The Results of Various Toners & How They Work ?

This is the single most common email question/subject I receive and I hope writing a Post about the results of various Toners might help many of you understand the answer.

This answer has 2 separate answers.............. 1 answer would not cover the whole topic. Remember whenever using ANY developer and yes...I mean "ANY"....If you have virgin hair anywhere on your head, that hair will show a "line-of-demarcation" using any Toners or Demi-Permanent Hair Color



 (1)PREVIOUSLY COLORED HAIR
 ( Virgin hair or hair that has never been colored is below) 
 

So it doesn't matter what Volume it is...........USING DEVELOPER CREATES A LINE OF DEMARCATION

(the only exception: if you have Level 10 or lighter) 

 

DURP means : Dominant Underlying Remaining Pigment - which is the annoying color that pops up in almost every single person's hair when lightening. Some of you don't have any DURP at all - but you are few and far between. 
Most of you have tried lightening your hair at some point, that is just a fact I know from talking to so many of you. When you lighten the hair -- the DURP pops out. It is extremely difficult to get rid of by covering it up.
Does DURP only show if you lighten the hair? NO some people have it naturally.

The name of the Tool we have to cover up annoying DURP - is called: "TONER"

Personally my #1 favorite tool on blondes is to apply the lightener 1 more time and lighten it past the brass/gold stage.That way Toners are not necessary, which I feel is why my clientele was so large and grew so quickly.When you can turn out brass-free blondes, the word begins to spread.
I feel many of you Colorists out there are afraid to leave the lightener on long enough or you don't apply enough applications.                                               
 
First of All ..........understand this:

Definition of a Toner -- is any hair color used to deal with the DURP (brass/gold/blorange) leftover from lightening hair. Now this Toner can be a hair color that is used with Developer....and that Developer can be anywhere from 3Volume to 18Volume to create that color into being a Toner as:

 

-- -- -- Developers BELOW 20 Volume theoretically don't    lighten the hair

They don't lighten but they DO leave a line of demarcation.
So it IS really lightening. Because if you have ever seen it, it isn't a darkening line, it IS a line of demarcation though.

To be perfectly honest it can also be any Level and ANY COLOR Toner, for example : ....Asians usually have problems with Red in their dark hair when lightening a little 

 
so.............therefore one can use a Green Based Toner (Darkest Brown ASH in some lines) to conquer that problem which could be as dark as a  Level 3. So Toners are not just for blondes. Toners are for ANY hair color needing to deal with whatever color DURP is in your hair color.

I have Level 8 copper hair, so how does a redhead deal with this? My DURP is GOLD, yes gold is part of copper but many times the hair color is wayyyy too gold. So I look for a Level 8 Red Neutral instead of Level 8 Red-Gold like so many people do. I have tried every single type of Toner in my life and career. 

• LOW - 3Volume Developer 
• 18 Volume Toner.....                                                                     
• Color Touch in 9/16 - it has violet so it works a tiny bit on the gold, but there is no Toner that lasts for 4-6 weeks so it is a never ending game of re-touching.
• I have found that using a Toner even a super low Volume, just is a pain-in-the-ass and never lasts, and I don't know about you, but my GOLD DURP is on my lengths, so to apply hair color on my lengths (my hair is past my bra strap), is difficult to do to oneself That is a lot of hair.
• I have decided on using BOOST & BURST, I have been using Boost & BURST for 15 years, they just were bottles in my shower with no name.
• The Toner I have on my own hair is why many years ago I decided to Shampoo "IN" and Conditioner "IN" my Toner. I find it is the easiest & gives me the most effective result. I LOVE how my hair feels right after.....I truly do. My color is rich there is ZERO Gold. I find this way to be the easiest OVERALL method, especially with long hair.
•  I do it once a week, sometimes I do it in the sink while cleaning or doing laundry, or I will do it in the shower. Sometimes I will apply the shampoo without water at first then add in a little water and shampoo.  Shampoo the hair  then leave in for 5 minutes -- RINSE lightly -- towel dry the hair... -- Apply Conditioner for 10 minutes - while shaving & doing everything else. Rinse lightly and poof it looks superb, it really does - I use Killer Copper 2. It takes less time than breaking out hair color and it lasts a lot longer. Another advantage? If I decide to lighten my hair a Level or 2 (in the Spring) all I have to do is stop using it....use regular shampoo and POOF in a week or two -- its gone and there is NO LINE OF DEMARCATION
• That is how BOOST & BURST were created and sold over the last 1 1/2 year ago...Its why we have H.Ash Brown, for those with Red DURP................Violet Pilot for those with Brass................Breaking Bad Blue for those with BLOrange ...............Wink.Perry.Wink for those with Gold/Brass..............we should have a color for every single color DURP there is.
• I've never really written a Post about BOOST AND BURST and explained things so that is my mistake and I am sorry.

 Prince, Violet Pilot & PERP all work wonders on brass & Gold

(2) VIRGIN HAIR ...hair that has never been colored.

•  Virgin hair will ALWAYS get a line of demarcation, when a Toner using ANY Volume Developer. Yep, even 2 Volume will leave a line of demarcation. In other words, you will see a line on the never colored hair.
• The only Toner you may use on Virgin hair with highlights and not have it color the virgin hair is BOOST & BURST, which is semi-permanent hair color I'm afraid. I know all of these answers are probably not what you wanted to hear, but they are in fact THE TRUTH 
• A toner without the use of a Developer --- ANY developer is the only way you will not color the rest of the hair. Think about it..............why would it only color the lightened pieces? What special thing is mixed in so it will not color the rest of the hair?
• NOTHING
• I'm sorry, BOOST & BURST are your best selection .  Still.
  
  
  

Breaking Bad Blue works wonders on Gold/Blorange

Class Is In Session : Understand How To Rid Hair of Unwanted Tones (DURP)

Unwanted Tones is a difficult subject 

for Most Hair Colorists

I have been writing about this subject for over 10 years. . .because it is single most misunderstood subject. People ask me every single day how they might rid their hair of this tone or that tone. So in a dream (weird I know) the idea below hit me and I am hoping it will help Hair Colorists across the board (both Crib & Professional understand the subject better.

Remember the beginning, you must ALL have or DRAW (with crayons, felt pens or paints are the best) a Color Wheel in your possession, so it is implanted in your brain.

 The idea on this Color Wheel is to get to the middle of the color wheel where your tone will be neutral. EVERYONE (whether you know it or not) wants a NEUTRAL Tone. A Tone that is NOT annoying to the eye. So the center of this color wheel is NEUTRAL. you want to end up with your color in the center.

• The #1 most complained about color is Brass (or Yellow) - see the #1?
• Follow that across the color wheel.... because to draw that brass into the NEUTRAL center - the one and only way to do that is by using ANOTHER color ( whether it be a toner or BOOST & BURST) in the opposing color, which is Violet (and that is why there are 150,000 purple shampoos in the world) !
• The 2nd example is looking at it from the opposite viewpoint. Blue toned Toners or Breaking Bad Blue BOOST & BURST are used to fight the DURP we call : Blorange ....or a Blonde with Orange-y tones.
• Using a Blue based Toner ( which is MATT in Wella ) will fight Blorange-y annoying tones across the board.
• DURP means: DOMINANT - UNDERLYING - REMAINING - PIGMENT. Or in other words - when hair is not lightened enough, these will be the annoying tones you are stuck with.
• That is your whole key to not having DURP problems. Don't lighten your hair. Some people have natural DURP but not very many.....it almost always comes from some sort of coloring adventure.
• So, in order to solve your DURP , just find whatever color it is...................on the above color wheel. Draw an arrow across the wheel................. and then find a Toner or hair color based in that color. You can find hair colors, Toners  & BOOST + BURST,  based in any color you need. Just do a little research !
• 
  
• I hope this Color Wheel helps a little bit for those struggling understanding this.

Have Annoying Tones in Your Hair? We Call Those: DURP !

We all have them

We all have annoying tones in our hair. 

I can ask any person what tone in their hair bothers them....or ''what tone would like like to eliminate" . . . and every single person will give me an answer. Some may think about it a minute or two...but everyone has a DURP.

The Term for those Tones ..........DURP - Dominant Underlying Remaining Pigment

For the majority of people I speak to that tone is : BRASS or Yellows !

Then : Golds

Then : Blorange

Then : Orange Tones. . . .Red Tones. . . .Green Tones. . . you get the idea - right? 

What is your DURP?

You need to know this in order to come up with your hair color formula.

When all of your orders go out , I can tell by what you have order that you are not taking your DURP into consideration. I really want you all to have the correct hair color formula when purchasing our color. So lets, study DURP a little today and see if I can help you

BLORANGE - DURP....can you  see it?

understand exactly how it plays into coming up with your hair color formula.

So.......to begin with.............Choose your DURP

Read each word so it makes a little more sense to you:

• DOMINANT............the strongest
• UNDERLYING.......beneath surface
• REMAINING..........what's left
• PIGMENT...............color

Dominant

Underlying

Remaining

Pigment..........................and that is whatever the annoying tone that your hair pulls

or which yucky TONE sticks out from your hair that annoys you

95% of people have one

BUT, some people's DURP is 80% annoying and hard to get rid of

approx, 20% of peoples' hair is about 20% annoying and super easy to get rid of

5% of peoples' hair has ZERO DURP..............and that is not very many.

so, the majority of you have an annoying DURP.............

Each one of you has a different degree of annoying qualities in your hair and you ALL HAVE A DIFFERENT WAY OF ELIMINATING THEM! ! !

 

So, you see . . . if you read each of those words . . .individually. . .. the meaning is just the same as "that underlying tone that pops out that drives you crazy ".

THAT is your DURP

Some people have 2 DURPS and those are always right next to each other....for example, if Brass is your DURP, then about 1/2 of the time .... some of you will also have Gold as your DURP.

But, again....there is always one main annoying color (DURP) every one of you have. So now that you have that in mind. The next step is to understand that Permanent hair color (which is what we are reviewing in this post) includes both subtraction(-) of natural pigment and DEPOSIT of artificial pigment in one chemical process. If you think about it ......... it truly is an amazing little process. I mean ..... to specifically only take out ... the hair color you were born with, and to then (in the EXACT same process) DEPOSIT the hair color you need. 

THAT is amazing.

As soon as hair color is applied to virgin hair, warmth will be released.... because in order to change the color, you must lighten it first, then (again) the new color is deposited INTO the hair.

When lightening hair the first color to leave is BLUE therefore leaving the red & yellow tones to be left and so predominate and annoying.

Now, remember....every persons hair strands are made of the same 3 colors.

RED

YELLOW &

BLUE

Different combinations of those 3 colors create Brown,blonde,black and Red hair ! I know that sounds crazy, but scientifically that is how it works. Which is why Red, Yellow & Blue are called PRIMARY colors. Without those 3 colors our hair would be colorless and it would look like we were from another planet.

The very hardest stage or Level to get past is Level 7 ! 

Ta-Da . . . which is why Brass is the most difficult DURP to get rid of. Its like the Berlin Wall . . . its just so hard to get rid of !!
For all of you who lighten your hair platinum, where does your hair get stuck first and for the longest? The brass/Blorange stage, right? So getting it past that is the Goal.... It is why half of America is walking around with BLORANGE hair.

People think that toners will solve the Blorange problem, when in fact you must - MUST - MUST , lighten the hair one more Level in order to get rid of gold/blorange Stage.

Use this ladder to distinguish between different colors . . . 

At each Step you would see the following colors emerge . . .

DURP is the amount of Natural Pigment remaining in the hair at your target level

Each one of you has a different degree of annoying qualities in your hair and now a days there is a solution to just about any issue any one of you have  - - - all the answers are in this Blog.

So many of you ask me questions about DURP ( you don't call it that - but you DO ask....." How do I GET "THIS" annoying color OUT OF MY HAIR OR "that" ANNOYING color tone ?

So, how to get rid of the DURP that is showing? Now that you know its name lets talk about how you would create your formula, to color your hair and eliminate all of these annoying tones.
Its so much easier than you think

So, lets use the Color Wheel..............( we have them to use for reference if you'd like one.)

Now,

If it is Red..............what you do is..................put your finger on RED on the COLOR
WHEEL...........move it straight ACROSS the wheel, you are then on "GREEN"..........

So what you want in that case is a Green based BOOST & BURST color - most people use H.Ash Brown if you are a Brunette............, or check your Wella color chart.....
If you have brass in your hair and want a good formula to get rid of it.
Just add a Violet based color inot your formula.
A magnificent color in Koleston Perfect is the "MATT" line OR the line that ends in a "2". For example : 7/2 , 6/2, 8/2  . . . what is MATT? It is BLUE/VIOLET Base color.
Blue Violet cancels which colors? Yellow/Brass, & blorange.
So many of you miss that amazing Tonal line. Not one other company even covers a Blue based tonal line.

Which is why there is so much Blorange hair walking around  ! !

If the DURP is Brass, draw your finger across the color wheel to VIOLET......Violet toned hair color and Violet Toned TONERS all cancel out the annoying DURP that no one wants.   
I know it sounds weird, but when you get it right it is amazing.

If your DURP is Orange-yellow........FOLLOW YOUR FINGER ACROSS THE WHEEL............Then use a Violet-Blue Based BOOST & BURST.... (Violet-Pilot is wonderful ) ! ! Or a Violet/ Blue Based Hair color

In hair color all the colors and the color wheel are super useful

The idea is to get your hair color in the MIDDLE of the color wheel.

The idea is to get to the middle or the center of the wheel.

Its important to figure out if its Red....Orange ......Gold........OR  Yellow that bugs you .....it is ALWAYS mainly ONE color that is YOUR   D.U.R.P ......it

stands for:

Dominant

Underlying

Remaining

Pigment..........................and that is whatever the annoying tone that your hair pulls

or which yucky TONE sticks out from your hair that annoys you

95% of people have one

BUT, some people's DURP is 80% annoying and hard to get rid of

approx, 20% of peoples' hair is about 20% annoying and super easy to get rid of

5% of peoples' hair has ZERO DURP..............and that is not very many.

so, the majority of you have an annoying DURP.............

Each one of you has a different degree of annoying qualities in your hair and you ALL HAVE A DIFFERENT WAY OF ELIMINATING THEM! ! !

So many of you ask me questions about DURP ( you don't cal it that - but you DO ask....." How do i GET "THIS ANNOYING COLOR" OUT OF MY HAIR OR "that" ANNOYING COLOR?????????????

Now I provide you all with this free education so yoou won't have those problems.....If I am not explaining it correctly will you PLEA -- PLEASE and EASY-TO-READ BLOG - Education so you can read it yourself and if you did this you would learn to solve all of your problems!

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