Bleaching for Rainbows : Dark Hair Yearns to Be Blonde, the Absolute Safest Way - Zero Damage

I Apologize Brunettes But BLONDE'S 

Rule the Air Waves & Social Media

This week a bombardment of you who have very dark hair ( Level 1-4)  just insist on wanting to be Blonde. I get it and I understand but if you will follow my preaching in this very long and laborious Blog - you can be platinum as well

If you were in my chair I would weigh you out . . .  spend 10 minutes trying to talk you into enjoying the glory of dark hair and giving you other tricks you could do, but those tricks are better left to the pro's, remember I like to teach here the color jobs that I believe all of you can handle and also will be thrilled with the results. The side effect is achieving healthy hair at the same time and is my #1 Concern & the THE MOST IMPORTANT FACTOR.

I also have experienced those who are dead set on it and if I don't help them they will just keep going until they achieve that crown of platinum glory they have dreamed of since being a small child. So this is for those of you who fit into that category...

WITH THE WEALTH OF CELEBS JUMPING IN MAYBE ITS YOUR TURN TOO?

BEFORE YOU DO REMEMBER THIS ONE SENTENCE:

'' HIGH MAINTENANCE'' 
 ( the phrase derived from turning dark hair ---> platinum ) - so not only it is required to receive touch-ups - it can be taxing on your wallet. The only way many can handle the look is by turning into a Crib Colorist and going "FOR IT" ! ! 

I will give you 10 Don'ts in this process and if you decide to go ahead you must read all posts on this Blog regarding subject matter and I promise if every single question is not answered you can text me at the store's number and I will answer it. (if its complicated then you must send your Killer 18 questions with your question - ( just GOOGLE the Killer 18 questions)........

1.  DO NOT USE POWDERED LIGHTENER/BLEACH - - - - which is where I feel all the damage comes from in lightening hair!  There is no need to, cream lighteners exist. I don't like any of them so had to make our own and then I learned to tint it a rich blue/velvet which helps with 1 less bleaching application AND removal of brass/gold. Ours is a Cream & oil based Bleach, not just Cream like everyone else and I use a very special triad of oils, that make the hair shine afterward.
2. NEVER use any bleach/lightener to remove OLD 'previous'  hair color, that is not at all what it is made for, the single biggest mistake Stylists make, to me.  Use a Color Remover.
3. DO NOT try this unless you are fully educated on the process, it is the single most tricky color to get right. I see celebrities all the time with yellow hair and it just makes my skin crawl. 
   
4. Never think 1 Lightening session is going to be all you have to do. If you are a Level 9 VIRGIN hair with Zero color on it, you would be the only one pretty much that can get away with 1 bleaching session. It runs the gamut from 2-12. ! Yep 12 boxes of VANISH means you most likely have 15 boxes of old black hair color on your hair for years and the highest numbers of boxes I sold to a woman like that was 13!  But, you never heard a happier person when complete. This is a one time procedure and you will learn so much, it will never happen again!
5.  If your hair is 2 feet long I would not suggest this procedure at all. Yes, it can be done but most people with that long of hair do not really want to cut it, the shorter hair the better. I mean this one seriously.
6.  Do not think that you must buy 5-8 boxes of VANISH to remove your old hair color, I fully realize how expensive it is. One of your biggest mistakes would be NOT reading about the (1) Shampoo Train  (2) Malibu DDL Lifter Packet (3) Wella's RENEW Color Remover(4) Malibu CPR Remover.........are all valid measures to removing old hair color. The goal? do it as gently as possible. Even going in a pool with chlorine is a nice help - don't over due obviously! 
7. Don't think for a minute if you have thin hair this isn't for you, this IS for you . . . it is what so many celebs with famously thin hair do, ( they just wear $100,000. wigs on the movie screens! ) Truly ! Look at Renee Zellwager, Julianne Hough, Michele Ledger Williams, Charlize Theron....all have naturally thin hair. Lightener kind of blows out the cuticle and makes it appear thicker and it sure will handle and style better! 
8. NEVER -EVER - EVER apply the lightener just willy-nilly all over the head, that is not how it is done, you MUST invest in proper tools and we sell them cheap, on purpose. Divide head in quadrants. Take each section at a time. Purchase a wall mirror ( home depot) where you can see the back of your head while you apply it is weird at first, but you will become a pro sooner rather than later. Think of hair color sort of like cooking.......both are science really. If you follow the rules and do things in the proper order, its a "piece-of-cake"! 
9. DO NOT take short-cuts, if that is what you want to do, this procedure isn't for you. There are NONE allowed. Remember this big first procedure is only done once! The idea is to get all of the hair platinum 1st and then its not that bad.... if you think about it....every 4-8 weeks all you need is 1 of the 2 applications that come in our Kit to retouch roots. I always suggest starting with the pro Kit, I know its expensive but hey, pay for it over 6 months through PAY PAL...........it will assure you have enough product, and most likely will end up with enough to do your roots for another 6 months minimum (depending on many various factors that is - length of hair, texture, porosity, denseness, etc..)

Last but not least my 2 favorite pet peeves: (1) Never EVER apply Bleach to the roots first, it will ALWAYS be the last place you apply it (heat from head makes it process faster than rest of hair - thus the term "hot roots" you may have heard of) Finally, the key to this whole thing working out properly is being sure you have applied the lightener enough times, you want the hair to be yellow free enough, where if you do not want to apply a Toner it will look beautiful as well. But with all the Toners out these days, I can tell you its a whole lotta fun to experiment. So do NOT forget to apply lightener, process 65-70 minutes, remove only by rinsing ( no shampoo) dry and check color. Bleach must be applied on dry hair, so you will see the color after each lightening.

1. 

 

I hope this finds you well and I very much appreciate all the love and prayers everyone has sent me - they are working

But as you can see I am up and roaring again ( just a bit slower and more carefully) - 

 

Watch for new things once again and we have a FACEBOOK GROUP (which I am looking for a moderator for - -  just to work with me - - anyone interested?)

(Please TEXT/or call the store phone number)  

 

and am considering opening the old group up again. Lots of you remain with many questions for me to answer. 

 

Bleachin For Rainbows .............KC
 

Blonde's Battling to Be Blonde, Blissfully

Blonde's or People wanting to go Blonde are a Passionate Group, they all want to be the perfect hue of Blonde without using the proper tool for the job

They want to use the lowest level with the lowest Volume of developer. But in my opinion, you are all looking at the job from the wrong direction.

I think that must stem from poor information somewhere along the line that an non-informed Stylist told them or I don't know how they come with that theory. Maybe from poor results from a blonding experience..BUT, when I go to formulate for a blond in the chair I look for the highest lifting, safest most conditioning product there is. The goal to me is to lift light enough to not have to deal with Toners, but when you want to play with Toners you still can. THAT SHOULD BE EVERY HAIR STYLISTS and CRIB COLORISTS' mind as you go to formulate for a blond.

Picture this, you get stuck on the Level 12 - high-lift color and use it. It did not lift as light as you wanted....your hair makes a mild to the eye but radical to the person CHANGE as you grow older you get darker and you begin to become gray, 2 very annoying features to hair. BUT.......inevitable, just the same ! Now that the color has not lifted lighter, its driving you crazy, and at some point you will have to used Bleach OVER it, because at that point, there is no other way to lighten it. You can choose to go dark but very few Blonde's will choose this until they get older. So now, you have put bleach on top of highlift, because the rule is....color cannot "lift' Color....you cannot put another Level 12 on top of the present Level 12, it will do NOTHING! So this then becomes an endless circle.... can't tell you the amount of people who will continue to try this over and over. 

YOU MUST USE THE RIGHT 

TOOL FOR THE JOB

Strand Test Strand Test if nothing else.
Recently a young woman presented me with a common problem. She did not use the developer in the proper ratio, and therefore did not have enough lift to turn it a nice color. Remember, all High-lifts in + - every brand across the board are double 40 Volume. Highlifts are every color over a level 10, so EVEN Level 11 is considered a highlift and is also double 40. All brands......... worldwide.
So that is where you went wrong. But I don't truly care if you use our color ,but you will have a much better                                                                                                                                    chance of success if you do.it would be better so we

To me that makes ZERO sense you are confirming what I told you ?????????

Do you see how that makes no sense.
SHE switched to bleach.... so if she switched to bleach why would you go back to her, I'm missing something here

I truly don't care what you use

I don't like to argue about hair color.......with anyone
How many times have I said," if you use the right tool for the job - your hair will not be dry or destroyed ".
 Do you know that Gwens hair  (we both use to trade-off doing her touch-ups) is the most luxurious -healthy- shiny hair on planet earth.
What do you think you gain by using a highlift over cream lightener?

However you get to a certain lightness .........has done the exact same thing to the hair...........if you have overlapped, or used the wrong developer or quantity OF it, then you won't have the proper lightening experience but lets just say there is a Level 13, which there is in my head.
Level 13 is platinum/Gwen hair .
 If you want ZERO brass in it without the use of a toner (which, as a colorist I know every girl wants who shows me photos of a platinum or even a sandy head of hair who's DURP isn't going to help, you are at Level 13 - platinum. If you got there with bleach OR with a high-lift it does the exact same thing to the hair. It "LIFTS" out the color in the strands by the combo of 40Volume developer + the ammonia or MEA in the hair color.

Now, if you are talking the condition of the hair - I have tested many times on the same person a foil with Gleam on the hair and my best Cream lightener and 20Volume  VERSUS a lousy Highlift & 40 Volume.

Which do you think was the more conditioned swatch?

Right away and 2 months later it was the Cream lightener. I will confess that we did this on a client who had so much hair she would never know AND my assistants did it on the very underneath of her hair ! Kind of sneaky but we really wanted to know the answer.

Its also OK if you don't believe me.

One thing I will tell you, is country-wide L'Oreal across the board is in a battle with Aveda and Goldwell for the worlds worst color. They all produce DD Delayed Damage. The definition of DD is : hair color turning to shit in 2-4-6 weeks, for ZERO reason of your own.

How many of you walk out of the Salon all proud of your new hair color? Then about 2-4-6 weeks later ( depending on what you had done) your hair begins to start losing color, and volume and begins to feel very dry and damaged ??? That is you experiencing DD. Sooooo very many of you, begin to blame yourselves when it truly is NOT YOUR FAULT. You quickly run to the Beauty supply or mall to find some products that will regain its Zest. I mean of course, there is a little let down from the beginning of be Colored, but I am talking a substantial loss of quality.)

There are really only 2 reasons for DD:

• Hair Colorist does a poor job of coming up with the correct formula  OR
• the color they are using is a lousy brand

L'Oreal Majirel is one of those high-lifts that many of us feel is as close to a cream bleach as you can get exactly like "Chi's"

I used to carry Chi's high-lift and then 1 woman from Ireland called in and complained about it. I have a method I go by, that if one person complains about a product ...I pull it.

Then she sent me her photo...........the color she achieved with the Chi high-lift was finally the correct color.......she was so used to it a bright yellow, that when the brass was gone it shocked her into complaining. I told her alot of people have paid me a lot of money to achieve that platinum.

She begged me to put the product back on and I have not.

I think it is a great product for those who are in between bleach and high lift blonde.