only way to safely go about it is by either purchasing those Boxed Kits with "everything-you-need" in them (including directions) or go to the Salon, 'they' have to know what they are doing they have a license. From the emails and polls I have taken the percentage of quality hairstylists out there does not even sit at 50% which adds to my reasons to clarify the Home Hair coloring process for you.



 
 A developer is an oxidizing agent that when mixed with an oxidative haircolor, supplies the necessary oxygen gas to develop color molecules and create a change in hair color. Developers, also called oxidizing agents or catalysts have a pH between 2.5 and 4.5. Hydrogen peroxide is the one used in haircolor.


Hydrogen Peroxide is the oxidizer of permanent haircolor, providing the oxygen for lightening of natural pigment and for the development of artificial pigment. It is the hydrogen peroxide in permanent hair coloring -- not the ammonia that causes the oxidative hair damage, although with the new ammonia's and how they rinse thoroughly out of the hair, even that has been kept to a minimum.






The chemical "shorthand" for hydrogen peroxide, H2O2 means "2 Hydrogen atoms and 2 oxygen atoms. Remember H2 O is water, so there is just 1 more molecule of O Oxygen in Peroxide - think about that. Look how close it is to water, how could it really be that bad? Its not, remember your body MAKES hydrogen peroxide...I don't want to take the time here, for any doubters Google: hydrogen peroxide, put your mind at ease. On the contrary, wait till you see all the wonderful uses for hydrogen peroxide, it will blow your socks off.


Higher volumes of hydrogen peroxide provide more oxygen for more extended lightening

.Higher volumes: create more lift & less deposit


Lower volumes: less lift and greater deposit



Any where from 15 - 20 Volume will get you the best gray coverage, one of the trickier formula's to come up with. Remember gray hair is hair with no pigment, so you are not trying to "Lift" any color out, are you? There isn't any color to lift. What you are trying to do is to deposit color to cover that pigment-free (gray) hair. One of the tricks of covering Gray is using the proper developer, many stylists don't know the 15-20 V > Gray coverage trick, I want all of you to be able to figure out how to cover gray hair...its not that hard but its one of the arrows in my quiver... a very tight-kept secret, that I look forward to sharing with you.

The higher the percentage of oxygen in peroxide, the more lift you can achieve. Why would lift be important? The more of the virgin color "lifted" out of the hair shaft the more the new color can be deposited. One color must be removed (lifted) in order for there to be room for the "new" color. As Oxidation occurs, LIFT begins, which is removal of the natural pigment (melanin) in the hair. DEPOSIT ALSO BEGINS. ***at the same time**** - a point I feel needs to be fully understood about permanent hair color, no other color works this way, this distinguishes this particular segment of haircolor from every other. If you can grasp this concept it 'should' make the theory of permanent hair color sink in and hopefully you will have one of those 'a ha' moments. If you don't I honestly want to hear from you at the bottom of this post. PLEASE! I want you all,every last one of you to understand this, leave me a little note in the comments section with a question. There is no 'dumb' question............NONE - ZIP - ZERO


Deposit is a process in which the color molecules lock together to form new color pigment combinations in the hair. The tiny size of the dye precursors before oxidation enables them to pass easily into the cortex of the hair, penetrating it fully. As the color processes, the tiny dye molecules change structure, coupling up to form big, colored molecules. These newly created dye molecules, now too big to leave the way they came in, affix themselves to the keratin chains in the hair. POOF - your hair has become colored just because the little buggers could not escape~!



The LIFT and DEPOSIT occur at the same time in this "permanent" Haircolor procedure. That is a point I have needed to make for several months now in writing some of my posts. Its a bit difficult to fully swallow at first, but such is the magic of chemistry I have come to find out.


Shortly after the cream which holds the dye is combined with the peroxide .....dye molecules begin developing - - - rearranging into bigger, complex, colored molecules. Which leads me to a point that I want you all to understand.The "lifetime" of hair color is narrow, or at least where the hair color's "sweet spot" is, which begins ticking away about 10 minutes after the colorant is mixed with the developer. You want to apply that formula just as fast and efficiently as possible to get the best use of it. Be all ready to go, no dawdling. Seriously


Many stylists mistakenly think it is the peroxide that causes the cuticle to open...which would be wrong...the peroxide acts as a buffer for the ammonia in color. Its pH is actually 2.5 to 4.5 . Only when it is released through oxidation does it begin to eliminate pigment.


Peroxide + Ammonia = Lift & Development of Color


In Permanent haircolor the substances you mix together will not "look" like the color you hope to achieve. This is the only category, because of the "oxidation".


During Coloring, the peroxide is converted to water and oxygen

• Water drives the pigment into the hair
• Oxygen develops pigments

Once they're developed, the pigments enlarge and become trapped inside the hair shaft. Compare it to a mini hydrogen bomb going off in each reaction, causing the intermediates to fuse together. THAT equals permanent hair color





It is the oxidation process that removes( lifts) melanin. it also DEPOSITS color. The colorless intermediates combine to form a compound, which makes the color.


Lift and Deposit Occur at the same time. Lift occurs at a more accelerated pace immediately after application, whereas deposit accelerates toward the end


The timing of the process is essential with the LEVEL SYSTEM.

If the product is removed too early, there will not be enough deposit. If the application is slow, the effectiveness of the lift is impaired, so be prepared and work quickly.

The final result of single-process tint is the total of the hair's natural pigment combined with the products color molecules. With the LEVEL SYSTEM use of refined pigments and base ingredients,the result is shiny healthy looking hair.

We must learn that the word Peroxide, or Developer are not 'bad' words, if we didn't have this marriage of ingredients, our hair would be so very very boring ! !