Tip of the Year - Regarding Hair Color -Counterfeit Hair Color

Colorists across the nation (from both home and Salon) have been noticing a troubling phenomenon lately that can impact your hair color results. 

The application of color has been coming out spotted or uneven and chemists from a few of the large corporations have sent their Chemists out to figure what is wrong.

The answers have come up as 2 completely different reasons for the same result.

Apparently a lot of you have been purchasing Wella Color Touch and Koleston Perfect on Amazon and they are counterfeit hair colors. You are buying what is typically a $11.-$14.00 a tube product for $2-$6. Now wouldn't you think that would be your first clue? Anyway what you are purchasing is counterfeit Hair color, its hair color manufactured in 3rd world country's such as Mexico/China/ and Indonesia apparently. The quality of the hair color is very poor using ingredients not even close to what are in the original formula's. 

 I know this story to be 100% true and for a very long time........ as about 3 years ago I had a friend who manufactured car wheels and his plant was in Mexico near.....Tijuana. His company shared those big large trash bins with the company in the same building next to them....that had NO sign on the outside and all the employees acted very funny. One day his employees brought in a couple of boxes that were from next door they had WELLA and PAUL MITCHELL and their logos printed on the box.

Wella and Paul Mitchell have no manufacturing plants in Mexico.

Counterfeit hair color again.

With so many reports of spotted applications of color, and hair color not turning out the same, the chemists took samples, analyzed it and came out with the findings it was all counterfeit hair 
color.                                                                                                                                                                                                              

Be careful where you purchase your hair color..............the Wella company is located 30 miles from Killerstrands Hair Clinic and I would NEVER in a million years consider purchasing from anywhere but them


KC

3rd Time's A Charm....Killerstrands Hair Group - Small Intimate You Will Be Able to Talk to KC ! YIPPEEE!!

 I cannot wait to see you in my 

"3rd Time's a Charm"

Group

I have opened a new Small Intimate Group Called

 "3rd Times a Charm"

 that I am thrilled with the idea of ...

you may submit your answers to the Killer 15 Questions 

unique information will be spoken about in that Group

I have been waiting for something like this to use to do that in !

You can quit after a month if you want..... but I hope you don't ! 

This group is SUPER EASY to Run, 
easy to post photos...everything about it... is top notch !

3rd Time's a Charm

Killerstrands Hair Clinic Group

Lets Add Some Blonde Ribbon Hi-Lights -- Carefully /At Home -- All By Yo' Self !

Just wanted to show you a little photo Demo of how to use a Little Kit we sell, called the "Ribbons of Light".....designed to give you all the ingredients to give you (what Sassoon called Ribbons of light). They never used the term 'highlights' really . . . I guess because it is a British company. 
So make sure, you come check out the 30 photo display on how to use the Kit you can get in the store that we put together for you that has plenty of lightener for many many ribbons , I would say 50-100 depending on the thickness of hair, be sure to use a very small amount of powder use 1/4 or 1/2 of the little measuring Cup....a little goes a very long way and I would constantly be telling students to lessen the amount they used so they didn't have to throw any away !

But, anyway .... what it looks like is large highlights in 4 different places around the face. I like to call it VICTORIA'S SECRET HAIR !  All of you can do it with this pictorial, I know you can !
hope that helps. . . . . . .
KC

Every girl in the Victoria's Secret Catalogue has the look : just little ribbons of light ....as if the sun did it on its own..... ! ! !

What's My Haircolors' D.U.R.P., and What Is The Importance Of Knowing It ?

 D.U.R.P..... HairColor ....  & YOU !

I had a phone call yesterday from a lovely woman, inquiring about calculating her own hair color and what she should purchase & at the end of it was the above Question. So simple so 'to-the-point', that I realized I am missing the point to many of you, for which I apologize. That is the last thing I want to do and maybe it just needs to be explained a couple different ways until many of you absorb the idea. So let me try a different way to see if this works. 

Lets look at the words individually:

Dominant -(strongest, most visible, on top, main, leading)
Underlying -(concealed,cannot see, underneath, hidden )
Remaining -(residual, existent, still there, current)
Pigment- (color, tint, dye, stain)

Please read each of the words to see how the acronym of D.U.R.P. is divided up and shortened for ease of talking about the concept. Acronyms make life easy for speech and texting, but not always for teaching, which is what Killerstrands is all about. I want to educate those of you in the heartland of America in how to Color your hair in a Professional manner. Using professional products, which is a large part of the success you will have.

  Remember the difference between hair color at {that place I don't even like to mention - Sally's} and what you can purchase at Killerstrands Store are the difference between a 20 yr. old Moped and a brand new Rolls Royce. They both do the same thing (get u from one place to another) but in completely different fashion & quality.

When I went to Hair Academy, we called it underlying pigment, and that was it. Is that easier for all of you ? Should we just call it Underlying Pigment? Other schools called it Remaining Pigment, there are a zillion names for it.  I wonder but I truly put a lot of thought into what I thought would be the best name for it, which is D.U.R.P.  Please give me feedback for that down below in comments. Although I would rather just keep teaching about DURP, and maybe continue explaining once a month in another different fashion I will put that in my phone and see how it goes.

This woman I was talking to had read much of my Blog and was educated enough that we could both speak in "the Level System basics" ....(it was quite enjoyable) if you have read enough of the Blog and can talk in Levels I really do not mind a 5-10 minute phone call if you need help picking out your color, or any products, so please give us a call and they will hand the phone to me, if it has to do with color ......"just saying !'' 




Now she asked me how do I figure out what my DURP is?  For as educated about my Blog as she was, I was very bummed that she hadn't figured out what her DURP was and that it seemed so difficult to her.  Now, if this is you....please pay attention as I try to deal with it.  First of all she only had 20-25% Gray, but there are millions of you that are so "anti-gray" that you cover it before you give your hair a chance to grow in. Now, listen to me.....NO ONE needs to color their base every 2-3 weeks..............NO-ONE! ! !  She had no idea what color hair she had because she never let it grow long enough. She had it colored professionally for years, but lost her job and began buying an $8-9.00 Box of color and throwin it on.  She said, it really wasn't that bad, until recently and I will tell you what when you have Level 7 - Level 8 hair-- you usually can get along for a few months with it looking good. But with the way box color works and the quality of ingredients, eventually the DD (Delayed Damage) will start tearin the hair down. It just does. It may take a couple months or 12 months.....but the damage WILL COME and it will be hard to come back from.

She was just puzzled how to figure out what her DURP was and the reason she didn't know?  She never saw her own hair, she was coloring it much too often and applying the color ROOT to ENDS every single time. That is not how Hair Color should be applied. Remember, apply the color to the new growth, till the last 15-20 minutes of processing time and ''pull-it-thru''. I will make a note to do a POST on "pulling-it-Thru" soon. You need to let your hair grow out at least 1/2 inch (even celebrities do I promise) to give it a chance to breathe and be healthy. The reason she didn't know her DURP was because she had so much color on her hair, she never saw her real hair or her virgin hair never had a chance to pop through..... Maybe some of you do too??? I'm just saying......! 

Purchase one of our Color Wheels to begin the concept of learning about Color ....the Wheel..... and how it all pertains to hair color. Its really not complicated, but clarifies the end of this concept for you I believe.

Even Stefani and Gaga let their hair grow out 3-4 weeks, they just carefully calculate their life around it ! I used to care for a few, so I know. The only way you will deal with DURP is if your own VIRGIN hair has a chance to pop thru or breathe thru..   Please let it grow through and get on a every 5 to 7 week schedule to re-touch your roots. 

Either of the 2 Levels of hair color Up Above's DURP would be one of these 3 :  

BLORANGE/GOLD/ or BRASS

So, I am just saying...if you want beautiful shiny healthy hair get on a schedule like that and learn your DURP. You know what I think the easiest way to figure out what your DURP is????

Its whatever color that pops through that BOTHERS you, that you are always wishing "wasn't there". Its almost always been the same color your whole life. If you have Level 1 thru 4 hair your DURP ( or annoying tone) is almost always RED.  So that is how you figure out your DURP in a very uncomplicated manner. What is the annoying cast or color your hair has or has always had ......that you wish you could get rid of ? ? 

That is your DURP !

Knowing what it is helps you choose the proper color to make your hair beautiful & shiny. . I hope that helps those of you that are struggling with that concept?

HTH
KC

Application For Oil-Bleach Application ( or how to get Gwen Stefani color & condition)

The usual method of application for a virgin Bleach-Out is to First....apply 1/2 inch off the scalp thru to the nearly the ends...(depending on the condition of them). Then when the mid-shaft is nearly  the desired stage of lightening, then apply to the scalp. I hear story after story of people doing this backwards and then they cannot figure out why they have "HOT ROOTS"....or a Base that is lighter than the lengths. 

There is another method, but I am not as fond of it.....but I will tell you anyway.  The point is, the heat from the body speeds up the processing of the lightener or Color. So applying it to the scalp first will always get you (the over-used term) "Hot Roots". 

LENGTHS FIRST - REMEMBER THAT

There is no more meticulous application than that for Oil Scalp Bleach....The rewards for PRECISION are even bleaching, even toning, and hair that doesn't break. Begin the application in the darkest or coarsest area of the hair. Take very fine sections, so fine you can see through them. 

With retouches you want NO OVER-LAPPING of course.....and its easier to avoid overlapping if you just lay a line of bleach 1/2'' - 3/4''off scalp. Then lay the next section against it, rather than smearing it in with your thumb.

If you are lifting past yellow, be patient, ...GOLD is always the toughest pigment color to eliminate. It will probably take longer to go from yellow to pale yellow than it took to bring the natural base to yellow.

Now when you go to rinse this out you must be super super gentle and thorough. Using Lukewarm water most efficiently rinses bleach. I always do the most gentle light shampoo even with Oil bleach you want to be gentle to the scalp and hair....followed by an acid rinse which is our wonder product INTENSIVE. If you haven't tried it you must.

Then you Tone the hair and we have about 30 Gorgeous Toners.

How To Continue To Become a Master Crib Colorist w/ KC & Talk 'Hair' + 'Hair Color'

                                                          

 I have had so many wonderful and caring emails....with my health as it is - when someone begins abusing me it truly makes me ill... I am embarrassed to say.. I cannot handle it any more. 
So I will send you all to FACEBOOK and if you don't know how to use it.... we are all in the same boat........its truly not that difficult. If we have any mean and rude comments....that will be my last attempt.
Please read the rules in the FAQ, as you should do when you purchase from any and all online stores.

I have never been a fan of FACEBOOK, but, for this purpose I think it will work fine, anyway ....we will try it.

---- - - -
...........NO WORRIES love you guys so freakin' much! thanks so much for the knowledge you share. i work in health care as a nurse and i hate it. i cant express my creativity at all. your site has been functioning as an art instructor to me, delivering fundamentals. now i can perform processes on myself or at least be informed while getting treatments.

i just spent the weekend in LA with my family and had to come back to phoenix. i want to tell you girls you are a catalyst for change and your promote artistic expression with disciplined execution. thank you for being so positive and acting an inspiration within any area of artistry. x^o 

Best Regards!
a.

and btw i did my own color to platinum myself following your instruction. then, i toned it to a softer blonde again with your direction as my guide

 

thanks, 

KC

Schwartzkopf IGORA ROYAL Both Permanent & Demi-Perm Colors

Schwarzkopf Hair Color of 2013 Brand New Color Line That has Shattered all other Lines Quality

I like how they are displaying them to you , first grouping the "NATURALS" - - - - - - - -

Naturals or as I learned them 'Neutrals', either way they are known as the "N" Series and "N's" are what are used to combine with another color or 2 to cover gray correctly. Its a nifty little trick that the Sassoon Corporation kind of claimed to their way of teaching hair color and teaching it correctly,

When covering your Gray figure out the percentage of gray you have. . . .say 25% of the total amount of your head is gray..............then use 25% of the total formula in "Neutral" . ...the rest would be in the color you are trying to achieve!

The bottom are the High-lifts with improved lifting AND even have a blonding booster which is E-0 . So these are all your Level 12 colors. !2/0 Means Level 12.............and the '0' stands for N NEUTRAL. Neutral means no tones, I find it quite unusual that 12/0 is not ordered more . . . it is truly a beautiful color - crisp / clear / bright Blonde and if you need a bit of a boost to it.....use the Blonde Booster again ! They completely re-did this line and the whole line is like Illumin, it truly reacts differently on the hair , more gentle and a much more EVEN result. I just love it. 

One of the best parts about it is.......... it does the same as Illumin with a much bigger array of colors, and covers whatever is underneath as if it was virgin hair... and THAT is a great thing.

I will keep covering these till we get them all covered, so patience is due. 

Thank You,

KC

Sensitive Souls with Sensitive Scalps -- and Using Hair Color?

First of All I want to report, I have been bombarded with reports of fake /false and bogus WELLA HAIR COLOR being sold on Amazon so think before you purchase - just like EBAY....there are bad companies out there making fake Wella Hair Color because it is so popular. Seems it comes from Mexico and China. Do not fall for the $2.00 hair color.....it just isn't going to be real and it will ruin your hair.. Come on boys and girls I hate to hear this happen to you.

What Color Options Are Available ?

 
A small portion of people have sensitive skin and sensitive scalps, usually displayed by reddened and flaky skin after color applications. Some have such bad reactions, in the middle of the service, they need to have the color taken off immediately .  With there being 2 completely different sensitivities, there are 2 separate answers for this problem. Let me get the serious, more radical one out of the way first.
This one is a syndrome... when it happened to me the first time, 3 years into my Salon experience...I will never forget it. Why? It was my daughters friends > identical twins, and it happened to both of them and it had never happened to me before. I was SO freaked out, I called my mentor back at Vidal Sassoon, which was the very first time I had, since leaving - - she knew exactly what I was talking about ... but in the 2 years at Sassoon and 3 years in the Salon I had never come across it? How rare is that?? Super, she said !  Vidal was a full service working Salon, so this was hundreds of thousands of people I'd seen and/or been around over those years.
She explained it to me as this unusual lightening syndrome that affects a certain group of people ( she thought with a certain body chemistry) they have never been able to figure it out....or most likely just an allergy to the ingredients used to make hair color.....because it happened using 2 different colors to the twins. 

It simply does not happen to a large enough group for anyone to research it. The lightener (seemed to be any lighter than clients hair by a couple levels  & many but - not all  times. . . it was bleach) warms up in the first 30 minutes and the client feels the progressing warmth on their head, many times it is "first timers" - First time they have colored their hair, ever! It soon begins getting very HOT, and finally the twins screamed, I came running over to them and steam was coming out of the foils . . .I quickly yanked the foil work out... throwing it on the floor... I was so freaked out! Those foils were so fricken hot I thought they were going to catch on fire. '

The foils were continuing to steam and their hair and scalp was super hot . . .  it was the weirdest thing that had ever happened in a coloring application in all my days, still is. I'm hoping I find someone that this has happened to... if this is you ......will you PLEASE write a COMMENT at the bottom? 
So I can ask you a few questions??? Please?
The path is > take the foil work out . .shampoo immediately, put  Gleam or something similar on the scalp and never use lightener again. I've heard different stories about how sometimes it  goes away as one ages, as long as the twins were my kids friends it never went away for them.
Now for the majority of you with the normal--sensitive scalp, that just can't handle the color directly on your scalp in a minor way . . . the solutions are there and are not too horrible.

Sun Lights, Slices, Panels, Paint Drips, Pirouette, Veil, Weaves  etc..of color, are your best bet. It keeps the product OFF of your scalp with the color being IN THE FOILS - if you insist on going blonde and you have a terribly sensitive scalp - then- foils are your only option. If you need Global Color (all-over) then a semi OR Demi-permanent hair color could be your option, I would suggest no going "lighter".

If you INSIST (which many of you do) My trick is using GLEAM, directly on the scalp. You apply it with your finger-tips. The newest trend is many of the larger companies are starting to come up with low or no ammonia hair color. What Ammonia does for hair color?  swells the cuticle, which lets the color in the hair strand to do its magic!
What I don't quite understand is this: if ammonia swells the cuticle which is necessary for the hair color to get into the hair strand...what's the difference if they just find another chemical to do the same thing? Is it just the smell you don't like? Or what?? that you don't like?? Personally I don't have anything against ammonia, I know we need it to color hair properly. My Clients want their hair color beautiful and healthy and that is what I give them!

My recommendation on this subject, is anyone that has even the slightest sensitivities in their body you should ask for a patch test or skin test, whatever they call it in your area - when booking the appointment. If you are sensitive and have never had color at ALL, you need to do 1 of 2 things:

1. Ask whomever you made a appt.with for a 24 hour skin patch test. Making a 15 minute appt. the day before your real appt. If your skin has a pretty bad reaction - the day before even, call the Salon, ASAP.        OR
2. Color your hair at home. This way you have all the control and know exactly 'what' is going 'where'. For this type scalp and/or skin I would NEVER EVER take the risk of using boxed hair color nor should you use any type of hair color from Sally's, Target, . I If you have never colored before and are looking for something very gentle - I would try  with Wella's Professional Line: Color Touch - a demi permanent line - which is Wella's Euro brand of hair color and more gentle than pretty much any other line I know of. It can be used with 6 Volume of 16 Volume - very low developers, yet still a 24 hour skin test is necessary.

We now carry a complete line that has no ammonia in it at all it is called Essensity. 

 I have a huge battle with the words "Natural"  &  "Organic"  . . . the Lines Reps come around to different Salons in the LA area to TEST Market them... so the Stylists can try them and we can give them our feedback. I have lost that little advantage, because of not being in the Salon which makes me sad. . . . BUT. . .I get feedback from colleagues.

Killer Chemist
KC