The Way Hair Color Works is Scientifically Magic to Me

1 Color = 2 Uses

To me? The only true “permanent” hair color is Bleach ( which I refer to as lightener) All Hair Color Tints, very lightly fade – every single one of them – there isn’t a tint made that doesn’t fade. I appreciate the fact they very lightly fade, I mean all the color I support and recommend comes out vivid, adds body and volume and a color resurgence. After 5-6 weeks of wear and tear the color fades to about the perfect point to either keep the same color, lighten it 1 level or darken it to pretty much any color of the rainbow. So the name “permanent” hair color is not only mis-leading it is completely wrong. If it remained that vivid for all 6 weeks, then you would have overlapping problems with hair tint the same that we have with bleach. So looking at the mild fadage that comes from 6 weeks between appointments, is a plus. Very few of my clients wanted to be the exact same color month after month. They would go a bit ( or a lot) lighter in spring/summer . .  going darker in the fall/winter months…it made that very easy to accomplish with the minor fading.

Hydrogen peroxide ( developer) is the OXIDIZER for permanent hair color, providing the oxygen for lightening of your natural pigment and for the development of the ‘ARTIFICIAL PIGMENT”. If any damage occurs to the hair strands… It is the hydrogen peroxide in permanent hair coloring – NOT THE AMMONIA – that would cause it. I am constantly trying to explain this difference to clients / readers.  With ammonia having such a strong and jarring odor, it is always taking the heat for the damage it brings to the hair strands when nothing could be further from the truth.

Top colorists realize that using the lowest Volume of peroxide (“for the job”) is the key and secret to minimizing any damage to the hair strands while coloring. Just yesterday, I was testing the brand new color line we will be carrying in the new Group : TCE…I had not re-colored the “lengths” of my own hair in over a year ! I applied the permanent color to my base and then mixed up this new line of Demi-permanent color for the lengths of my hair. 2 words:
Vivid….Velvet
My hair has never looked or felt better, I have never found hair color to be damaging….EVER. The one and only reason it would be damaging is if you are not applying it correctly and for that? Well? You will need to do some reading, join one of the 2 groups we offer, or get a consultation if need be…Because having properly colored hair is just a few steps away and I promise you its just not that hard. You must be ready to realize one of my most poignant statements:
NOT ALL PEOPLE CAN BE ALL HAIR COLORS; many need to compromise
The chemical shorthand for hydrogen peroxide, H2O2, means 2 hydrogen atoms and 2 oxygen atoms. Higher volumes of  Hydrogen Peroxide provide more oxygen for more extended lightening. Higher volumes create more lift and less deposit ; lower volumes create less lift and greater deposit. This is why better gray coverage is achieved with 20 Volume rather than 40 volume.
Some strength of hydrogen peroxide has to be used in to develop the dyes of permanent haircoloring.  Just to get the dyes to color the hair, an OXIDIZER has to be present.( In turn – peroxide all by itself will NOT lighten hair, either…it needs to react with ammonia –or similar ingredient- in order for efficient oxidation to occur. Peroxide, ammonia, and the dyes all need each other to get the haircoloring to work.
Something I found in the Salon, was that 95% of my clients, while all health nuts and environmentalist-types . . . when it came right down to it . . .what  they ALL really wanted was superb hair color and that is what I wanted to give them.  I would use permanent hair color pretty much most of the time, by using various Volumes of developer I could do anything with (so-called) permanent hair color. If you were to take a tube of Koleston Perfect permanent hair color . . .lets use one of my new favorites…
See below in this swatch chart. . . . 9/38  or  9GP Gold Pearl
       The GP colors have an iridescent violet base almost, so I love ‘em. 
The client has level 7 – 8 ASH Virgin hair she would like some Level 9 Ribbons & Drips added for the summer ( a very common request here in southern Cal.)  
 
Using 10/38 GP and 40 Volume using the proper foiling technique for the desired look , developing for 60 minutes . . . we would get the lightened pieces we were looking for.
rinse, light shampoo, In-Depth , TOWEL DRY…..
Say those strands were just a little brassier than you desired… you could also “tone” them using the exact same color…
how?
by changing the peroxide VOLUME…..by using 10Volume mixed with 10/38 GP – you have created a TONER ! ! See how versatile permanent hair color can be ? ? Depending on the amount of brass you would like to knock-down – Apply the 10/38 + 10V accordingly.
If the brass is just a ‘little’………… process for 10 minutes…a lot? Process for 35 minutes…Rinse ( NO SHAMPOO)  and style. You would NOT be able to do that with a semi permanent or Demi permanent line of color.  So that turns all of the level 9 and 10 colors of the Koleston Perfect Line of color we carry into TONERS. Which gives you such a wide selection I should have taught you this a very long time ago.
                                                                                                        The dyes in permanent hair color, all aniline derivatives or aniline relatives of various types, are most of all indirect dyes, which must undergo oxidation in order to color the hair. These are also called dye precursors or intermediates. The dye intermediates are tiny, colorless dye molecules that develop into large, colored molecules when oxidized. Hydrogen peroxide is required as an Oxidizer (developer) .  
Shortly after the dye-bearing cream is combined with the developer ( peroxide) – dye molecules begin developing, rearranging into bigger, complex, colored molecules. That is the number 1 reason  hair color should not be mixed until just before application – that and the fact that the lift cycle is underway soon after mixing. Color Deposit and lifting capability begin ticking away approx. 10 minutes after the colorant is mixed - -  which gives you 10-20 minutes to apply the product.
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, beginning to form bigger larger  -- colored molecules.. These newly created dye molecules , now  - -  are too big to leave the way they came in, affix themselves to the keratin chains in the hair.
I suppose the most distinct and remarkable trait of a permanent hair color? This is the only category of hair color that “lightens” virgin hair. Think of how often you have wanted to lighten your hair???….. As a Colorist, I would venture to say,75% of all my color work is “lighter”. That is a lot.
There fore  this is a super important hair color category to be concerned with
Happy Memorial Day- - Hug a Soldier
KC