Finer Points of Hair Color Application : Begining at the Basics

Killerstrands Begins at The Basics, of Hair Color That Is ...

Basics. People always talk about "going back to the basics" when they are successful. How the basics in training have gotten the Olympic athletes where they are now.

The basics in swimming? Get in the Pool .... put one arm over the other and kick like hell, seems easy doesn't it ?

I want to talk a lot more about the basics of hair color and hair health. I will be (trying) to re-organize the posts of this 5 year blog (OMG?!!) ... put the posts into chapters if you will ... more of a sequential order. Therefore, what is that called ?...... Oh, A Book .. Going Back to the Basics we are!  A Blog, is supposed to be a pleasant deviation from the rigidity of a book, which is the only reason I ever started this.  I felt maybe I would keep it up with this type of format .  I am the furthest thing from a writer.

 Hair color will never be : "I would like to be a Level 10 with silver highlights" - I and a few dozen others here in the USA could actually do that task no matter what. I pride myself in becoming a great student of Lucie.... my mentor. She can do it and so can I. The deal with it is ....we would be doing this on a hair models hair so we would never have to see her again. What I learned when I got to the outside Salon was...I needed to care about how healthy their hair was ..because you build a great clientele by having your hair color on hundreds of people's head.

 And that is what happened. 

I am missing a lot of the smaller in-between-basics I need in order to attempt to organize the Blog like a book....sort of. Yep the basics have always eluded me in life as well ... I always learn the beginning and then speed by the basics to end up in the advanced area.

So, here we go with some of the basics of hair coloring. Killer style. I'm trying to teach myself how to write shorter-to-the-point posts.

Wish me luck.   I think I blew it already !

 

The topics today...

• P & S tests : Patch & Strand Test
• ..........2nd post this week . ...will be some basics on actually mixing from the tubes

There are 2 tests in hair coloring, and if you have never even seen or heard of one, that's bad and it scares me for you. But, with the amount of clients Hair Stylists need to cram in one day to make just a decent salary is crazy, they barely get by on what they make...the only one that is getting rich is the owner.

  These both are mandatory at least here in California. 

•  the PATCH test 
•  the STRAND test

 both have their uses and I am going to just explain them and let you know why we have them and the good and bad points. Coming from the Academy of Hair that I did ..... they didn't stress these tests as they don't have them in England.. When I got out into the real world, I did them the first month....then realized - realistically there is simply not enough time. The Client couldn't be bothered 98% of the time. But, I know there are people who are sketched & sensitive to different things now, so if you are -- stand up for yourself .  My way around it all was to have every single client fill out a 10 point questionnaire before I ever touched their hair...1 question was "are you a sensitive person" (obviously not emotionally - you can't image some of the answers I received..." yeah I cry at sad movies...." ?!?!?!?)

Patch test: This test is supposed to be performed on every person that sits in a Stylists chair for hair color and especially if you have never had haircolor on previously. If you are a sensitive person like sensitive to foods, medications, pollen, you know all those types of things I would definitely either perform one on yourself, or if you are headed to the Salon, call ahead and ask them if you can come in the day before your appointment to get one. I'm fairly certain they are required in every state, if they are not....write your congressman. Seriously. If you order color from us, you may request a free patch test kit...it has all the supplies for you to do one very simply. The idea is to put the color on a part of your skin for 24 hours. No shower. Check it and presto zesto - its either a 'yay' or a 'nay'. 

I hate to be the bearer of bad news but you could be OK with one brand, and change brands, it could be different ( that is super rare).

Another thing never trust hair colorists/stylists.....

You know how you wonder what the waiters are doing to your food in the kitchen..

I saw things in the color room that made me shudder....

If you worry about germs etc... start reading the Blog....I have never been to a Salon myself  since I was forced to quit. I have a broken collar bone/shoulder blade, never healed right, so it is soo hard to do myself.

Strand Test: much easier - but I still find so many of you not taking me up on this one... When you have had multiple kinds of hair color on your hair over the years.... you just never know what a person is going to end up with during the recolor process.. 

That is the main mission of this test.  

If you apply the intended color to just a small portion of your hair - you or I or whomever has something to work with....I cannot tell you the amount of people that call here in a panic, with many of you most of you wondering what to do because they VANISHED off all their old hair color all day......  then applied the color over the whole head of hair.....I mean it says in my directions - all the tricks to not having that happen if you are not going to follow that....boy that is frustrating. I open up the world of professional hair color to you and you don't follow it? You got me there. You win. 

 I'm taking my ball and going home then.

They act as though I am trying to trick them and there is an easier way. 

1st of all if that really were the case... why would I tell you differently, you obviously have not read a thing about us here. I was the first person to crack this theory on the web, of opening up the professional world of color/products and styling, to you, I see no world that would make sense in.

There is an easier way and I am telling you it is exactly what you find on the shelves of your local supermarket, Sally's & CVS ..... "shit-in-a-box" .

I just saw the other day....some rim-rod has made one for 4X the money & is selling them... same theory . . . . they have no theory. Just a bigger bottle, a pretty brown box.

Everyone wants to get in on the Hair Color making business, that is why Paul Mitchell bought up RENBOW and ruined the 1 true & remarkable hair color that existed on planet earth. The hair color itself is a very very profitable one, the mark-up is so high. I wrote last years statistics down so these aren't exact... but it is an over $$50 billion dollar a year business, and in these hard financial times.....P & G - (the largest hair color manufacturer in the world) business was up 4.7%.  I found this to be soooo true when I was in the Salon, when economic times were bad women would skimp on something else <> NOT on hair color.

I'm sorry but hair color is only simple and easy in 1 area .... and that is if you have 100% virgin hair. I could give consults with 1 email, life would be grand

That is when hair color is easy. The rules are short and quick ... so I would like to turn the board around and send you to the corner, because 95% of you already have color on your hair !!

So...no, jumping through hoops ... I don't know about where you live but in southern California hair color is more important than sunglasses.

Just ask Perez Hilton.

Pink.

Britney.

Cher.

Rhianna

Lady Gaga

and any one of the illegal blonde's:

Gwyneth

Kate

Scarlett

Claire

HAIR COLOR IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN SUNGLASSES AND SUN-BLOCK

and you heard it here folks !

 I've failed miserably in keeping this short

I am going to try something for 2 weeks - - I am going to write 2 posts a week, 1 here in the Blog and one in the Newsletter we have been sending out. People like it and its here to stay.

So, in trying to fill in a lot of the blanks I have found I missed. That is how you will catch them.

Thanx, KC