Porosity & Texture = How They Effect Hair Color {done}

 
You know when you read the directions that come from all of the various manufacturers on their own hair colors. . . . what type of hair do you think they are giving you directions for?

AVERAGE.
&
NORMAL.

They already have to write directions in 12 different languages! 

The directions on a box of professional Hair Color only writes the directions for MEDIUM Texture and NORMAL porosity.......what about the rest of us. 
I find very few "average" people now-a-days......they are there somewhere but they don't happen to visit this Blog or shop in our store !

In order for the color to look beautiful and shiny and to last........... you must accommodate these issues in all of the factors that go into Coloring your hair correctly ! The diameter of the strands (texture) and the condition of the cuticle (porosity) are affected by how hair color absorbs into the hair.

Texture refers to the diameter of the individual strands.....
Is yours fine???  medium??? or coarse??? 

The greater the diameter of the hair strand the coarser the hair......and those are things you cannot change about your hair. So please be aware of which type of hair you have so you can make adjustments accordingly.

The less the diameter, the finer the hair. 
 Fine hair has a thinner cortex so therefore is penetrated easier ( by hair color), it is lightened easier. Fine hair also FADES faster..........Coloring is faster as well.The finer the hair the faster it absorbs the hair color ! So...yes, you could cut 5-10 minutes off processing time. Some people have extremely fine hair (Meryl Streep) and in that case you would only want to process 20-25minutes. But that type is quite rare.

Coarse hair has a thick cortex. Color Chemicals must penetrate more mass and lift more of your own natural pigment........so the whole process takes longer, using a stronger developer and choosing an ashier formula many times is wise to compensate for the stronger DURP (Dominant Underlying Remaining Pigment).

POROSITY
Porosity is the ability of hair to absorb and retain moisture......another word for Porosity is "Condition".
Degrees of Porosity:

• Resistant
• Normal Porosity
• Over-porous

So when someone asks you if your hair is in good condition they really technically are referring to your porosity. If you have poor porosity there is an old trick which truly helps the simple step of simply shampooing it.

Oil Pre-Wash with Gleam to turn back time in your hair's condition

If your hair is at all porous - even just a tiny, little bit, if it ever gets tangly or poofy or frizzy and seems like it needs weight, if washing it makes it seem to float in the air or if the ends of your hair seem to get wispy and disappear, oil pre-wash treatments can help. Oil pre-wash treatments add flexibility, softness and "weight" to hair. And when you think of "well moisturized" hair, you are referring to a number of qualities, two of which are flexibility and softness.

Here's the deal:
You know how washing your hands too often makes them chapped - even if you don't use soap? Washing your hair ultimately dehydrates it too unless your hair is tremendously low porosity. By that I mean the cuticles are un-damaged and in such pristine condition that they don't let water in at all. Porosity is a surface thing. Oils have other great effects like making hair soft and flexible - those are partly related to porosity. Even low porosity hair can get dried out with too much washing or dry air or a lot of sunshine. I still say of all our products the one that makes the most significant difference is OVERNIGHT Oil treatments  and Pre-Wash Treatments.

Any oil will keep the water out of your hair for a little while and that is great. Many oils can surround any chipped and broken places in your hairs cuticle covering, giving you better protection.

  Gleam contains the absolute best oils for most people's hair because they "waterproof" the inner part of your hair that swells. If we can keep water from getting into our hair and swelling it up, it won't end up waterlogged and the cuticles will chip off less and we'll keep our lovely proteins and everything that keeps out hair strong from escaping down the drain.


Rose Hips Seed Oil
Abyssinian Oil
Meadowfoam Seed Oil
Fractionated Coconut Oil
Argan Oil
 ............are the top 5 oils out of 13 we have in GLEAM and that is why it rocks!


AS I've said many times before....all YOU have to do is figure out your own hair and these facts about your own hair .........its the professional's that must know and understand every type of hair in order to have a wonderful outcome - every single time they create a new hair color project  !!!

1 Trick I Think I Have Forgotten To Mention In All These Years . . . .

Immediately after you 
color your hair . . .  . . . . . . what do you do?

 You apply a pH balanced conditioner


... the pH of Coloring products ranges from 8 - 9.5 .... so always use a pH balanced conditioner like INTENSIVE  to restore the natural pH of 4.5-5.5 to the hair. 

 The benefits being?????

• it closes the cuticle
• restores the pH balance to the hair AND 
• will help to prevent moisture loss and
• prevent Color fade

and the most important fact is......................

DO NOT WASH THE HAIR FOR 48 HOURS

.........IN OTHER WORDS THERE SHOULD BE no shampoo used IN THE ENTIRE DAY OF COLORING YOUR HAIR


YOU RINSE THE COLOR OUT FOR 5 MINUTES OR UNTIL THE WATER RUNS COMPLETELY CLEAR................


THEN APPLY INTENSIVE FOR 15 MINUTES TO 15 HOURS

THEN RINSE WITH WATER..................PERIOD!


zero shampoo 
and i just figured out
 i don't think 
i have ever said this

 ;( KC

How to Test the Porosity of Your Hair & Why Its Important

Porosity is the hairs ability to absorb liquid, and once hair has been exposed to alkalinity, it absorbs liquid more easily...the more damaged the hair the quicker it absorbs liquid.
 
If hair is damaged that throws the porosity off and many times will make for an uneven base (which makes for uneven color....so BEFORE you color a good idea is to do a 30-60 minute treatment of 1 of 2 things the Malibu2000 packet or INTENSIVE.

My normal "quick'' test for calculating porosity is  this: {Being as you have done all those wonderful things with color...you should know the answer to this question}  

HOW WELL DOES YOUR HAIR TAKE COLOR?
If it  takes color easily or quickly....your hair is porous. Porous hair does better using Demi-Perm Hair Color

There is also the old "HAIR IN A GLASS TEST"
Pull one hair out of your head in the area u are concerned about. I mean pulling 1 out from underneath where it never gets exposed to any heat or damage won't tell u much. Pull one out from the top of the head, then fill a glass of water and set the hair on the water.....the porous part of the hair will sink below,while the normal resistant part will float on zee top of zee water !

Porosity of your hair is a factor that needs to be put into your formula when you are creating it. For example if you have poor porosity and you are trying to decide between 2 different Volume of developers you would always want to use the lower of the 2 for that instance.  

Choosing Demi - Permanent hair color as opposed to permanent on poorly porous hair is so the direct pigments can provide shine by coloring the rough cuticle; they are also more gentle for the fragile hair structure.

HTH


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Check out this Comment someone wrote today, its funny although I don't know what a PSA is, and the reference to the wig???

I had the yellow orange problem after doing a total hair lightening. I'm naturally dark blonde at 33 years. I have hair that is fine but abundant. You saved my hair! I looked like the epitome of trailer trash Barbie, the toning techniques you provided gave me the the bomb-est platnium. Literally as soon as I did my hair, I went to the supermarket and some man SLAMMED on his brakes to stare at me walking into the store. I am loving this blog, you said it KC- the stylist just wants you in the chair then it's a crap shoot. I have to walk around and live with my wig tho- that's the difference. You are like the biggest PSA around. Make your accountant get you tax exempt status or something. You saved my hair and I will be forever grateful- always! on    How to Bleach Hair At Home - Correctly

KC
Killer Chemist