Clear The Hair : Killer Chemist is Back

Some Yummy Texture to whet the appetite
I added a post this week that I think was largely missed -- it was shoved in 2 days ago. . .in between a couple days.
Be sure to check it out, Level 4 hair swatches are taken through the ringer

Peroxide -- Friend or Foe ?

Now that I have helped befriend our dear darling Peroxide, the inquisition continues. I went looking through my old notebook for the calculations on how to make different Volumes of peroxide for your Color Room out of 130 Volume .I forgot to mention even worse than my writing? My math. Boy, I rarely mention my main faults so early in the game but they are necessary here. I will give you what it says and you all can take it from there. Tho - I'd like a volunteer to field questions about the calculations - please sign up in the Comments section below. (my kids are just like me its a disease math-i-tis I think they call it). 


In addition, I'd like to fill in with what else I can about Hydrogen Peroxide to help you all warm up even more to the little bugger. There are many chemicals just like this little one, which is a terrific project that needs to be rescued by the big MFG. companies, I get my hopes up that big companies like P & G (whom actually I would love to work for > altho only on the "Green" side) might have researchers scoping the net trying to figure out the future of Hair.

Its easy, its possible and it can be done at reasonable prices. I swear to you I am just not too sure why it is not done now. What is better than a completely happy customer with Killer hair color. The way it is now the only reason people use those damn boxed color kits is because they are afraid to calculate the hair color themselves. I don't believe "fear-driven" success is near as prosperous as "confidant & successful" driven success

There was an instance I bet when I mentioned "chemicals" that blew that fear of "Word Phobia" through your bones, am I right? Be honest - people hear "chemicals" and think; bad - horrible - get them away from me thoughts, when in fact so much of what we need, we require and what we actually want are chemicals in our daily life. Of course there are "bad ones" and "good ones" and there are bad 'amounts' of them and good 'amounts' - that is the fine line that must be maneuvered

Chemicals are all around us, always, and always have been. We are made of chemicals, indeed chemicals R Us. The plants we eat are also full of chemicals. But how does the body deal with these chemicals and what do they do to us?

The chemical industry has been able to make the stunning revelation that everything is made of chemicals! Chemicals are in fact perfectly natural substances and we really need to do more research before throwing them out . Apparently thousands of the so-called 'natural' products of the earth are laced with nasty toxic substances, of which, of course, we were all unaware until this startling discovery was made known to human kind chemicals are not only man made and not all of the chemicals made by man are dangerous and not all of the chemicals found naturally are safe. Some people will say that there must be a difference between things made by chemists in laboratories and things found in nature? It is true, there are differences, natural chemicals are often more complex and chemists find some very difficult to make! For example DNA and proteins are extremely complex. But surely man made chemicals must be more poisonous? Not necessarily true. We won't go into the entire discussion here. I just needed to point out - what I stumbled upon when I began my dive into Cosmetic Chemistry. Being a Vegan and a natural food buff for my entire life (yep californians are weird!) it was a very unusual revelation to come to terms with. So just know I watch out for every single healthy avenue for hair - I truly do, I doubt you will ever encounter a hair stylist more in tune with the "natural" "organic" and "healthy" avenues than me, except for maybe those that don't believe in hair color at all. I also live under the umbrella of " life cannot be all that serious" - we must have some fun, because life is short - play hard.











Again: H2 O is Water: a chemical- bad? I think not. Necessary? Very. When the Developer begins working with your hair color it starts out with 2 atoms of hydrogen and 2 of oxygen as soon as it is combined with the hair color 1 of the oxygen molecules is given off and the product is down to what? H2 O! Water. And that is bad? See how things get out of whack? Peroxide is your friend, it really is.

Hydrogen Peroxide is the OXIDIZER of permanent haircolor-ing, providing the Oxygen for

• lightening of natural pigment and for the


• development of artificial pigment.

Those 2 lines say it all, but those are 2 jam packed lines. Read them over a couple times as this will put your mind in the right frame to continue on.

The percentage of lift in any color is directly related to its ammonia content ( remember many stylists will quote "ammonia content" as a bad thing), in the Killerstrands world I: look for LIFT. Lift means lightening - plain and simple - if you don't want to lighten hair, do something else....most decent Colorists are looking to lighten hair...we want more ways to lighten hair....we want more conditioning ways of lightening hair. Don't people want to be blond?.... have blond ribbons, blond pirouettes, or blond under color blocks?? Lightening is the most common coloring technique in the biz... Every single time a new lightening product is developed it is greeted with a very warm reception by 10's of thousands of hair stylists so ammonia content is a very necessary product.

Blondes are very very popular, whether in 1 Color 'all-over-blond' or blond placed in very creative ribbons in a dynamic head of brown. If you can attain the lightening, then you can control it -- or tone it, is my theory. I want as much lift as they can give me, let "me" control the amount I use and where I use it. Maybe they don't because of all the mis-information going on around, but come on... that problem is easily solved. The biggest complaint category of hair color is

• "too brassy"


• "too orange"


• "too yellow"


• "too gold"

....have you all learned this one yet? What would be the reason for these 4 complaints?

Not enough lift - if you have those 4 problems then you have taken the bleach off TOO SOON

So having more lift, while remaining more conditioning & moisturizing has finally hit the manufacturers.Try replacing your conditioner with a SOMA Spray In Dry Conditioner. Conditioners are heavy and hold down the hair, a spray in makes it less heavy, leaving it with more volume! We sell this on our website, check it out!

The 'way' that shampoos work, must be understood.........not simple

Remember me rambling on about SLS shampoos - I did for weeks on end...??? Remember? Sulfate-free shampoos....? ? ? ? Which by the way> every single company on the market has one in production. Well, the one and only reason I have the confidence to make that claim is because I do understand "how" the shampoo works ...how each surfactant works and "how" each ingredient works. I have watched and breathed SLS and seen the damage it can do to a strand of hair...but Technicians do not have that advantage. What they do have is a company telling them whats in each of the shampoos, etc, and hopefully going on their advice. Its a wonderful library of information to have and I Love the fact that I was afforded the time to study all the chemicals and ingredients and know what they are and "why"!

...so I know what everything is now when I look at it...THRIVEN will blow the socks off it - on 86% of the candidates.. So let's hope you are one of those chosen few where the stars meet the sky.


This industry should be setting the trends not lagging on them.The way the industry is now, Hair Color products are antiquated - archaic almost.. Hair color is a tremendously booming business - 2 $ billion a year is a very conservative estimate and the more tools the better for every Colorist: whether it be a Crib Colorist or Pro.





Why not put more tools in the hands of Home Hair Colorists? What's the big secret? There is plenty of hair color that needs to go around... why is there not a level of Pro Hair Color available for the women at home that don't live in LA or NY that desire the quality of hair seen on every magazine cover? There is plenty for the Salon Colorist, which is not available to CRIB COLORISTS - why not? There is so much room for growth - expansion and this subject needs to be talked about and discussed openly so that the women of America are able to achieve decent hair color in their own homes. For the many women that cannot afford or do not live near the high dollar hair salons...they are stuck using hair color products that are a much lower quality than the hair color if they go to Cosmetology School. Do you realize that there are lines of hair color that I may get in trouble for selling to the public - which I cannot figure out "why"?? Anyone care to address this subject with and for me...
How can it be against the law to sell 'certain' hair color?

To certain people?

Then all the hair color in Sally's need to be against the law to sell to the American people....which "brand" is OK? and which one isn't? more importantly - WHY???

Who sets those standards? There aren't any sort of laws.....or rules....or ???? Why can I not sell hair color that I have legally bought, to another person that would like to buy it ?? Because that person has not gone to Cosmetology School, what book is that a law in? That is the most bizarre restriction - ever . I looked in Sally's and the exact same thing is printed on a box of hair color in Sally's that is printed on a box of hair color from a professional company. BOTH of those companies are owned by the same larger company.....that larger company?
P & G. Proctor and Gamble. CLAIROL & WELLA
BOTH OWNED ULTIMATELY - - BY P & G
I'm not done reviewing : ammonia and peroxide so please put that subject in the "hold" category. I ran a whole new demo for Readers to show you what bleach with ammonia and bleach without ammonia did to Level 4 hair.....so stand by.

Blonde Icing Blitz - Off-The-Scalp-Bleach Test

New Professional Blonde Icing (Bleach) Test


Silver Jar - Ammonia w/ bleach Gold Jar -- No Ammonia
Goal: Observe strength of Bleach with & without Ammonia on Level 4 hair strips


1) Apply bleach to Level 4 strips in foil and set timers



















Test one strip with MAGMA Colored Bleach by WELLA : Bleach & Tone in 1 step

Best part? -- it works -

Limitations? Color selection

Koleston Perfect 55RV - Ego

Very difficult to see - I know - the darker the hair the less you see in photos - in person it looked great.
Same color as above notice 55 RVR - RUBY...only in demi permanent. I actually was surprized at how great this color took. For Demi-permanent it was pretty darn close to sister swatch



This test strip was one I really hoped you would be able to see better, a lot of readers have asked about lightening "Level 2 thru Level 5 hair".
This is Level 4 with 12 ASH + 40V = a very nice and warm - Level 7 Hair.




Here are the bleach swatches . . . Check out the Level 4 > lightened 60 minutes

swaches . . . . .




The rest of the swatches.
no toner has been used --
this was a childs hair,
I always believe a childs hair is when your hair will be the best...

What is very apparent here is this . . .

there seems to be absolutely no difference in the bleach "with" ammonia or the Bleach "without" ammonia
?? What does that tell me?? It tells me that "ammonia" is just the "word" of the moment....all the color that is labeled "without ammonia".....
Why?
What does everyone know about ammonia?
what I know - makes me want it -
When I want to lighten hair I want ammonia
so I can get the hair to the proper Level it needs to be, otherwise it will only get to the "orange-gold-yellow" stage, which is what happens when you don't use professional color.

Do you know that is the one big difference in the hair color that you can purchase at Sally's versus the professional color I make available to you ?
the ammonia content.
When you mix professional color the "light" colors pack a punch, when the product is poured into the bowl then the developer is added - the aroma is semi powerful...personally I love it. Some don't - its like that paint smell I guess.
I know something good is going to happen - so I enjoy it...
the sign of a true Hair Colorist!

The Powerful Pirouette Rages On: 1 Hair Color Technique Covers All

Rose Beige Toner

No Toner - Just Bleach

See the STAR SHAPE? Just one small shape of a star creates this look . . . which can be changed - altered - re-colored

On each point was added a different crazy color - Pinkissimo on one point Tangerine on the next.







AS it washes out the colors change....It can even be make a silver or darker brown for a more elegant affect.

All in all a very versatile manner of coloring the hair and it works with all lengths of hair

The White Stuff - is - The Right Stuff ~ Permanent Haircolor ~ the Conclusion

H2 O2 Hydrogen Peroxide's effect on Permanent Hair Color

+ Deposit and Lift = exactly what that means


OK with every boxed hair color kit, with every hair color you have ever performed there has been this white stuff you mix with the hair color. People have talked about it for years: peroxide. . ."peroxide blonds" like peroxide is a "big-bad-mean" liquid. Again we are back to one of those word phobias. People hear a word like 'preservatives' like 'bleach', 'ammonia' and now 'peroxide' and through a process similar to that game Telephone when one person hears one word promptly gets discombobulated through the process of time, laziness, misinterpretation. The original story gets twisted & completely out of whack and the truth is the farthest thing from what is popularly known about the original word. That is what happens to these technical terms and they never get cleared up.



I feel the big hair product manufacturers like to keep you (the public) in the dark, fear keeps you in line. You listen to their commercials & ads if you don't know the truth, and buy what they tell you to. Many don't understand the hair color process so the only way to safely go about it is by either purchasing those Boxed Kits with "everything-you-need" in them (including directions) or go to the Salon, 'they' have to know what they are doing they have a license. From the emails and polls I have taken the percentage of quality hairstylists out there does not even sit at 50% which adds to my reasons to clarify the Home Hair coloring process for you.



 
 A developer is an oxidizing agent that when mixed with an oxidative haircolor, supplies the necessary oxygen gas to develop color molecules and create a change in hair color. Developers, also called oxidizing agents or catalysts have a pH between 2.5 and 4.5. Hydrogen peroxide is the one used in haircolor.


Hydrogen Peroxide is the oxidizer of permanent haircolor, providing the oxygen for lightening of natural pigment and for the development of artificial pigment. It is the hydrogen peroxide in permanent hair coloring -- not the ammonia that causes the oxidative hair damage, although with the new ammonia's and how they rinse thoroughly out of the hair, even that has been kept to a minimum.






The chemical "shorthand" for hydrogen peroxide, H2O2 means "2 Hydrogen atoms and 2 oxygen atoms. Remember H2 O is water, so there is just 1 more molecule of O Oxygen in Peroxide - think about that. Look how close it is to water, how could it really be that bad? Its not, remember your body MAKES hydrogen peroxide...I don't want to take the time here, for any doubters Google: hydrogen peroxide, put your mind at ease. On the contrary, wait till you see all the wonderful uses for hydrogen peroxide, it will blow your socks off.


Higher volumes of hydrogen peroxide provide more oxygen for more extended lightening

.Higher volumes: create more lift & less deposit


Lower volumes: less lift and greater deposit



Any where from 15 - 20 Volume will get you the best gray coverage, one of the trickier formula's to come up with. Remember gray hair is hair with no pigment, so you are not trying to "Lift" any color out, are you? There isn't any color to lift. What you are trying to do is to deposit color to cover that pigment-free (gray) hair. One of the tricks of covering Gray is using the proper developer, many stylists don't know the 15-20 V > Gray coverage trick, I want all of you to be able to figure out how to cover gray hair...its not that hard but its one of the arrows in my quiver... a very tight-kept secret, that I look forward to sharing with you.

The higher the percentage of oxygen in peroxide, the more lift you can achieve. Why would lift be important? The more of the virgin color "lifted" out of the hair shaft the more the new color can be deposited. One color must be removed (lifted) in order for there to be room for the "new" color. As Oxidation occurs, LIFT begins, which is removal of the natural pigment (melanin) in the hair. DEPOSIT ALSO BEGINS. ***at the same time**** - a point I feel needs to be fully understood about permanent hair color, no other color works this way, this distinguishes this particular segment of haircolor from every other. If you can grasp this concept it 'should' make the theory of permanent hair color sink in and hopefully you will have one of those 'a ha' moments. If you don't I honestly want to hear from you at the bottom of this post. PLEASE! I want you all,every last one of you to understand this, leave me a little note in the comments section with a question. There is no 'dumb' question............NONE - ZIP - ZERO


Deposit is a process in which the color molecules lock together to form new color pigment combinations in the hair. The tiny size of the dye precursors before oxidation enables them to pass easily into the cortex of the hair, penetrating it fully. As the color processes, the tiny dye molecules change structure, coupling up to form big, colored molecules. These newly created dye molecules, now too big to leave the way they came in, affix themselves to the keratin chains in the hair. POOF - your hair has become colored just because the little buggers could not escape~!



The LIFT and DEPOSIT occur at the same time in this "permanent" Haircolor procedure. That is a point I have needed to make for several months now in writing some of my posts. Its a bit difficult to fully swallow at first, but such is the magic of chemistry I have come to find out.


Shortly after the cream which holds the dye is combined with the peroxide .....dye molecules begin developing - - - rearranging into bigger, complex, colored molecules. Which leads me to a point that I want you all to understand.The "lifetime" of hair color is narrow, or at least where the hair color's "sweet spot" is, which begins ticking away about 10 minutes after the colorant is mixed with the developer. You want to apply that formula just as fast and efficiently as possible to get the best use of it. Be all ready to go, no dawdling. Seriously


Many stylists mistakenly think it is the peroxide that causes the cuticle to open...which would be wrong...the peroxide acts as a buffer for the ammonia in color. Its pH is actually 2.5 to 4.5 . Only when it is released through oxidation does it begin to eliminate pigment.


Peroxide + Ammonia = Lift & Development of Color


In Permanent haircolor the substances you mix together will not "look" like the color you hope to achieve. This is the only category, because of the "oxidation".


During Coloring, the peroxide is converted to water and oxygen

• Water drives the pigment into the hair
• Oxygen develops pigments

Once they're developed, the pigments enlarge and become trapped inside the hair shaft. Compare it to a mini hydrogen bomb going off in each reaction, causing the intermediates to fuse together. THAT equals permanent hair color





It is the oxidation process that removes( lifts) melanin. it also DEPOSITS color. The colorless intermediates combine to form a compound, which makes the color.


Lift and Deposit Occur at the same time. Lift occurs at a more accelerated pace immediately after application, whereas deposit accelerates toward the end


The timing of the process is essential with the LEVEL SYSTEM.

If the product is removed too early, there will not be enough deposit. If the application is slow, the effectiveness of the lift is impaired, so be prepared and work quickly.

The final result of single-process tint is the total of the hair's natural pigment combined with the products color molecules. With the LEVEL SYSTEM use of refined pigments and base ingredients,the result is shiny healthy looking hair.

We must learn that the word Peroxide, or Developer are not 'bad' words, if we didn't have this marriage of ingredients, our hair would be so very very boring ! !