Blonding Hair Has A New Product To Use in The Never-ending Battle of Fighting Brass & Gold While Lightening!.........Pigmented Developers !

I am excited to Introduce A New Product to You...
Its a new product to introduce to you that I have been working on the past month. 

Recently I introduced to you............. ''Pigmented lighteners'' by Wella, a product called MAGMA. Which we carry in the Store presently....MAGMA has been out many years but they have reformulated it and created 17 new colors. All of which are inter-mixeable... ! ! ! There are so many little and  BIG tricks you can create with mixing all of the powders, there is a white powder they call "CLEAR" which gives you the ability to create pastels....

The Lighteners themselves are tinted various colors so that they tint the hair as it is lightened, the various colors help a little fight DURP in the hair OR add colors like ROSE....Pink.....Peach..... let me show you the powders...........

 I have opened 3 of them to play with.... see the blue (what does blue color do in the blonding process???...of course it fights Blorange and Gold a tiny bit.... because its opposite of those colors on the color wheel...) 
The biggest problem when blonding is the annoying DURP /or annoying remaining pigment that is LEFT in the hair.......once the black or brown color is lifted out of the hair. MAGMA is basically made for people looking to go Blond, you can go Blond and fight DURP but you still need more to fight most people's DURP.....

So therefore don't PIGMENTED LIGHTENERS make a while lot of sense? The one powder I played with is /17 Ash Blonde. 

Guess what color that powder is?

Its the Powder Blue powder you see above. Why? Because ASH Blonde is blonde with ZERO Brass/ or Zero Gold / or ZERO any annoying colors and why not use a Blue Lightening powder to attempt to do that with. Blue fights Gold. Blue Fights Brass Blue fights Blorange.

 It is on the opposite side of the color  on the color wheel from those colors.......... which is how it works to either enhance or Dissolve the Tints/Hints/Colors you are trying so hard to get rid of.

THAT IS HOW IT WORKS TO NEUTRALIZE A COLOR YOU WISH TO GET RID OF.

USE the opposite color on the color wheel and it will get rid of it . So if you wanty to get rid of Brass (yellow) look across from it....................the color is Violet. So Use Violet Powder/Developer/ anything purple you can find........... will help get rid of that annoying brass you ..............DO - - - - -NOT- - - - - - WANT

                                                                                                                     


 See....the colors on this side of the color wheel : YELLOW, YELLOW-ORANGE & ORANGE....all colors every colorist + Client wishes didn't exist. But they are the strongest pigments in the hair, & the last and hardest to get rid of..... as the hair lightens it gets stuck at yellow-orange and it is nearly impossible to get it lighter than that stage....which is the reason for everyone's grief in becoming a pleasant "Toned" Blond. 



Being as 1 in 4 People want to be Blonde. We have a HUGE WAR, that has never been won, but we continue to work on it and I am here adding to our arsenal of tools we need to use to fight it.


 ! ? !) Remember how much I have spoken about DURP.....or Dominant Underlying Remaining Pigmented......or the color most of us have in our hair as you lighten it in one of the many many ways there are to lighten and Blond hair.

Lets look at the MAGMA by Wella U TUBE Video to get an idea of the pigmented powders and what they are presenting.





MAGMA  in  KILLERSTRANDS  STORE

So, we all know how it is necessary to mix developer with a hair color OR lightener to make the color work...Right?
Developer is a product called many different names:

• Developer
• Peroxide
• H2O2
• Emulsion
• Hydrogen Peroxide

they are all the same product and they are what is necessary to create the hair coloring action that changes the color of your hair. Whether it is light dark or red.....it is NOT necessary to use our BOOST & BURST, the truly Semi-Permanent Hair Color you will come across. Semi- Permanent Hair color only coats the hair, while all other hair color:

• Demi-Permanent Hair Color
• Permanent Hair Color - which includes Bleaches, pigmented lighteners, etc

these change the hair color permanently and a lot of works needs to be done to either return the hair to its normal color or begin your new life as a new hair color.
This is the one and only time that the hair strands cuticle is "open" which is the one and only time that hair coloring action can take place because of that fact. 

So a couple years ago I tracked down a violet Developer for all of you to use and to add to our oil bleach Kits. Why would I want that? What is the number 1 problem with going.............BLONDE?
Brass.
So using this violet developer has been a big seller here at Killerstrands, most everyone that is going Blonde either purchases our Oil bleach Kit which has 20 volume  Purple developer.

Then I went on a hunt for a BLUE developer, because if you have GOLD or BLORANGE, Violet will help a little but BLUE is across the Color Wheel from Gold not Purple. First I bought one, I recieved it and it was Violet then I purchased the 2nd one which we carry currently made by Aloxxi. It says its BLUE, but when I put it next to the Violet Deve3loper we have gotten for years, it is much more Violet than Blue. But, it has sold well and I have warned people.

But finally I got disgusted. I asked the company that currently makes the Violet Developer to make a BLUE one that it would sell really well. He pretty much told me It was a ridiculous idea. He just doesn't understand hair color or anything about it. 
So now, I finally got discusted and decided to just try to make one myself.  .. . . a Solid Blue Developer for all those people fighting both Blorange/.Gold and Dark Brass...to all of you who need a nice strong Blue Developer.............. 
I finally decided to begin the job of developing one on my own...

It is a success and I am very please to introduce to you.....Breaking Bad Blue Developer
20Volume
30Volume
40 Volume................in BBBlue

So my first Tester is 40 Volume, with Wella Blondor ( Blue Powder lightener - the most common color of powder lightener there is & Blondor is probably the most popular brand.)
So after a few test runs with the blue pigment I finally decided on is Blue........... VERY Blue..............no Violet here !

I mixed 40 Volume pretty dense with the pigment what the hell, it was on a Dollhead.

I LOVE THE RESULTS

I RAN # 3 TESTS on the right hand side of the top of this Doll head ( the left hand side was my MAGMA demonstration - somewhere on one of the many places we give education.) 
Which is beautiful as well. So if you are interested in Pigmented lighteners....
I have decided I am going to make a line of pigmented Developers as well. Why not?
I have Purple on the way, I feel if Bold Blue works so well, how well is Bold Violet going to work?
Why not Beige Developer?
Why not Red Developer ?
Why not Brown Developer?
I have so many ideas and I have samples on the way.....but BLUE is a HUGE HIT  ! ! ! 

I'm not sure those will be as effective as th Blue, but the Blue in one Application left Zero Yellow or Gold on Level 6 Brown Hair which is very VERY rare.

So I am excited for you. 

Soooooooooooooooo Many of you are Blonds out there.....
So many of you WANT TO BE BLONDS ! 
So the Option of Blue developer is now added to the website...if you want Blue 20 Volume for the Oil Bleach Kit, its going to be an extra $1.00  until we get the next big batch made which we will make Blue Developers and Violet Developers ! !

Next Batch which will be made very soon.

WE will offer BBBBlue Developer in all strengths today..
AS bright as it looks as soon as you rinse it out - its gone 
( this was even processed for only 45 minutes) 
which is very short for 1 Application, that is a tremendous short we can process 75-90 minutes, but, I . . . . .for once, I
 was being conservative ! ! ! !

The BLUE developers are on the store's website! Aren't you excited to see if the other color developers help in both tinting and fighting DURP. You never know, but we will be testing other colors next week am very excited about the prospects of all of these next week!

 KC

'Ammonia-Free' is Not 'Damage-Free' : Don't Let the Hype Around that Term -- Fool You !

Wella Professionals unveil that ''Ammonia-free'' hair color is not ''damage-free'' hair

As the Crib Colorist leader, I want you to discover the truth about hair color & either use or ask for superior damage protection vs Ammonia-free color. Most people find that answer out for themselves. Almost every (big) hair color manufacturer has now or is adding ... an ammonia-free hair color line. 
We carry
INNOSENSE by Wella                 
&
Essensity by Schwarzkopf - both ammonia-free.........Both never sell (truly) !

Which is all well and good, 
but if you ask a client,

"You have a choice for your hair color today?"

1)  your perfect color 
or 
2) ammonia-free color that will be a bit brassy

..........so far,  10 out of 10 times they choose #1

  Ammonia-free permanent hair color is the latest 'hash-tag' in the hair color industry and consumers have started showing more affinity towards it as they consider it less damaging .

But, if you have listened to anything I have said over the years....let it be known that this is a deep seated myth about hair color -- ‘Ammonia-free Hair color only "seems" to be damaging because of its strong scent. 
Ammonia smells strong and when Hair Color & Developer are first combined, yes sometimes it will take your breath away ( I happen to Love it!) . But that scent does dissipate and if you notice when you are at home, that overpowering fragrance is not there...its rally when in a busy Salon with Nail artists - hair artists - eyebrow artists - straightening going on.........curling going on..........hair coloring..................gel nails...........the whole whirlwind is just this vortex of annoying smells that sometimes makes you never want to color your hair again............

But take them one at a time..........
and in todays world 


that harsh scent does not exist so much anymore..


There is a reason they didn't get rid of the ammonia many years ago when a subsitutuion was found.........

it simply does not work as well

Ask any top Colorist, 

most of us agree. 


Ammonia .................while a harsh name
is not a harsh ingredient. It simply lets the coloring action work the most pure with the best and most pleasing results...
Think,.............

 if ammonia's name was changed permanently.

 Say we went to the DMV and applied for permanent name change and we changed that name to ''Daydream''.
From now on that ingredient that you know to be ammonia was now going to be called Daydream.
Now, how do you feel about it? Hair color w/ Daydream in it will be applied to your hair today, is that OK?

Its something about the word "ammonia" 

that winds everyone up in a knot, and it just conjures up bad thoughts, bad feelings and bad results........when in fact the opposite is true.

Remember what ammonia does in the hair coloring process? 

It opens the cuticle so that hair coloring may actually 'TAKE PLACE ! ! !

But the truth is, ammonia-free permanent hair colors replace ammonia with another - Chemical usually MEA or a similar active ingredient which even though doesn’t smell,  can be worse for your hair. MEA creates more damage than ammonia would ever even think of. 

Don't let the scent prevent you from getting that color you want !

Check-out the new MAGMA Colors that Are in the store, PIGMENTED LIGHTENERS is the new Buzzword !

Absolutely loved the results.
Plus the "C" MAGMA....
I added 3 powders together to get the front color.
The possibilities are endless as there are now 18 Newly formulated colors. 

BOOST & BURST - Killerstrands Own Color Enhanced Shampoos & Conditioners

 I now want to talk about our new Best Selling products - Boost & Burst.

I received this awesome email today and couldn't be more pleased, I just feel that it will help to explain Boost & Burst to you - a helluva lot better than I can !

Dear Killerstrands & KC,
I absolutely love Boost and Burst. I recently went silver after twenty years of  coloring my hair various shades of red. For the previous few months I had been sporting an intense red color with a bodacious swoosh of yellow in the bangs area. My colorist did an amazing job of gently removing the coloring and lightening/toning, then lightening/toning and so on until it was time for the final toning. It looked amazing except that the bodacious yellow (an Aveda color) would not completely disappear. So - think gorgeous silver hair with a funky yellowish bangs swoosh. She toned it nicely at first with a charcoal-ish low light, but as that slowly faded I was back to the weird yellowish thing where my bangs are.

 I bought Boost and Burst in silver bullet and did the extended time/dryer thing with just the funky yellow bangs area and it worked!! Just for giggles, I bought Violet Pilot and am having a total blast changing up the hue and intensity of my haircolor every week. I would love to play with more colors but I can't seem to get a drop down menu on your Burst and Boost page on your website. The only like to purchase anything on that page is to purchase a hairdryer. Please let me know how to get to a menu for those products that I can click on and order, as I am having more fun with your Burst and Boost products than I have with anything else in years. 

The plus of all of this is that I am no longer tethered to the professional colorist's chair every 21 days. Somehow, at my "big decision" appointment, she managed to intuit (ok I did let it grow out a bit and looked like a red skunk when I went in) what my natural gray looked like and masterfully achieved it. I have not seen a root in 2 months and a whole new area of adventure has opened up to me using your tinted shampoos and conditioners. Please let me know how to easily order more--you see, in addition to having a blast with your cooler toned colors, I still have a huge redhead wardrobe and would like to play with some of your warmer tones.  Thank you for being the fabulous innovator that you are. You have made many people very happy--I have many girlfriends who have asked for the link to your site after seeing my hair.

K.K  July 3, 2015

( p.s. I explained in detail how to purchase all the various colors and if anyone else has this problem please always - always speak- up! ). . . .KC

 

 

 

  BURST & BOOST are on one page for convenience

Please notice that the top half of the choices on the page are 'BOOST' the shampoo & on the bottom half are 'BURST' the COLORED conditioner. These products are of PROFESSIONAL GRADE and are unlike anything you have ever tried in the past....... there is a unique pigment that KC has found in her travels throughout the cosmetic chemist industry. 
 If you are looking for the one with the most, its BURST - the conditioner. BURST can truly be used to cover up grays' in your new growth for all you Brunette's and Redheads!........when purchasing you receive 'one' when you place one in your cart..... The shampoo is color safe + SULFATE FREE Shampoo and Conditioner is made for color treated hair as well.

Boost & BURST can be used for many reasons, the Top 5 reasons they are flying off the shelves :

1. Have You seen the "new" Rose-Gold Blonde Look everyone is clamoring for?.....Well
   
   Rose-Angel can create the look without having to even get your hair colored! You can play around with how dark or light you want it by how long you leave Boost & BURST on, then when you want it removed......just stop using them and use regular shampoo.........yep its that simple to take them out!
2. Making some of the many beautiful Pastel hair colors that are so popular - by washing with BOOST & then applying BURST and leaving in for 2-5-10 minutes depending completely on the look you desire. They have LOTS of pigment in them, so they are professional grade and this is how the pro's create the pastel that have been in affect for 20 years!
3. Breaking Bad BLUE is very popular for 2 completely different reasons....1) fights BLORANGE in brown or blonde hair....its always good to conquer the reason for the Blorange ( lightener has not been left on long enough or a too weak blonding product used for the darkness of hair), Remember the color opposing the the tone you want to eliminate is your goal. Blorange....so opposite orange is BLUE on the Color Wheel - therefore blue tinted products are excellent for eliminating that tonal category.
4. Silver Bullet is our # 1 Seller for many reasons.....YES it will tint Level 10-12 Blonde's = Silver. So you can achieve the new fashionable silver haired look and keep up the color fresh and new. For those of you with Silver hair ........you can really make it look true-shiny & silvery by using both Boost & BURST in Silver Bullet !
5. Killer Copper can be used as a filler ......if you are moving from a Blonde to a brunette or redhead. I'm sure you have heard the term "filler", I receive many calls asking about that product and process, well here is your answer in one step. Purchase Killer Copper in BURST, Run the Shampoo Train on your hair for a few times, apply the Malibu Color Correction packet, then apply BURST for 20 - 30 minutes. Rinse lightly - - getting the excess color out. Towel dry, then dry completely. . . Then Apply your Brunette Or Redhead Color, KOPPER returns the warmth of your hair in the hair strands without the use of developer and its very easy to do this way. Filling the hair is ALWAYS a 2 Step process.

Have BLORANGE? We have Breaking Bad Blue Shampoo & Conditioner, 

no longer is it just Violet no longer is it a shampoo only ! Both are 8ounces of Fun!

Change your mind use regular shampoo for a few days...! This is true Semi-Permanent hair color - FINALLY


Do you wish silver hair or rose colored hair purchase BURST the colored conditioner and apply after shampooing, play around with the processing time. They all have a lot of pigment in them, therefore, experiment at first.
FACEBOOK Review: by Summer: .............." I use the beach beige shampoo every day on my platinum hair and it looks awesomely beigey. Takes the yellow tones right out. Get this stuff! It washes out pretty quickly with regular shampoo"

These products are unlike any you have tried in the past..They are what are used for hair shows & photo shoots. KC has been making them custom like this for nearly 20 years.This makes them have more pigment than anything else you've ever tried, which means you need very little. When you first time them both start with a minute or 2 and work your way up....you can use gloves and with BURST we do include 1 pair.

KC prefers not to use gloves so keeps a bottle of kitchen cleaner with Bleach in the formula, squirts a shot of that, a shot of soap in her hands washes them & they are sparkling clean, which is another solution. You will always want the hair wet prior to applying either product & THEY CAN ALWAYS BE REMOVED BY USING THE SHAMPOO TRAIN procedure which you can Google!

Blue conquers those of you with Gold, Orange & Blorange undertones OR the real beauty of this is using it for artistic reasons. Such as you see in the photo on this page.... if you have an ombre as in the photo (the ends are blonde) apply to the ends leave on longer {everyone is different?}
Poof !
You have a blue hint to the blonde/hair........
Here are ways to make it darker:

• shampoo in - leave on longer
• leave on with plastic cap, the cap creates heat - the heat helps deposits MORE pigment into the strands
• Use shampoo & Conditioner
• Use every time you you shampoo
• Leave both on longer and use both every time ( be careful- go in small increments- don't worry its easy to get out)

Ways to make it lighter:

• leave it on less time
• Only use once a week using other shampoos during week
• Use lousy crappy Sulfate Shampoo - leave the shampoo on the hair for longer
• Use one of the Malibu 2000 Color Correction packets - works great !
• Do NOT use Vanish on this it is not needed nor does it work, Vanish only works on Oxidative hair color

 

Blue conquers those of you with Gold, Orange & Blorange undertones OR the real beauty of this is using it for artistic reasons. Such as you see in the photo on this page.... if you have an ombre as in the photo (the ends are blonde) apply to the ends leave on longer {everyone is different?}
Poof !
You have a blue hint to the blonde/hair........
Here are ways to make it darker:

• shampoo in - leave on longer
• leave on with plastic cap, the cap creates heat - the heat helps deposits MORE pigment into the strands
• Use shampoo & Conditioner
• Use every time you you shampoo
• Leave both on longer and use both every time ( be careful- go in small increments- don't worry its easy to get out)

For Blondes... I encourage you to chose Beige or violet if you are looking for a nice color.

• Violet - the most common choice, eliminates brass and keeps blondes from dipping back in to the 'brass, yellow or lighter golds'  pool til your next color. Remember to use a Toner when Coloring. This is for in between coloring or slight imperfections of blondes. Then if your hair is completely Blond you may also leave these on for  10-30 minutes and POOF you will have the new pastel hair color, the biggest thing in the hair color category in: 2015 !  So these can do both remember....... they can tone down those annoying 'undertones' that pop through (DURP) many times a couple weeks after you have colored . These have a deeper color than other tinted shampoos you have used. You control the amount of color deposited by the amount of time you leave the shampoo on, it's that easy!

I Welcome You To Become A Crib Colorist

My bio and background. . .

and "why you"

How to be a Crib (Home)HAIR COLORIST

This is being written for all of you for one reason or another must or want to color your hair at home. I’m going to try my damndest to skip all the bullshit & CUT TO THE CHASE in this endeavor.

Killer strands #1 goal is and always was the “CARE OF YOUR HAIR”, try to remember that is always the basis of all of my advice and teachings. Performing microscopic hair analysis on a daily basis for hair loss & damage incorporates looking at hairs magnified 1-200 times which I did for 2 years while studying Chemistry of Cosmetics, while re-couping from cancer treatments..... that alone has turned me into a freak about the HEALTH OF the haoir strands themselves, which is only good news for you.

Reason for CRIB COLORIST SCHOOL?

So many of you are having your hair destroyed, damaged, and turned ungodly shades of orange and yellow and green…all because of the BOXED Hair color Kits. In the level of hair coloring I was associated with ( Malibu & Hollywood) I was appalled that anyone would even think of using them – I mean -- why can’t everyone spend $100. – $200.-$300.00 on their hair monthly? Well, as hard as that is to admit…it is exactly what I thought, and I ask you to please accept my apologies and my regrets that I was like that. I can only learn and try to get back to being a decent person, and with this effort . . . I hope to make-up for that.

In my previous environments I just was not aware of the amount of people that must color their hair at home, for one reason or another…I now… fully understand and want to turn my thoughts, efforts and education to that segment of the Hair Universe. 

Being ridiculously over-trained for it, I have come to terms with that now, with my new predicament of being ill, its about all I can handle and it will be good for me and for YOU!

My Beginnings . . . My Education

There may be many different theories on hair color, I don’t know…I was taught by the best so I have never ever needed to look anywhere else. I attended Vidal Sassoon Academy for 1 full year, stayed on to assist the HEAD OF COLOR ( my mentor) for the following year to hone my skills as a colourist, which was worth every single minute! She is the best Colourist in the United States, I don't care what you read in the magazines. They are wrong, no one is as talented as her, for one thing I only like to work with "the best" in everything I do ....and I wouldn't have hung around for a year on my own if I didn't know she was the best.

England is the so-called “home” of hair color & hair for that matter…with Vidal Sassoon’s head colorist Annie Humphries being given the name the “Mother of All Hair Color” of the last 25 years that I know of. She has always set the “collections" developed the “trends”…made up new and innovative coloring techniques that we as “pupils” (wink-wink) would pick up - copy and spread throughout this country – she was a firecracker and damn what a talent. Everything I know and practice was passed down from her and I have worked directly under her on occasion.

So many of the techniques being done today, Annie was doing 20-30 years ago, now retired, she truly is and was the Grand Dame of hair color. After her, I looked to my mentor to follow and learn from, as she moved over to Paul Mitchell. I look to her to run with the crown for the next decade or two and with the USA trying to catch up, the need to reach across the pond has diminished.

 What I teach here, is what she taught , which is brilliant and it in turn earned her: Teacher of the YEAR - in Hair Colour…I don’t know how many times. So, although the education did not come from me….it is my interpretation and my slant on things after years on my own and with my personal artistic twist. Being extremely lucky in having some of the best teachers in the world -- I thank my lucky stars all the time.

This is my interpretation of a standard way that hair color works; it is chemistry, like “cooking “is. Certain ingredients perform certain actions… emulsifiers, ammonias, peroxides…they need to be used to perform certain actions period. Certain products have no grey….its black and white…its science although in order to come up various colours and new inventions we are taking all sorts of new liberties…The method I relay, is going to be as absolutely SIMPLE as possible.

Any questions at all I hope you will bring up immediately.  In order for you to understand which color you should buy when you go to the store you must learn some very simple basics. So,please try to have an open mind, hair color manufacturers ‘think’ the consumer won’t take the time to learn the “LEVELS” system. I disagree. I feel with a little education, demo's and a great website we can solve that.

Something you need to understand:
 Why Boxed Hair Color Does Not Work Correctly .. or
 How the Boxed Hair Color Manufacturers Set You Up To Fail. 

These are important lessons to learn not all of you use boxed color but it is still good reading ....everything I write here is aimed at giving you education that you need to help your hair...no we are not curing cancer...
But, we are shooting for having the healthiest most beautiful hair we can possibly have and that feeling alone , feels as good as curing cancer I'm told !

I have not found a woman alive that does not feel better when their hair is cut and colored beautifully, its a truly magical experience.

"Slices" are a different technique Than "Highlights" they Give a Different Result

This is an over-exaggerated Demo of "Slices" ( they are wider than they normally are) in order to show you the difference in how they lay and how the the look of them is completely different than Highlights.

I don't know if you can see it as well as I can but believe me they are completely different and when done thinly - well : "J. Anniston hair- here you come " 

6 foils . . . 2 Tubes of Color and some bleach

I even like the idea of just applying some  to one side.

That may seem a bit bizarre to some of you but if you
mix the partings up you can come up with many different looks

This is one method of applying Ribbons,
 there are a couple others . . .as well

I suppose some of you in remote parts of the country, could ask your hairstylist to apply this "to" you if you don't want to do it to yourself.

Which is hard even for me....although I have very weak arms, if you have strong arms you can do this. 

What is the main difference you see in RIBBONS and HIGHLIGHTS ?

Advantages?

The way the color lays

You can do any combo and don't have the problems of overlapping nearly as much as highlights.


I'm going to try to do another Demo, with thinner ones its just very difficult to pick up on a computer monitor so that is why you are seeing these I hope you can use your imagination to  picture if they were thinner with a softer blend of colors.

how beautiful it would come out !








 This photo on the bottom right really shows the result the best  and how it looks when they lay down..... 

Slices as opposed to Highlights are the way to go if you want a look with multiple colors like a child's hair.

KC

How To Formulate Hair Color on Virgin Hair.

Learning to formulate hair color can be a tricky slippery slope......there are so many 'exceptions to the rule'.......that its hard to remember any rules exist and if they do, why do we have them because of all the exceptions !

Plus it can be many weeks before a woman with VIRGIN hair walks through a Salon door in today's world, because even if they haven't experienced a Salon, nearly every person on earth has bought at least 1 box of hair color in their life time it seems. So you learn those rules but rarely use them because no one with virgin hair color ever sits in the chairs of stylists.

What I do want to do with this post is show you how you would formulate hair color on a person with virgin hair = for those of you out there that do have it and are considering coloring your hair for the first time. Let me tell you that if you have virgin hair........start off with the color we carry in our store on the best quality and will give you the best results you can get. Read this Blog get very prepared by being as educated as you can and I bet you will have wonderful results. I kno its scary, but thousands of people have learned right here the entire process and their results have been awesome.

look @ formulating from a Level 4B - VIRGIN COLOR

to a ..................................... Level 7N 

                                                                  LEVEL 7

                                            Level 4


 Lets just imagine you are a level 4 brown..... and want to be a level 7....blond.
The difference between the level you are at... and the level you want hypothetically be is 3 levels.....
if you use a level 7 color will you achieve the desired result?

You can really only learn to formulate the way we learned in Academy fr when you are working on VIRGIN hair. Which , of course means, NON-COLORED, in-touched color-wise - hair color. Which I have discovered that is nearly impossible to find any longer! 

Many Stylists and Crib colorists think that if they are a virgin Level 4 and want to end up as a Level 7, that they would use a Level 7 to get there which is not the case AT ALL.
You must use a color that accounts for the difference between your natural level and the level you want to be... 

Desired Level..............  7
Virgin Level................ - 4 
difference  =..................3

Add Desired Level........7 
                              +
Difference.....................3 
result :choose a level 10


A level 10 color is the correct choice....however using as level 10 which contains only pale yellow dyes, will not keep the orange in a level 7 from showing through. I would use a Level 10 Neutral/Ash/Matt.....in the line I use I have dozens of tones.....and that's why i like it.
You could use Wella Illumina in 10/69 and achieve everything you need to in combating the brass and golds

Lots of you are writing me and I am very pleased with how well some of you are absorbing the material......and asking me "proper" questions.

I guess this was a good idea.

Some are quoting the LEVELS like an old Pro - very refreshing to hear....know that it inspires me and moves me that you are interested enough to try to learn this - - - its not easy -- I take that back.....it IS EASY; its just very 'foreign' to most......and has never been done out in "public" before.

so Thank you...

I hope to keep going, get better and for sure > more organized.

KC

My Hair Color is Not Working, I have Tried Many Stylists & Still I Am So Disappointed, Please, What Do I do?

This week has been so odd, I am telling you I have had this same exact question asked of me by many-many people - its so weird -- its this EXACT - word for word -- same QUESTION ! ! ! 
 To be honest I thought I have addressed this question many times, but this tells me I have not addressed it clearly enough. So, I am going to give you my exact answer to all OF YOU THAT SEEM TO BE IN THIS PREDICAMENT....because it pertains to soooooo many of you. This is what I have advised many before you and they all have been please with the suggestion.

Sassoon has a very brilliant and logical way of looking at hair color. They don't believe in highlights on top of highlights.......it is just a cheap and damaging way of coloring the hair. If you want to be blonde, that's fine, but lets do 1 color blonde and make it with Zero brass and do it in a healthy and beautiful way . 

They believe in Blonde like this :

or Platinum blonde - then you can play with the Crazy Colors and BOOST & BURST  Till your hearts content.  ! ! !






I am going to be dead honest here and tell you, that Stylists do the whole highlight thing because that way they can charge you their top price. I call ''Bullshit'' on that once and for all.

 Its lazy and its not thinking about you and your hair ...its thinking about them and their pocketbook. If they gave you color like I suggest......... you would become a devoted client and send all of your friends to them and then they wouldn't have to put "money" before "beauty & health & the CLIENT". Which is ridiculous. 

I want to Post a copy of a couple Letters that have bits and pieces from about 6 emails I have received with some version of the same question that you see in the Title of this Post, and then my answer to it :

Dear KC,
I have read bits and pieces of your Blog..... but I just cannot figure out what to do. Can you please try to help me or at least point me in the right direction.

I have always been a natural blonde.  As I am getting older, my base color has become darker, but it is still blonde (not brown).  I call it "mousy" probably what people refer to as "dirty blonde".  I am getting some gray, maybe 5% - 10%.    I highlight my hair.  I'd like to cover the gray, but that does not seem to work well with highlights. I want the color consistent.  I do not want blonde on top and dark underneath.

I have become so disappointed in my hair color.  Everyone wants to make the base or the low-lights very dark.  With the blond highlights, it makes my hair appear oily, even when it is clean and shiny.  I also get a striped or "muddy" look.  I feel like I have tiger stripes and there are weeks it even looks gray.

I want my hair color to look natural.  I don't want to have to deal with grow-out within weeks of service it doesn't seem like I should have to when my gray is not very much.  The mousy color drains my complexion.  My current highlights are very warm.  It looked great for about two weeks.  Now, it makes the mousy base look gray, even though it is not!  The gold highlights and the mousy base just don't work together.

What is the answer?  Should I skip highlights?  Should I try to get back to my natural color and just learn to live with it?  If so, how do I do it?  Is there a way to highlight that can brighten my hair color and help my complexion without the muddy look and the tiger stripes?

I am lucky enough not to have a lot of gray, but this hair color is still making me look and feel old!  I need some advice. If you have any stylist recommendations, I am ready for a change.

BTW, I have always gone to a high-end salon and an experienced stylist.  I have tried new stylists and have even PAID for a consultation first.  I have communicated what I want and why, but still end up with questionable results.   

I spend too much money on my hair to not be looking good!  I welcome your advice and suggestions.
 
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _  _

To everyone with this problem or if you feel any of these many different feelings going on in this letter....
PLEASE PLEASE..............I ask you to take control of your hair back to yourself. You have given control of your hair over to other people and that is not how it should work. Its your hair and you are spending money asking other people to color it FOR YOU!!! 
NOT FOR THEM
Which is what they are doing . They are choosing the selection on the menu of color services that has the highest price tag. Look at the list in the Salon if you don't believe me. Look at their web site. 
They are not listening to you. 
If you went to a restaurant and ordered a Salad and they gave you Filet Mignon Steak, would you keep it? Wouldn't you put up a fuss and get what you ordered>? Well, to me, that is exactly what is happening here. They chose the most expensive choice on the menu to give and charge you for, but that isn't what you wanted to begin with. You wanted a pretty- healthy- lower priced Salad and you got and ate & paid for a Filet Mignon Steak. You would never put up with that at a restaurant and I'm sure you are all paying way more for your hair than a salad and a steak is. 
TAKE CONTROL OF YOUR HAIR BACK.
I'm serious, first you must start thinking about how these Stylists or the Boxed Color or the color you bought at Sallys all destroyed your hair....in the first place. THAT is a horrible - horrible Act. Most of you treasure your hair unlike any other body part you have......WE LOVE OUR HAIR and when our hair is cut & colored perfectly --- THAT CAN CHANGE OUR ATTITUDE, OUR HAPPINESS and our ENTIRE WEEK, if it is done how we like it.
To me...........
THAT is a very P-O-W-E-R-F-U-L item
don't you agree?
 It should be treasured and cherished and cared for in the manner to which it deserves. 

So, you must take control back of your hair and get it out of their hands. I ask you to please take a weekend and read my Blog - cover to cover. You will understand so much more if you do this. 5000 people every day do, so I think you should to!  I always get Thank you's when people finish doing that one thing.
Secondly, you must change the ideas in your head of words you used to hear like highlights and chunks and lowlights.... NO ONE does those anymore...........so get rid of that idea.
 In 2008 I wrote a Post entitled
HIGHLIGHTS ARE HISTORY 
2 years later guess who copied me??  ( see below)

 Vogue magazine !
below ( Google can find anything for you now-a-days) The funny part is ''Google'' the term "highlights are history"....Killerstrands pops up in about 10 cases !!!

I wrote it way back then because I was trying to teach the Sassoon way of coming up with hair color choices for women and men. It really is brilliant, I've never seen a head of hair come out of Sassoon that wasn't an absolute WORK OF ART. Sassoon educated Stylists are all over this world. I would say 95-98% of all Sassoon graduated Stylists are the absolute best in the business.....so I wanted to teach all of my readers their concepts....

 
So here we are in 2015 and people are still getting highlights.
Its just something we don't do anymore so you have to quit.
If you can't find someone to do your hair  the way you want - you can now learn here. Its really not that hard. All the information and demo's are here on this 9 year old Blog to Help you............. that is why I wrote this....to HELP PEOPLE get their hair straightened out. I live in L.A. I though everyone had access to great hair color....Not until I began this Blog and received so many emails from people looking for help did I decide to "open up my Vault of Knowledge " and teach everything to all of you. A lot of it is in the Blog, which is why I want you all to read it!

If you don't want to do one of the blondes above then ....
My #1 and favorite suggestion is for you to go back to a Beautiful and (my favorite color in the world) Level 6 Ash/Neutral Brown...........

Nothing is more beautiful......
So many of you have Level 6 Brown.....
I"m telling you either of the blondes above or this color
Although this is My #1 suggestion for all of you........ to go back to a level 6 Brown

 Yes, this one has a few blonde ombre ribbons, which if you want to lighten a little bit in the summer time this is what you can do then cover them up in the winter...

Its easy to do to oneself or you can find a stylist to do those in your area.....

Aren't they beautiful....they are all California models, so yes they are beautiful but I wanted to show you the color of their hair and to show you that so many of you have this color underneath....


Think about it..........consider it........

Its a beautiful alternative I promise

But for ABSOLUTELY positive ................never eat a steak when you ordered a Salad again! ! ! ! !

Stick up for yourself, do not go to someone who won't listen to you.... I have taught you how to find a good stylist within the Blog....
I don't want to review every single Post here....which is why I ask you to please--- READ THE WHOLE BLOG, it will help you gain back control of your own hair ! ! 

Whether you do it yourself or you find a decent and well trained Stylists who will listen to what you want.

I promise that through this Blog I have taught many people who were terrified of coloring their own hair and when done they have all said, " Well, that wasn't that hard". 

So There you have it.

KC