'' 50 Shades Of BACK to Gray '' OR ... How To Return to My Virgin Hair Color (Silver) ?

 Well, this is A common question this week. . . and while I admire every single one of you for wanting to return to your Natural SILVER Roots - it is not as easy as you may think to have a healthy shiny outcome.

A lot has to be put into your plan to return to your silver hair and there is just no simple way to do it. Many of you are asking for short-cuts ...... from me. I think you need to read more of my Blog. I will never-EVER recommend short--cuts in hair color. This whole Blog and store is built on the mistakes of others - WHO ALL TAKE SHORT CUTS - while applying hair color or hair color removal. The Art & application of Hair Color Removal is just as important as Hair Color. If you perform it incorrectly you will damage your hair more than an improper hair color ! So think about that sentence for a couple minutes.

NO.......you cannot just grab hair color you have sitting around the house, because it is convenient. THAT IS HOW YOU END UP NEEDING my E.R.Hair Phone call, which is a new Emergency 5-10 minute phone call with me. Think about the fact that I even have to offer something like that. This is only for emergencies if you feel you cannot get it fixed in your town. Its something I suggest you do before running to a Salon and having them perform a Corrective color procedure (many I hear are incorrect). The reason that is all I hear about is because people with proper color are not looking on the Internet about how to "fix-their-hair color". . . it's already FIXED ! Nothing was ever wrong .... so they are all shopping on Bloomingdale's instead ! ! 
There is no smooth transition on this procedure ...if you were in my chair it would still be challenging.
Why?
If you have Level 1 thru 7 hair color on the hair, that means until the date you decided to turn around and show your silver hair you have been spending a lot of money and/or time on trying to cover it up, so therefore, it will not be easy to remove that color and the very last thing you should use is Bleach. Why? Bleach will alter your virgin hair forever/permanently and in that case the only way out is by GROWING YOUR HAIR OUT& a careful balance of BURST Silver Bullet.

If you have Level 8 thru 12 hair color :
Everyone of you has a different set of statistics...but if you have blonde or bleached hair, you will have to give that up immediately. Bleach removes all color from the hair and Leaves a very big line of demarcation.....even if you have silver hair there is still a very small amount of color in there. The goal is to have grown out EVENLY colored hair. If you want to do that you must work on getting it there using the PROPER techniques and products, your goal should NEVER be: SHORTCUTS.... Because if it is. . . .  you will have something GO Wrong I promise you.
So you will now want to begin using a combo ( like I said) of applying Kenra in 8SM permanently ( unless of course you have found another one to work better as they have 6 SILVER colors now !) and Silver BOOST & BURST.. The thing about BOOST & BURST is, you may shampoo - - towel dry and then apply BURST all over, the very first time only let it process a few minutes, after that you will most like be like others who leave it on 20-30 minutes once a week, then use it once or twice a week while you let it grow out....

VANISH (Color Remover) & Shampoo Train (Google it) are your only plans of attack for those with darker color on.... you want to get all the color out as gently as possible and those 2 methods are your only choice. 
Begin now and don't stop until the color is GONE ! ! !
Once the color is gone you may begin with a combination of KENRA's Silver Metallic color and I have a swatch Test completed which shows you that using 8SM in Permanent and using 10 or 13 Volume gives you the best color by far .... of all of them. That and by using BOOST & BURST in either Silver Brass Bullet ( for those with some brass) OR SILVER BULLET for those with no brass. That is the only way to go from Blonde to SILVER ....safely.  
Everyone also is asking me how to apply BOOST & BURST during this process which the next Post will deal with exactly and in more detail....as this one needed to be first written so stay tuned for that. 

 

As your hair grows out to its natural phase, its going to be completely different hair, you may never get those "special curls" you described again....it all has to to do with the texture change. Bleach blows out the cuticle and makes the texture of hair feel and respond completely different than in its normal state.

Also, Remember every single state that I have heard of has terrible water you will always need to use Chlorine and mineral removing agents....which means : A) a shower filter + 2) Malibu 200 UN DOO GO Shampoo - use at least once a week - when you DO use it....leave it on hair for minimum 4-5 minutes 10 is best,That will remove almost all green. C) Hard Water packets by Malibu 2000 once a week. When water is bad you must do everything possible to remove the never-ending minerals that are in our water ( bad & good). They deposit on the the hair in odd colors, so you must just factor that into your weekly hair color, unless you get your hair water permanently Reverse Osmosis treated you will continue to have the problems which will ALWAYS ALWAYS effect The Color SILVER as well.

How To Get Yourself Out Of A Panic Hair Color Mess

Here is a perfect example of a problem I hear about 20 - 40 times a day.... everyday. This is a true story and I have just changed the name

I just want an example of what you should do  - - so you do not end up with an even worse mess by "covering up" a hair color GONE WRONG.

I think this is 1 point I have never talked about before, but the last thing you should do when you have a mistake on your hands in regards to your hair color, is....DO NOT COVER IT UP WITH ANOTHER HAIR COLOR. That just adds another coat of paint to an already wrong color underneath. Layers of bad color just make things worse. The idea to recovery? 
Bad Hair Color Removal

Question by a Blog reader:

I really need to know of a box color that is the equivalent of ION 8N & 8G. Sally's gave me horrible advice and gave me Wella color charm T18 toner. However instead of a nice blonde I have completely gray hair! I have a ton of coupons for box color because I have so much hair it takes 2 HELP PLEASE

Now here is my answer - to her - to YOU - to EVERYONE.
Please Do NOT PANIC and cover it up, nothing could be worse.....and when I hear people say , can I use "this" color - just because they have it o"ON-HAND"....it just makes me want to cry.
WHY? Because there is a reason you have it just sitting around and that reason is BECAUSE its a BAD HAIR COLOR otherwise you would have used it up by now.  Stop and think about what I have said, because its the truth. 

I have met tens of thousands of people in my hair coloring career and I have learned 1 thing from talking to people who have more money than GOD and people who live paycheck to paycheck.....
EVERY SINGLE PERSON CARES MORE ABOUT THEIR HAIR THAN THEY DO ABOUT their own GROCERIES. If I give them the option of scrimping on their groceries for a couple weeks over having shitty hair color...... they all choose : scrimping on their own groceries for a couple weeks !  
 People choose having beautiful hair color over almost everything....
So, if that is the case, why are you willing to use a $9 box of hair color that will for sure, 
trash your hair beyond belief ? 
I know this because I have spent my career removing boxed hair color.
The very first thing people tell me when box hair color comes out?

" omg my hair feels like "my hair" again...
Thank you sooo MUCH"

 I'm sorry, I do not mean to be harsh but I want you to stop and think before you get in more trouble than you already are....anf if I am nice and kind and don't use some of the words I am using - I feel I will lose your attention....if I haven't already!
but I would never in my life recommend box hair color for anyone........for A-N-Y-T-H-I-N-G.  I receive hundreds of complaints about boxed hair color every single day of every single month month of every single year for the past 16 years....


Its why I started a Petition to BAN BOX HAIR COLOR from being sold.
 Most Hair Stylists like the fact that you have to come to them to get your hair color fixed, because Hair Color Correction is the most expensive service on our LIST OF SERVICES !  

But for me. . . . IT BREAKS MY HEART . . . to hear these stories. To listen to so many people so sad and so frantic to find a solution - ANY SOLUTION.... Read the question at the top again . . . see how frantic people become and she is is mild compared to many, It breaks my heart that so many people are so distraught about their hair color being ruined by Sally's or BOXED color I don't know which one is worse. But being as Sally's is a billion dollar company, I'm sure it is going NO-where - so I felt if maybe I brought attention to the fact that boxed hair color is the wrong answer - maybe somebody would listen to me.


 Any color system that has no choice gives the purchaser less than a 30% chance of the color being correct. That is not very high. There is a way to sell hair color to the masses, but people would be required to read a page of directions. . you MUST be able to choose the hair color and the Volume of the developer for YOUR hair situation or you will for sure end up in a giant mess. You have to read directions to put your vacuum cleaner together or even  a piece of furniture from IKEA.......... why can't people be required to read a page of directions before they purchase a hair color system? So they have a 80% chance of the color coming out correctly.????
 
What I am trying to do is help people get OUT of messes.
 Now for what you have right now, covering it up with boxed hair color is not how you get out of that mess. . .

That is what gets people in messes where they end up having to go to the Salon for very expensive "COLOR CORRECTION" procedures, i KNOW ..........I used to do them... Now that I am on this end of the problem I see exactly how people end up in these situations, which many times I did not understand before.

 So, if you could please just take a few breaths and just do some reading here it will get you out of your mess without having to create more of one.
If you really hate the color you have please begin doing a process called the shampoo train. If you put another color on top you have a high percentage of creating an even larger disaster.

In the Salon when someone comes to us with a Color Correction issue, the first thing we do is use a Color REMOVER - which is called VANISH and we sell it in our store if you want to purchase some, one box has 2 applications and no it is not a cheap product but what it is --- is a MIRACLE product. It reverses the way the hair got inside of your hair strands, without bleach + without peroxide + without one thing that damages the hair. It truly is a miracle product. As it shrinks the hair color molecules ..... they go back  OUT OF THE HAIR STRANDS, and go down the drain.
WITH ABSOLUTELY NO DAMAGE INCURRED.
As a matter of fact your hair will feel more like your hair USED to, people tell me all the time.
So I would truly think about making that investment.

Because having trashed hair is the #1 worst thing to have in my book.....and according to all the questions I have asked my clients along the way every single one of you agrees with me!

When its trashed...... everyone can see it, every-single-day of your life. So, before you run out there and create more problems for yourself, please consider my suggestion.
Then while you are waiting for VANISH to ARRIVE AT YOUR DOOR.....

You may begin with the Shampoo Train.Which is a series of repetitive shampooing with the crappiest shampoo you can find. WHY you ask? Because Shampoo with sulfates will not damage your hair, what it will do is REMOVE HAIR COLOR which is why we don't use it to begin with but everyone has one bottle of shitty shampoo under their sink...if not borrow some...

Shampoo with LOTS of shampoo create a giant lather and rub the hair and shampoo between the hands really hard, then put more shampoo on make a gigantic suds ball pile it on top of your head, put a plastic cap - shower cap- or some type of cap and leave it there

overnight even.

While you are waiting for VANISH the Shampoo Train is something I invented when I used to do hair models hair and they had to switch colors all the time but they weren't in the same city as me.....so until they got to me I had them do the shampoo train to loosen the color molecules so when they finallyu got back to LA I found many times I would only need 1 box of VANISH when I normally needed 2. What it did for me was SAVE ME TIME! !
But, what it does for youa? ? ? ? ?  Is SAVE YOU MONEY ! ! !
Some people ( most people need more than 1 box of VANISH) 

 If you have layers of hair color on your hair, you will need at least 2 boxes which is 4 applications. 
The idea?
Is to get the lousy color out, begin reading this BLOG so you can learn HOW TO CARE FOR YOUR HAIR COLOR THE CORRECT METHOD and then never need it again.

Then While you are waiting for your VANISH read every Post about the hair color you are trying to become, my best suggestion once again? Read the Blog from cover to cover.....you get a FREE MINI Cosmetology class and learn how to properly color your hair- which is my MISSION with this BLog and My Store.

The 1st Step Towards A New Hair Color Formula . . . . the SHAMPOO TRAIN

SHAMPOO TRAIN

Well, boys & girls. . . the Number 1 Topic for the entire month of January, so far. I guess, because its a New Year and people want to start over or Start a-New??? ..........is the most talked about subject with just about everyone I speak to - Getting old hair color out of your hair and starting over...........or
in other words: how to begin getting a Hair Color formula that will be healthy and shiny? ?

I want to reiterate how super important it is to REMOVE ( and I mean completely remove the old lousy hair color you presently have) BEFORE starting over again. I swear on my children's lives this is not a ridiculous ploy just to get you to buy stuff from us. I swore when I began this whole parade that I would not "sell-out" like that. MY main mission here is:
To help all of you achieve a proper hair color formula.    

I talk about this method because through the over 10,000 Heads of hair I colored in the Salon ... I tried every trick in the book on my clients and the only way to start over again with top notch hair color is to completely remove the old crappy hair color you presently have on there. Yes, its going to be a bit pricey & Time consuming.....but just THINK, what you are trying to do ! You are trying to remove "PERMANENT HAIR COLOR"  ! ! !                                                         
If its "permanent'' then how in the Hell are we removing it?

 When you put that crappie color "in" all you wanted was for it to COVER your silver hair, remember ? So at the time....it was "whats darker is better"...or what sticks is better........ right?? but I have come up with a trick that helps you cut the color removal process  (almost) in half ! Of course you will need to purchase the boxes of VANISH - there is no getting around those.....what I try to help with is having to use as few as is possible. You may always return any boxes of VANISH ( as long as they are unused - of course).

Yes, its more work
No, its not easy and not quick
Yes, if you want it to be as easy & quick as possible - you may by purchasing 4-8 boxes of VANISH. 

Spend one weekend.......... beginning Friday night ..........and just Apply VANISH Treatment AFTER Treatment to your hair along with using the Travel Bonnet Hair Dryer and applying HEAT for the 30 minutes you have the Liquid concoction on your hair. Then by late Sunday afternoon - if you TEST your color and it pasts the test ...........you may re-color your hair and you are all set!

I want to talk about exactly how to go about the Shampoo TRAIN... so that the theory sinks into everyone's body / mind & Soul  !  !  

Why do people talk about it so much? .............because when new people arrive at the PEARLY GATES of Killerstrands..............
They read 10-15 Posts.....feel like I make sense and decide to change over to our way of hair coloring and doing things.
 THAT is what all you newbies are learning and going through and we love that about Killerstrands. We have a constant stream of new people discovering us. We do not advertise, I happen to not like it when a website I was shopping at all of a sudden starts following me around the Internet as I continue to shop.....so, for 2 reasons.....1) I think that is a rude and an obnoxious way of advertising AND 2) advertising on the web is expensive. So, I am going to hope that all of you will help us by just mentioning our name and if you would like a few business cards we will be happy to send a few with your next order ....just request them in the "notes" section as you check-out!

So for coloring hair with us this begins 1st and foremost by removing the OLD hair color from your present strands of hair. This is super important if you want to really start FRESH. I receive countless questions about this subject, no matter how hard I try to explain it. So, I will never quit explaining it, I will however try different methods of explaining it trying to get into everyone's heads the importance of completely removing the present hair color and how to accomplish it correctly quickly and thoroughly!  
The Bad News :
there is no cheap & fast way to do this.
The GOOD News?
Once you go through this process, & take the time to do it right............you will be one of the happiest people on planet earth. I can tell through emails how ecstatic people are when that old color begins to come out....they start to tell me this:
" KC my hair is starting to feel like real hair again, it no longer feels like straw"....
I have heard this thousands of times, so you need to just trust me.
You only have to do this once, because once you do this and feel the substantial change in the way your hair feels.....you will never look back. 

So, place your order for 1 VANISH Kit (the Kit has all these little weird things you need to complete the applications) and the rest VANISH boxes ( a lot of people purchase all VANISH KITS but its up to you !) while you are waiting for your VANISH to get to you, I have devised another method of old hair color removal that you can begin TODAY ! I used to use this on my hair models....
These were young women who had the best hair on planet earth and we would color it red for a magazine shoot one week, then we would want to use her for a different commercial 3 weeks later for blonde hair...so I would have her hop on the SHAMPOO TRAIN immediately, until the boxes of VANISH got to her. 
So you may start the minute you stop reading this. Go in the bathroom , look under your sink, look for the crappiest oldest - lousiest made shampoo (you want this shampoo to be WITH sulfates - because  sulfates FADE hair color) and this is the most gentle way of removing hair color - next to VANISH ! By using Shampoo WITH sulfates.

People like to fight me on this idea, they want to purchase 1 box of VANISH and think that will be enough to remove the past 5-10-15 years of boxed hair color they have been piling on their head.Think about that....that is silly to think that.....because 1 box will remove 1- 2 applications.......but I bet you applied it about 6-8 times a year. 

You need to be realistic with this. I have watched many a Hair Stylist around me not go to the lengths of trouble that I was taught to do to remove old crappie hair color before re-applying new professional hair color. I do......... to remove old hair color FIRST.....before applying another color....ONLY to get themselves in a GIGANTIC MESS. and have the new color turn out green or some other God awful mess. So, please trust me on this.

It is as important to go through removing your old hair color properly .........

as it is coming up with your new formula.

So. please take the time necessary to remove the old hair color all the way. I came up with the Shampoo Train because many times the models would be on location somewhere and would not be in the same city as me......... and they would ask me, "what can I be doing to work towards removing my hair color while we wait for me to get back to L.A.???
It hit me almost immediately when she asked me that.... as I tried to think of a GENTLE hair color remover.....and realzed that all those shampoo's that I have condemned to the trash or under the sink....could now be put to work. So about 15 years ago I had a hair model start shampooing her hair, scrubbing the lengths of the hair back and forth really hard. Then piling more shampoo on top creating even bigger lather  - apply plastic cap ( with suds still in hair) and she slept with it in. In the morning she called me so thrilled, you'd think I had discovered the cure for cancer. She did this for the next 5-6 days still flew home and I was BLOWN away. 
A NEW PROCESS WAS FORMED... the Shampoo TRAIN. 

Just use lousy shampoo, or chlorine pools, the sun, the Malibu DDL packet , CPR (Color Pigment Reducer) and QUICK FIX or Color Correction packets...........they all can be used alternately with Shampoo Train for hair color removal.....but just realize how important this step is.

The SHAMPOO TRAIN..............which btw you can now GOOGLE and it will give you your answer!
 I only tell you this because I want you to only have to go through this whole she-bang once .....and only once !  In all my years of doing hair color less than 20 % could get away with using only 1 box of VANISH (which is 2 applications) .
You really want to rush through this ?....................NNNNNooooooooooooooooo!

Lets try to begin doing procedures correctly NOW and continue doing them correctly, so that from here on forward you are following the
CRIB COLORIST MILITIA Regimen
of Healthy Hair + Proper Hair Coloring

 OK?

If you start out correctly then every time you color your hair the Results will be spectacular ! !  
You simply need to follow the super simple rules for application/formulating and processing times, each and every time and not slip into BAD HABITS then you will have that Runway MODEL Hair Color. Please do not cut corners when learning Crib colorist Techniques. I already have skimmed them as low as you can go and still have high quality - so start reading more as you sit there with a big pile of shampoo suds and a cap on your hair and you are removing hair color molecules as we speak.

Crib Colorist Militia is being formed ...........stay tuned....!

 

7 Reasons - "Removing Old Hair Color" Should Be Learned By All Crib Colorists

7 Reasons Removing Hair Color is an Art 

Every Crib Colorist Should Master

Knowing How to Remove Hair Color is An Art and I feel Everyone Needs to Know How to Master It Correctly. 

• have damaged hair that you want to repair you must remove the color first and start over with a better quality hair color.     
• changed your mind about the color of your hair? if so and you would like to go lighter again I receive lots of emails to this effect, then you must remove the old hair color first.
• you have hair color that is just unbecoming to you, you must remove the old hair color first. You do not want to just overlap hair color on top of hair color. Removal will give you a feeling of  "oh wow my hair hasn't felt like this in a long time" !!
• do you want to go lighter? The only "healthy" way to go lighter is by removing old hair color 1st ! Remove it ALL THE WAY, when this process is complete I never hear people happier following any Salon Experience ! Now you have the knowledge and products to perform the exact same experience we use on celebrities.
• Do you have crappy hair color-in-a-box hair colors that are in every store from Walmart to the Gas Station to 7-11 ? If you have this color in your hair..............get it out ! 
• would you like to try out the new Pastels everyone is so excited about? Remove your old Boxed hair color FIRST, otherwise you will never see anything ! 
• Does Your Hair feel like Straw? and not like real hair anymore? Has it been years since you have felt silky shiny hair? Remove your old hair color 

                                                                                                                                                                              

How Hair Turns Blond - and Its Not What You Think ! !

One of the most common problems I get asked is . . .

 

"how can I get this lousy hair color out of my hair and just simply get back to something beautiful and blond?"

Seems so easy to many of you, when in fact it will be the single hardest thing you ever do to your hair. That one weak moment in the drug store, that reach for that darn 'Color-in-a-box' was where it began that treacherous slide down the hill into the pit of "no-return". You knew better . . .you knew, but you did it anyway and now you are paying.

I have written many a Post about this subject, but I continue to get numerous people every week with the same sad song, so I am trying a different approach with this post. I'm hoping if I explain why and how hair turns blond, it will make some of you see why it isn't so simple to come BACK from. Although, I will give many of you credit, many will tell me that once you discovered KILLER STRANDS, started reading and studying, you wished you would have found me just one week earlier - so that you prevented the whopping mistake. Here's hoping this explanation opens some eyes, if you have any questions at all ...you know where the comments section is. . . Mahalo

Hairway to Heaven : Remove, Renew & Begin Again (Killerstrands method : Remove Old Hair Color)

Removing Old Hair Color, for one of many reasons:

• lighten hair
• have used boxed (yukky) hair color & desire good quality color
• hair is unhealthy & damaged for one of many reasons
• color hair lighter than current color (the one & only way)

At Killerstrands we recommend a 2 step method to remove old hair color we call:
Remove, Renew & Begin Again.
Spring is the Time of the Year When Everyone comes out wanting to start anew with hair color and cut. 

Remember, VANISH & the Shampoo Train are the one & only Hair Color Removers that do not damage the hair ! 





Having noticed a huge increase in VANISH sales of late - -  which always happens in the SPRING/Summer of every year….it seemed a good time to revisit the process and some of the finer points. While I realize many of you may fear the procedure…I am always so happy to see that many of you are ‘going for it’ and are giving it a try. Let me assure you that I do not sell any products in our store that I feel need any type of super-duper special education to properly apply. I just would not and will not  - -  ever do that to any of you… or your hair.

Once I got into writing this BLOG and analyzing some of the procedures we do as professional Hair stylists: I began realizing how so much of what we do is very plain............ simple........... and it runs very close to cooking which is Chemistry as well.  I always compare concocting hair and hair color products to the same as following a Recipe and cooking a meal. cooking. If you follow the proper directions and theories you will have a good outcome or a poor one – how good the outcome is, always depends on -- how well you have followed the recipe or directions. Yes, its true there can be bad recipes --just like there can be bad formulations for hair color....and it takes time and practice in order to become a good Colorist. 

But to become a decent and qualified Crib Colorist is not that hard, you know why? Because all you have to learn is YOUR own hair................. as a General Colorist in a Salon we must learn how to deal with thousands of types of hair and hair color. Along with millions of different problems and hair combinations and disasters.

All that each of you have to do, to have a great little hobby in Hair Coloring, is to learn your own hair and what to do to YOUR hair, not one other person. I have explained in this Blog the entire method we learned at the best hair school in the country, all you have to do is to study what I have written and I have taught it in a simple manner I promise.

Yes, I guess with so many of you having such poor experiences with bad Hair Stylists  you could have some doubts when you first find us…… On April 15 was our 8th year Anniversary this year !  I doubt we would be around that long if I was a poor Stylist or more importantly a poor teacher. I try very hard in listening to as many of your requests as I can and responding in teaching accordingly. So just know that.

 Same with hair, which is why I do encourage you purchase all options with us that include directions. . . If you follow the directions I give in many of these Posts with the hair color you purchase from us, you will have good results. Unfortunately, there is a lot of counterfeit hair color out there and I just cannot endorse any color you don't get from us. I continue to have people complain to me when they decide to try to save a few bucks.  So, remember that first.

I only have 2 complaints, that is one and the other is  the "timing". All directions in every single color line tells you to leave it on 20 minutes………they never suggest a “long enough processing time! Remember....... It should be 65- 85 minutes for blonding and 45-55 minutes for processing time for any color darker.

     I’m very happy that many of you are taking the proper steps to properly color your hair. VANISH is the one and only hair color remover that works without damaging the hair. The manner in which it works  > > still fascinates me. . . as it truly reverses the way in which the hair color goes into your hair in the first place. No bleaches, no peroxide………….it’s a bizarre process to explain but hopefully as you repeatedly read about it will begin to sink in.

We now have 2 separate types of hair color removers.......Vanish And now De-Cap. Why the new one? Vanish does NOT remove Direct Dyes or Crazy Colors but - De-Cap removes it all ! Which makes it a wonderful addition to the hair color removing category especially being as it works on the same principal as VANISH and does NOT damage the hair AT ALL. It too, shrinks the color molecules of all 3 types of hair color and wipes it right out of the air with ZERO damage. I would suggest purchasing the application sponge at least, because you get a lot more coverage with it.

 

 One of our staffers just applied 6 applications of VANISH, which reminded me I forgot to tell her about the 1st Step which would have saved her a whole lot of time, and headache. 

 I was freshly reminded of the persistence one needs to approach hair color removal. Even yesterday I had the clerk at the supply house ask me what did she do wrong when she just applied Vanish and then her hair turn dark again. What I want to be sure to point out to you, is  - - the first part we call the "SHAMPOO TRAIN.

The Hair Color Removal procedure is not a breeze, so I don’t want to mislead anyone. The good part? It’s not complicated, The Bad?  (once you read directions)…….it IS ‘time-consuming’ and pricey. But nothing.............I mean N-O-T-H-I-N-G beats how advantageous this procedure is for the HEALTH of the hair. The Shampoo Train is a necessity to begin with in order to make the Vanish Steps easier and work better. 

The longer you perform each step on my direction sheet the more successful your outcome. Just like anything in LIFE, ‘precisely navigating the steps as long as you are going to take the procedure ‘on’ you might 

as well do the best you can.

I mean not only did we have to apply 6 (common) separate applications – a step I worry many of you may be shorting yourself on – (remember there are 2 applications per box).

 Our staffer – Cassy - - had what is a very common issue I bet many of you are dealing with. She had highlights under her Level 2-3 DARK BROWN hair color… Black .. basically. Now, that type of situation will many times take a minimum of 2 boxes, 3 is more likely and 4 is not out of the question…just FYI. The reason I want you to know is hopefully you will only perform this procedure of hair color removal ONCE in your life.

 Now. . . after this you will have read through the BLOG, learn the 10,000HEADS :14 STEPS and study your color wheel and the Level System. So you will learn clearly how to care for your hair in a new and unique method.



The number 1 mistake most people make in removing their color is: they do not apply enough applications of VANISH. I don’t think in all these years I have ever gotten all the color out in 2 applications… it would be nice if you could…but almost always people are trying to get BOXED hair color out of their hair which is this ‘thicky syrupy gunk’. 

Professional hair color comes out of the the hair much faster/easier than boxed color. Why? because it is not made to color ANY color of hair it is properly formulated for your hair! . Formulating is done by the professional (or you) so the color that was used was the “proper” color for the situation. Boxed hair color is made so it works on any hair without any formulating knowledge necessary. Otherwise why would they be selling it every store in America to A N Y O N E  that wants to purchase it. The color in boxed color kits….uses the E X A C T same coloring process and formula that professional hair color does. There is not one hair color formulation for boxed hair color and another for professional hair color….they are made the same way only 1 has better ingredients (quality).

The difference? You (or your stylist) is taking the answers to the KILLER 14 questions and calculating the proper color to use. When that is done…the color process is done correctly and therefore REVERSING the process works flawlessly. Most people that are looking to remove color here @ Killerstrands, I find, are boxed hair color removal. Which I am very sorry to say is going to be minimum of 4 applications. . . . and upwards of 8 or 10. I had Cassy our staffer, working on the Shampoo Train and using the COLOR PREP and COLOR CORRECTOR packets every couple days (by Malibu 2000) for 5 weeks prior to our 2 days of VANISH applications. . .which completely helped. . .we would have had to do at least 8 apps. if we had not done that…. as it was we did “5” !!   I know - - I know, just keep in mind: this is a one time project….hopefully to never be done again. She had highlights underneath (which btw she neglected to mention until about 1/2 way through) – I was really becoming puzzled by the fact that the procedure was not working very well {after 10 million of these, you truly get a feel for how they should work}.

Malibu 2000Has now come out with a new packet called CPR - or Color Pigment Reducer, so I highliy recommend purchasing a couple packets of this. If you are removing your color once and trying to recolor, that simply will not work, you either to either go ALL IN or forget it. So many people try to take short-cuts, when that simply will not work in hair color. Remember its a science and the rules and laws must be followed in order for the result to come out correctly.

Then I asked her, “ did you have any blond underneath this black? The truth came out about her wanting to get rid of the highlights so she got a box of color from Target and slapped it on, then she did it again and again and again for a year… She will never do that again, and neither should you!ONE BIG TIP HERE: When applying new color ( of any type) you must only color the “NEW GROWTH”……the “ROOTS”………..the “BASE” – coloring over the lengths that have already been colored will do nothing but damage the hair, whether going lighter, the same Level and especially going DARKER…. see this photo . . . the color is applied on the root area and the “lengths” are left out….that way you are not coloring on top of color….it IS NOT NECESSARY, & I promise you is one of the biggest mistakes hair stylists make.



How does hair color get in the hair and stay there >>>??? The molecules of “color’ shrink, then they go in the hair strand through the cuticle…then they EXPAND while in there - - which locks them in there – they can’t leave because they grow and become too large to get out the way they came ‘in’.. Thus, the hair is now the color of those color molecules. VANISH works by reversing that process. VANISH shrinks those molecules that are locked into those hair strands The reason we have a VANISH KIT versus just the VANISH Box?? You need 7 odd little things to complete the application properly plus my personal directions assure you of a perfect application. 




The single most important fact of beginning and ending the VANISHING technique? Making sure the old color is all the way out. With the Kit comes the one trick of a way of checking if all the color is out of the hair or not, that way you will KNOW - - you will have a gauge of when you can stop and be assured that all the color is out.

Now in our little Vanishing escapade… I discovered 2 new wonder-products we recently added to the store I thought I’d point out to you…. (the new Portable Bonnet Cap BLOW dryer system - -  that I was completely impressed with, btw) she had been using it all month long with the COLOR PREP and COLOR CORRECTION packets. What she forgot to tell me was how well it worked. I guess I thought the dryer would blow-up . . . WRONG…. or that it would either be too hot or too cold….WRONG again!. She brought it back and we put it on her ends as we had put pastel colors in her drips for EASTER… OK – YES, it looks goofy, but who cares… it works so well, that just doesn’t matter…..I mean don’t look at yourself.  . . . and the price is sooooooo reasonable. Ours are black, is the only difference. The most goofy looking new tool  - - - and the most EFFECTIVE….LOVE IT!



LOVE IT

The second great discovery is…………really silly but supremely effective and I wished I would’ve had for my entire career. Truly. I’ve already had it posted in the store but getting these posts on here are getting harder and harder for me…I try - - I promise you  - - I try. This little item is an applicator sponge….and as goofy as that sounds…let me explain…….
 

Above is a shot of the little devil . . . One of the problems with VANISH, Malibu 2000 Packets and all those types of products . . . is, the product itself is expensive….even to me VANISH is expensive. So we all want to use every last drop of the product, which is why all Colorists use tube “keys” - - to get every last drop out of the tube. 

Same with VANISH…every little drop of liquid should be used. Over the years I have tried 6 different types of applicators: make-up sponges, kitchen sponges…and most lately I had found these sponge “cloths”… I cut them up and thought that was my final answer to the issue. NOPE! I don’t know why but it must be the density of this particular foam that its absorption and application of the liquid was just awesome. 

You see if you have not used Vanish before: there are 2 bottles inside, Bottle 1 and Bottle 2 - -To look in each bottle you would think you were looking at water. When you get ready to use,  you mix 1/2 the bottle of #1 and 1/2 the bottle of #2 for 1 application. Then tighten both bottles immediately – tight. Use a spoon to mix thoroughly, at this point you would reach for this handy dandy applicator brush. Not even expecting a thing I decided to give this new little contraption a go . . . now our staffer has hair a couple inches past her shoulders – so long-ish. Her hair was completely drenched after applying only 1/2 of the total VANISH liquid..in the bowl….( or 1/4 of the total liquid in 1 box ). That would have never happened using all my other contraptions I had been experimenting with. Plus with VANISH the more you douse the hair with the liquid, the better. 

This little wonder – brush wins my vote for “Tool – of -- the- month”  - - if not the year. But…..this little sponge for some reason holds the right amount of liquid and then disperses every last drop onto the hair strands….why? I have no idea  - - but I was just star struck. Cassy kept making fun of me and my enthusiasm for something so silly. . .
But I love finding a GREAT tool . . .especially at a great price .
That’s probably why Killerstrands has turned into the success it has. . . because I DO care about every little product I bring you . 
Once again - - thank you for your support . 
KillerChemist