From the Mouths of A Colorist . . . .
The single most important concept to understand to be able to Color Hair successfully is Color Theory.
1% of people have Red Hair and 1% have Blonde - Everyone else has Brown and Black is the number 1 Color.
So that is why, I feel, everyone tries to head to blonde and now Red is making a roaring comeback - because they don't have it!
Not one Stylist thinks this and not one Instructor or School teaches this. Which I m guessing: explains why there are many unqualified hair Colorists in the USA. My plan is to teach Color Theory more thoroughly here on the Killer Strands Blog, than it has ever been taught before - - - anywhere. That way you will now have the tools you need – the education at hand, to color your hair successfully. No excuses. If you don’t grasp it at first…remember – repetition breeds education. Just keep repeating it.
The 3 primaries, when mixed in unequal amounts, make brown. If there is more yellow than red or blue, the brown will be light, even beige. If there is more red than the other 2 primaries, the brown will be warm, and if there is more blue than yellow or red, the brown will be dark and cooler looking.
Complementary colors turn a brown of some shade of either when mixed. When complementary colors are mixed, they create the presence of the 3 primaries in uneven amounts.
for example:
when yellow mixes with blue + red which equals violet --- violet – we achieve a shade of brown . . . .the stronger shade will dominate the formula.
All virgin hair is a shade of brown; it contains all 3 primaries. Whether the hair is dark brown with black being the darkest (the bluest brown, Levels 1-4), auburn (the most warm brown, levels 5 –7), or blonde, ( the most yellow or lightest brown. levels 8-10), the color is an uneven combination of the 3 primary colors.
Equal amounts of yellow + red + blue = black, gray, or platinum . . . depending on the level.
Extensive Lab tests have actually broken down melanin molecules and in all types of virgin hair, regardless of race, color or texture, unequal amounts of yellow, red and blue are found in each – which of course turns brown.
If you want, or you can simply trust me, you can test this theory very simply… just head down to your local Michaels or Toys R Us purchase some PLAY DOH and with that, hold your own experiments. Mixing the various colors. Mix a little Red and Yellow Play Doh together which will eventually turn out as orange… add a little blue - - yep you get one shade of brown. In addition - - try all the other variations so you can check out all of these experiments demonstrate that primaries when mixed in uneven amounts equal brown.
BALANCED Color comes when all 3 primaries are present.
I would say one of the biggest and most prolific problems within the hair color world comes from ‘lightening’ and the uneven balance that is just the inevitable result from the imbalance of the 3 colors as color is taken out. It is learning how to deal with this, which will make you a decent and qualified Colorist.
Very blond hair is brown hair with a dominance of yellow
Red Hair is Brown hair with a dominant of Red
Black Hair is the Bluest Brown
A simple example of the composition of hair color molecules
Try to remember when you are lightening hair color, you are not really dealing with Brown, you are dealing with DURP (dominant underlying remaining pigment)………….which is reds….oranges….golds…(brass!!) and yellows.
When you go to lighten hair as you head towards Blonde
The first pigment to leave the hair is blue.
If you begin with the blackest most coarse hair and apply bleach to it, the change will occur immediately…blue will again leave the hair quickest and head to the red zone ( also one of the most difficult to leave)….
I still feel that level 7(orange) is the most difficult level to get past ( thus the problems with brassy colors that plague our country – some people worry about politics – me - - I worry about brassy hair and how to rid the country of it !! We all have our priorities ! )
For those of you truly interested in learning color theory I would encourage you to purchase a pack or two of the human hair swatches you will find at this link in our Killer Strands online Store
Do some testing with bleach, we have both 1 oz & 3 oz. containers of Blondor bleach that you can use to do some experimenting. It will truly begin opening your eyes to how hair color truly - - - basically - - - works….which then benefits you as you work on your own hair color. I promise light bulbs will begin to clink on all over your work, all over your thought bubbles in thinking about your next color project, whether on yourself, your kids, your girlfriend or your dog.
A lot more to come on Color Theory, along with many other color topics.
Happy Holidays one and all
Killer Chemist
A Lesson in Achieving Dynamite Red Hair from Killer Chemist
EVA ……………. EMMA
#1 In answering a Question from one of our Group members, we begin the month of March with our 2nd question from a Group Member… Get your question answered by joining our group, learn a little about the Level System so you un-lock the secrets of hair color - - - I’ve had so many of you have “a-ha” moments while reading my Blog. Nothing could be more satisfying
So the discussion today is about becoming a redhead. Something I have avoided writing about for 5 years! The reasons? Hmmmm…maybe the fact that only 2% of the population are Red Heads, I felt there wouldn’t be many interested in reading them. There have been many reports about the fact that the true Redhead is on its way to extinction and I fear no one is fond of the hair color, but in the last couple months I have seen a mini resurgence in the flaming red hair some of us command.
Now, I am going to try something new for the month of March. I am going to be taking one of your questions from our Forum (Google Group), then post it here on the Blog and answer it, giving you the suggestions of which colors and which techniques to use. Any of our members may ask a question, or if you are new to the Killerstrands World (where have you been?) please join, our Killerstrands Forum. Here os question Number 2 :
“ I have level 8 medium Blond hair and am interested in being the Red of star EMMA STONE (below), can you please tell me how to achieve that color without it looking faded, with your new line of hair color? “
Well, I am so glad to hear people are beginning to desire the red locks, so many of you who turn to Blond would look so much more stunning with a head of red hair. I urge everyone to be a redhead at least once in life. You just never know. Emma seems to have chosen every color/tone we have in the swatch book!. Above is her current and most popular color.
Below she is a dark brunette:
And again as a Blond:
Lucky to find an actress that can afford us these photos to check out !
I happen to think she has found her home and that is as a redhead, don’t you think?? She looks the best as a flaming lock child…I would bet money that is her virgin color.
If you happened to catch this past weeks Saturday Night Live……Lindsay Lohan (of all people) was the host….and I honestly think they were trying to send her a subliminal message. She is this stark platinum blond now (just like Emma is above) and again > Lindsay is a virgin redhead. Now, in every single sketch – throughout the show - - they had her in a redheaded wig – at which time > she looked about a thousand percent better! If she doesn’t re-watch the show and notice the difference….then they need to drug test her again…because she IS STILL HIGH !
But anyway, this particular question is fairly simple……a level 8 blond is about this:
One of the most bonus’ to this new line of color is that it has a wide array of “TONES” in each color and especially Reds. That wasn’t the reason I got it, but with this new trend towards Reds, I am certainly glad we have it. They have a Level 10 Red, which I have never seen or heard of, They have Level 6-7-8 “violet” reds….which is an excellent feature because it fights the GOLDISH tones I find in about every Red 
Color on the market.
So for this issue you do not need to “fill” the hair, not when you are using high quality hair color. The only thing you “may’’ have to do….this depends on the porosity of your hair….. is apply the color you choose twice. All over, but 6-8 weeks apart. The “RED” pigment is the toughest pigment to get to “stick” so that it doesn’t fade. There will be some fading, its just part of having red hair, I never heard anyone complain about it. As a matter of fact so many of my clients loved the fact that it fades, because about every 2-3 weeks you have a new color ! Red hair fades beautifully…so you slide in one shade gently from the past one.
For the exact formula to the Emma Stone color we see above I would us the following formula:
7.0 N : medium blonde + 6.34 dark copper golden blond + 7.62 medium violet red blonde + 6.26 dark red violet blond ……+ 20Volume ( for permanent) or 10Volume (to make the color demi-permanent). Mix equal part of the 4 colors in the bowl. Then be sure to calculate the ratio of Developer TO Color….which is 1 to 1.5 . 1 ounce of color to 1.5 ounces of Developer. Use a calculator if you have to ! That ratio is important. We are including a card with all orders that helps you figure out the ratio. The best way? Use a scale. They have them at Target and are very useful in the world of haircolor !
I think the color she is right now is a 6.5 ( six and a half Red/Violet/Brown). Depending on the porosity of your hair, and “IF” you do not want to change colors completely, you might need to reapply to the entire head of hair again. This question from this woman did not state her VIRGIN color so I cannot address how she would re-touch the new growth. If its darker you would mix the same color with 1 developer and if its lighter ( highly unlikely) she would use a different developer.
As I close this Post I just read the new ELLE magazine, who also has chosen RED hair as “the” color for spring. So hopefully you can take a look at our Group – and find it interesting enough to join….we have archives of 3 years of hair health and hair coloring advice from both my 3 managers and I that you will find interesting.
Click Here to Google Group
Killer Chemist
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