Musings by the Hairslave

I’ve written about some of my favorite products in the past.  So I thought maybe I’d focus a bit with some of my favorite TIGI products.

Our best selling TIGI product just happens to be one of the products I use pretty much every day in the salon.  In the Bedhead line, Afterparty is one of the best finishing creams I’ve worked with.  It’s a light, and slightly opalescent cream.  A very small amount, worked through dry (or damp) hair to finish, creates a shiny, smooth, and moveable head of hair!

Switching to the CATWALK line, I next recommend Root Boost.  It’s a surprisingly light feeling foam, with a delivery system that puts the product right where you need it.  The roots!  Hence the name.  Spray the product freely at your roots, comb through to the ends, and style with a round brush.  You will be well pleased by the lift, volume, and light hold.  Finish with Masterpiece hairspray from the Bedhead line for a super hold and maximum shine.  This spray is also perfect for finished styles and up-do’s; giving a brilliant polish to the finished look that is fabulous under lights and in photos.

Going back to the original Bedhead product, I can’t recommend, highly enough, the Bedhead stick.  This take no prisoners wax stick is perfect for maximum hold (think spiky do’s and mohawks), and rock and roll shine.  Applied to dry hair like you’d use a glue stick, this product stays pliable, which is great for an always perfect disheveled look.

Without a doubt, the best complete Beadhead line that I push, is the Superstar line.  With a really nice shampoo and conditioner, my best selling spray conditioner (never ways down even the finest of hair), a spray thickener, Queen For a Day, and the best blow dry thickening lotion on the market.  These products leave the hair in a very nice condition, and never weigh the hair down.  Even hair the texture of fine silk.

In addition to all of these terrific products, I’ll give a nod to the Dumb Blonde shampoo and conditioner.  Great for dry, over-processed, bleached, and highlighted hair.

I’m continually impressed by this product line, by the way.  Whenever I’ve decided to take a chance on one of their products, I’ve been pleasantly surprised to find they really work.  Take the word of a busy stylist who doesn’t have the time most days to re-wash and style a clients hair when I have a product failure!

And one more point I’d like to make.  Yes, those products you see in the store are probably the same price as mine, they probably aren’t bad, or dangerous.  But remember, the products I sell contribute to the ambiance of Cobalt Salon & Gallery.  My renters pay the rent.  I live off of my wages, and product sales go to upkeep.  So if you’re going to spend your hard earned money, ask my opinion to get the correct product, buy it from me for the same price, and be sure that you get the best haircare, in beautiful, and well maintained surroundings.

“My job is to make hair fantasies into hair styles.”   -David Martin

It’s been way too long since I’ve written!  So much has happened, it’s been like a whirlwind!

This year I actually got paid to work my dream job!  I didn’t see it at first, but during my second year working back stage at the West Coast Spring and Style Show, in beautiful down town San Jose (some dreams are smaller than others :-) ), I realized that ever since I went to my first hair show, waaay back in 1987, I had dreamed of being a color educator and working a hair show!

It was such a long shot in my mind, that when I eased my way in, I didn’t see that I had arrived.  I mean, it doesn’t pay much.  Honestly, I don’t do it for the money.  I do it for the ego boost.  I love teaching in salons, but doing the show is a whole nuther level.  I get to do things I couldn’t really do in the salon, and I get to show off my work to my peers in a way I never could without a company backing me.  It’s quite an honor in many ways.

This year I was handed quite the job.  During the morning triage backstage, I was asked to remove 6 inches of a blackish color from the last 6 inches of one of the model’s hair, brassy dark blonde from about 4 inches in the middle, and balance these two decolorized sections with the 2 inches of natural regrowth, all of this on extremely thick (albeit fine) hair past the shoulder.  As soon as I sat her down I warned her that we had an 8 hour job ahead of us.  I wasn’t joking, I am extremely accurate at scheduling.  I was, however, wrong.  It was nine hours.  It was nine hours, and I had a partner.  It was nine hours, occasionally with a partner, and often an assistant!  It was a challenge I relished.  Relished, I tell you!  Too much?  Well I’m still a little euphoric. But honestly, have you ever actually used that word about your job?  Relished?  I hope so, otherwise most of your life is harder than it should be.  This was a chance to do something that I had only ever done in theory.  I’ve used doll heads, I’ve run it through in my head a million different ways, I’ve done 3-5 hour color corrections, but this is an opportunity that I may never get again.  As soon as they said what they wanted I thought, “oh shit, I can’t do that!  What if I totally f it up in front of some of the top talent in the hair industry?”  I’ve got one of the smallest egos in my field.  I don’t like to feel foolish.  I had two whole seconds of scared sh&tless, and then I used a trick I learned a few years back.  I thought, “I don’t have a choice, I am really good at what I do, and this is simply a self destructive reaction of fear”.  And then I did my job.  It was awesome.  I learned more in those nine hours than I’ve learned in the last five years.

A very bad camera phone picture of a bad picture. :'-(

Sorry the picture sucks, my phone was the only f&^%ing camera I took! Smile Samantha!

At hour four I had decided I was going home at the end of the day.  The models were all tiny, we stand on concrete all day, and my back was killing me.  I was as close to exhaustion as I’ve ever been.  But somewhere around hour 6, I realized I was having a ball.  By 5:45 that evening (they turn the lights off in the windowless convention hall at 6, on the dot), we had her shampooed and heading home, soaking wet.  That means, that after nine hours of work, we had no idea what the color would actually be when she showed the next morning.

At this point I wasn’t planning to leave, my pride is much stronger than that, and I couldn’t leave without seeing the results, but I wasn’t coming back next year.

When the model showed up at 7 the next morning, with the most amazingly perfect “boosted” natural red that I have ever had the pleasure to produce, I realized I would be back next year, and as many more as my poor body could take.  The rest of the show consists of producing the runway shows.  That’s easy.

You have no idea how hard it is to be a model. Who would sit in a hard plastic chair for 6-9 hours having their scalp tortured for $250.00?

For the color geeks out there, I reveal the formula. I have to state right off the bat, that Betty Mayes is the most talented colorist I’ve ever come across, and she did all of the actual formulation decisions (with my consulting).  I did the first 4 hours of bleaching; Betty relieved me for a short time while I did a blow-dry. She did a little more bleaching, and then she and I both filled, and applied the final glaze.  It was a four person application at the end!

Step one, bleach:  decolorizing the ends, which were a faded level 2/3, very ashy and muddy colored, was our priority!  I applied ISO Active Lift, and 40 volume developer to the ends, twice.  While the second application on the ends processed, I applied Active Lift with 30 volume developer to the mid-shaft.  When the two were at a level 8, we applied to the scalp.  This was applied in stages.  It lifted quickly at the re-growth, and we were shooting for a 7 level red, so we didn’t want it too light or cool, ideally not past a level 8.

Step two, fill:  after shampooing and conditioning with strengthening conditioner (in our case it was ISO Color Care Shampoo and Conditioner) we applied a filler consisting of Zero Lift developer, 7cc, and less than a ribbon inch of ING.  The ING was added for a little more gold.  Yellow (gold) is a larger molecule, so it gives red (a much smaller molecule) something larger to “hold” to.  A very useful tip from Betty.

This processed for 20 minutes, and was then shampooed, and again conditioned.

Step three, glaze:  after a rough dry, we applied a level 7cr, with 20 volume developer (I might have used 10, or possibly a demi on my own, but Betty thought 20 plus ammonia would give it more of a boost), again applied scalp to ends, and processed for 35 minutes.  We wanted to do 45 minutes, but literally ran out of time.

Step four, pray:  since she left wet, we really had no idea what we’d see in the morning.  We hit the jackpot.  It was absolutely, precisely, what we/I had hoped for.  Evenly colored throughout the bulk and length of the hour, which meant they could cut it any way they wanted on stage without fear of hitting a dark or muddy spot!  The artists have reputations to uphold, after all.

Actually Step four might have been:  if it was “streaky”, “splotchy”, or “muddy”, all very technical terms, we would have added a glaze, probably slightly darker to even any rough patches, or a brighter red if it was to dull or muddy. This would almost surely have been done with a demi, in our case ISO illuminate.

Is there any wonder I always tell anyone who will listen how much I love my job?

You actually can go back, but it takes some determination.  I’ve done it, but it took me days to really deal with it properly.  The angst, the sorrow, the frustration.  Wait!  You know I mean color right?!  

I touched on this briefly in an earlier post, but if you’ve made the mistake of tinting your hair black, either with what was supposed to be a “temporary” color (guess what, if you read the fine print you’ll see where it says that any color very much darker than your natural, will NOT come out), or because you thought that Kelly Osborn black would work for you, or maybe you have a client who has made that horrible mistake, this might help.

I had a client ask me to change her black (oops, the Halloween costume wasn’t really worth that kind of committment!) back to her medium neutral blonde shade (she didn’t want highlights to make matters worse).  I tried on day one, and after 5 hours of work got very frustrated with the muddy light brown we’d achieved.  I bought the same color she used, went home and attacked one of my doll heads.  After two days of work I came up with a sure fire formula.  Three more hours of work in the salon and she was very happy indeed.

As always, this is for a highly trained specialist.  A lay-person will only make matters worse!  Find yourself a stylist you trust and have them read this first if they’re willing.

This is the doll head after two days of color correction experimentation.

This procedure can be done over several days, but if you are careful you can do it in one.  Start early, and make sure you/your client understands the risk of any color correction procedure.  There is absolutely no guarantees with this type of procedure.

Start with one, two, or even three applications of a non-bleach based color remover  such as Rusk or Pravana color remover.  Lift as much of the black stain as you can following manufacture directions.  I have used Rusk and Pravana color removers with very good results.  After two or three applications you should get to a fairly nice medium to light blonde, depending on where the color started from before the application of black.  Don’t tone!  Any application of developer at this point will instantly darken the hair shaft!

At this point mix up a mixture of 5 volume and bleach, this should be very quickly applied scalp to ends.  Process until color is at the level desired.  If you are starting very near your chosen level, lift just slightly.  This process helps remove color molecules that may still be lodged in the hair shaft.  These color molecules can expand and darken (or muddy) the color when a toner is applied.  I have found this to be the most crucial step.  Don’t skip it, I guarantee you’ll be sorry!  Have I stressed this enough?

Next you can either add foils to boost to a cooler or lighter blonde, or you can tone with a neutral blonde semi- or demi-permanent color product to reach the perfect tone.  Avoid permanent or ashy products.  Always shoot for a shade lighter (remember, you can always go darker with following glazes).

This technique works particularly well taking black to a red tone, but it can work just as well for golden, and even neutral blonde.

Good luck!

Another one of those posts that may or may not be of interest to the general public.  I decided to take on the challenge of taking a very light blonde hair color to a knock-out red. This technique is completely mine, no tutorial from any other color specialist was used (although it was inspired by the teachings of the legendary Beth Minardi)!

I started with a doll head that I had cut into a modified mullet, believe it or not!  The cut is from the TIGI Glastonbury Glamour collection.  The color technique took about 3 hours to complete (including blow-out, but not cut), and consisted of three glazes of verying intensities of reds.  This is a very technical color and should not be attempted by someone without many years of color experience.  Once again, I warn any lay-people out there reading: it will cost you more to have this fixed, than to pay a color expert in the first place. I do not recommend attempting this with a supermarket/drug store color! Be warned!  

P.S. I’d love to find a live model who would go for this kind of change in photos!

Tutorial at end of post.  

Just for a reference point, this is the doll head used for a Fantasy Wedding concept, with origional color. The black bang extension was removable.

This is the final color (none of these photos has been color edited, by the way, the color is actually quite a bit bolder in person).

This shows some of the depth of the color.

The cut is a combo of a disconnected a-line (or graduated) bob, with a somewhat mullet-ish back section.

A nice shot of the face framing layers of the cut. This cut could be done with a much more or less emphasized back section.

Blazing Red Tutorial

I started with a level 9, very light golden blonde. This technique will work equally well on a level 7 or 8 gold, red, or ash tone. I would even be willing to try it on a platinum level blonde (though I would first prep the hair to make sure any toner or gloss was gone).

All color formulas are using L’oreal Richesse no-lift demi-permanent color with Richesse 9 volume developer, mixed 2 parts developer and 1 part color.  I use the term part instead of giving ounces because different amounts will be needed depending on length and thickness of hair.  For this application I used 40 ounces of color to 80 ounces of developer for all three formulations.

formula 1
3p 7.34
1p .40
Richesse 9 volume developer

Formula 1 was applied scalp to ends and processed 20 minutes with steam heat. I prefer a steamer because I don’t have to use a bag. This makes spot checking and hairline cleanup easier, and the steamer mimics the moist heat of the scalp, which I feel contributes a very even color process.

Shampoo and dry under hood dryer.

formula 2
3p 4.56
1p 3
Richesse 9 volume developer

Formula 2 was applied at scalp and taken randomly through 1/2-1 inch out. When the entire head is applied with this technique I went back and took color through ends at NAPE, and then used a baliage technique over the rest of the head taking very chunky weave sections through ends. This was again processed 20 minutes with a steamer, shampooed and dried.

formula 3
1p 5.6
1p 6.64
Richesse 9 volume developer

Formula 3 was then applied scalp to ends and processed for 20 minutes with the steamer. The hair was then styled using Rusk Smoothing Lotion, flat ironed, and sprayed with Kenra Spray Gloss.  The final formula can be altered depending on the depth and intensity of the color desired.

Hope you enjoyed (maybe) learning something today!

Hey all, something a little different today. This post is really intended for professional stylists, but that doesn’t mean the “lay person” can’t enjoy it as well. Just keep in mind these are very advanced color techniques, and are not meant for at home color. Believe me, you’ll spend a lot more to fix it than you would to find a professional to do it! I hope to have drawings for the tutorial in a later update, but for now, just the before and after.

Hi Gloss Red!

With this technique David does not strive to keep colors strictly separated, but instead allows them to mix randomly to achieve subtle color variations. The use of no-lift demi-permanent color adds a wonderful amount of control and shine.

Liz’s natural level 4 hair was washed out, and stressed out. With grown out re-growth, an almost pink mid-shaft, and faded copper-y ends. She needed a pick me up!

David Martin, owner and photo stylist at the Studio at David’s starts with a section from occipital to occipital. He applies bleach with 20 volume developer from mid-shaft to ends. Checking the bleach constantly and massaging gently to evenly distribute and warm. He watches the color to see a fading of the pink (not too far, the red tones need to be blended, but not removed). After the mid-shafts and ends have lightened about a third of the way he applies 10 volume bleach at the re-growth. He watches very carefully, so as not to lift any of the hair past the orange stage. David then shampoos and dries the hair.

The top section above the occipital is then sectioned into triangular sub-sections radiating around the crown. starting with Formula One, and alternating all the way around with Formula Two. Since he’s using a no-lift demi-permanent color he applies scalp to ends, using a wide tooth comb to gently distribute the color evenly.

The top section is then pinned gently up, and the lower section is applied using the same technique with Formula Three.

David processes under a steamer for 20 minutes, this eliminates the need for a cap, and evenly processes the color from scalp to ends. Check manufacturers instructions for heat processing.

The layered cut is finished with dry chipping to reveal the layers of color.

Using a demi-permanent, or no-lift permanent color (in this case Richesse by L’Oreal):

Formula One
1 part 6.64
1 part 6.5
lo volume developer

Formula Two
2 parts 3
1 part 4.56
lo volume developer

Formula Three
1 part 7.41
1 part 6.4
lo volume developer

Have you ever seen that movie star that changed from blonde to brown, and then back to blonde. Oh, it doesn’t matter which, you can think of one I’m sure. Did you ever wonder how big of a deal that is? I’ll give you a hint…it’s huuuge.

The blonde to brown isn’t that big a job. For a good colorist you can do it well in around 1 1/2 hours. I say well, because it’s easy to turn it to baby poop brown. I’ve seen it, it ain’t pretty. And going brown to blonde isn’t a huge challenge. Again, about two hours.

Blonde to red can be tricky, but not usually as time consuming. A number of glazes can be done in as little as 2 hours, if you know what to use. But red to blonde, totally up in the air. Red is one of the hardest colors to remove, there always seems to be that last little bit that doesn’t want to budge. It’s ironic considering how quickly red fades!

But blonde to brown to blonde is a whole other world. It can easily take 2 or more visits to remove the artificial brown. There are some simple ways to go to a subtle blonde. In a few visits enough foils can be added to get you there painlessly. But if it’s to be a true blonde it usually involves a color remover (1 to 2 hours), a bleach wash (15-30 minutes), a filler (45-60 min), a glaze or two (1-3 hours), and possibly foils (1-4 hours). This is all rough time estimates, length and thickness of the hair, porosity, darkness of brown level, and many other factors can affect a color correction of this sort. And all of these are based on the hair being healthy. Bad “at home” color is another game altogether.

I am rarely willing to tackle a black to (literally whatever you can get), but I gave it a shot for a dark blonde client who had “accidentally” tinted her hair black for Halloween. I say accidentally because she didn’t read the fine print on the box of semi-permanent hair color she used. Hint: no such thing as semi-permanent black. Once you go black, you never go back, as we say in the hair industry. What, you thought that meant something else? Your bad…

Anyhow. After the first day (5 hours to get her from black to dark brown, ugh! I don’t like to fail), I went home, tinted a doll head black (using the same color product she used) and proceeded to spend the next two days getting it blonde. It only took me 3 hours to do it on the person. It was amazing what I learned!

This is the doll head after two days of color correction experimentation.

On the other hand, I accidentally tinted a blonde client black myself one afternoon (it’s really not my fault. The blonde (6•1) looked exactly like the black (1•9) when held upside down!). And it only took 5 minutes to fix that! luckily I know shortcuts.

What’s not to love about curly hair? It’s in style big these days, and if you’ve got it flaunt it!

Have you been paying attention. While we were all living in the 20th century, the 21st caught up with us. If you are plugged in to any kind of pop culture (which means popular by the way, whether you think you’re trendy or not, you don’t get to totally ignore pop culture. Sorry.) you’ve seen plenty of curl on the red carpet.

Heidi Montag looks amazing with rocked out blonde curls!

Lacey Chabert looking cute and flirty with gorgeous waves.

Today it’s the kind of curl most people can do. You don’t need a perm, though that might help. But unless your hair is totally stick straight and lifeless, you can take advantage of a curling iron to get those lovely runway looks. Refer to my favorite products blog for some of the products I love for body and hold. Blow dry hair with round brush or upside down for more volume (if your into letting your hair dry naturally, so be it, but it will be flatter). Take a medium/large(1 1/4″ or larger) curling iron and work with sections the width of the curling iron (bigger for softer waves), in the following pattern:
Curl from your bangs to the top of your crown forward. Curl sides down (it should be around 3 sections), from the top of your crown to nape, curl down. try to keep them in place as if they are set on rollers (if the curls fall just roll them back up!), and pin with clippies (you know, those things your grandmother used to keep her hair rollers in). Spray with a good medium to firm spray, and allow to cool for at least 15 minutes. Take out clippies and finger style. If you want a softer look (think 40’s glamour) brush with a bristle brush (a brush that is very soft and has boar or nylon bristles, not a vent brush which is usually hard plastic. Place the curls or wave where you want them and spray with a little more spray. That’s it. For more volume later, flip your head and gently fluff.

One of my after models in beautiful brunette waves.

That may seem like a lot of work, but really, it can be done in about a half hour! That’s not long for movie star hair, is it?

Now, the cool part. If you have naturally wavy to curly hair it’s much easier to look fabulous! Again, refer to my products post for the correct formulas. layer them properly, and comb through! Comb through, understand that, comb through! Even if you have curly hair that’s important. You must get the products evenly distributed to combat frizz, and for curly girls the “products are our friends” slogan is particularly true. Then scrunch, with or without a diffuser. If you use a diffuser follow these instructions to the letter. Take that from someone who knows. I started in the hair business in the heyday of the perm. I know what I’m talking about when it comes to curl styling.

Attach the diffuser to the dryer. The only kind of diffuser I recommend is the type that is bowl shaped, with “fingers”. The reason you want this type is because it not only reduces frizz, but encourages curl. The flat kind, or sock type won’t. Look at yourself in the mirror. Now tilt your head slightly back (don’t hurt your neck!) and carefully place your hair in the diffuser (while it’s on either medium or cool). When moving the diffuser to other places remove hair from bowl and replace gently, don’t move it around wily nilly. Your goal is to encourage the curl to stay in strands or clumps of spirals. Use this technique in the same way on the sides (tilting the head to the side and “cradling” the hair in the bowl). It’s important to tilt your head to encourage curl all the way to the roots. Continue until hair is around 90% dry. If you dry further you risk over drying the hair and going into frizz. (grrr, evil frizz…). Finish hair by scrunching with Kenra Curl Defining Creme or Kenra Style Creme for extra definition and hold. For an extra boost of shine, mist with a shine spray.

An after model with beautiful, distinct natural curls.

I obviously love curly hair, and so should you! If you’ve got it flaunt it. I think most of us get to have the hair type that is “in style” once (maybe twice) in our lifetime. Don’t waste your chance with the grass is always greener mentality. Believe me, the girls with straight hair will die of envy!

I admit it, I play with dolls. Well, I actually have to admit I play with doll heads. Not sure if that’s better or worse.

This is a wedding style I developed for a bride or bridesmaid with extra long hair, for my wedding collection.

The great thing about a doll head is no ego! I don’t have to worry about the doll head hating their cut or color. I have the freedom to try things with cuts that I would never have the nerve to try on a breathing soul (I don’t do well with rejection). I get to try new color techniques, cutting procedures, products, conditioners, you name it! And nobody gets hurt.

About 4 years ago I discovered the amazing benefits of working on doll heads (something I hadn’t done since cosmetology school in the mid 80’s!). It was a complete revelation. Now I order 1 or 2 doll heads every few months from on online beauty source (they come in an amazing variety of colors, ethnicities, and lengths) and have a blast.

I’ve used them to test color corrections: A client that died her hair black for Halloween (their is absolutely no such thing as “temporary” black by the way. Read the fine print in those instructions!). She came to me to go lighter. After 5 hours in the salon we booked for later in the week. I went home, bought the color she used, died the doll head black, and spent two days figuring out how to get it to look “normal” without melting her hair right off her head. Couldn’t do that on a real person! She was very happy with the results, and so was I!

A client getting married who wanted “princess hair”: To her this meant longer. So I took a doll head, cut the hair to her length and style, and proceeded to experiment for several days to get the best application of temporary hair extensions for the style we were doing (I admit to being a total hair geek, I’ll work until two or so in the morning If I’m really “in the zone”). No fear of a screw-up on the wedding day!

Here is one of my early tryouts of a short length doll head with temporary extensions added, for a princess wedding I did in September of 2008

And I’ve developed styles for a few clients that were looking for a change, but weren’t really sure how far they wanted to go.

I’m very lucky to have a studio at my house where I can work with my doll heads. It makes it easier for me than the average stylist, and I’ve learned more in the past 4 years working with my dolls than I did for the 15 years of full time styling that came before!

A few more examples of my dolls…

This is a short cut with colored front extensions added for a little pizzaz.

This photo is the back view of another long hair formal style tryout.

Here's something a little edgier that I might not risk on most clients; if I remember correctly part of this is extensions.

Well, since color (both painting, and hair) is my very favorite thing to do.  I should probably do a little primer on basic hair color (painting may come later, you never know).  I will likely be discussing color quite a bit, and as I do with all my new clients (and often long term ones) I would like to make sure we are all on the same page.  Please keep in mind that this is for lay-people.  I’m trying to help you understand how professional color should work.  This is in no way meant to be taken as education on how to color your own hair.  I’ve fixed a lot of color mistakes in my time.  I have 20 years experience, and as a salon owner, I wouldn’t have wanted me to do color in my salon without a mentor until about 10 years into my career!  Trust me when I say you are much better off letting a professional tackle your precious mane of hair.  Just think how long it takes to grow out a bad cut.  How much longer will you suffer with a bad color, or more likely, how much will you pay to have it fixed??

So, the first thing that needs to be discussed is the concept of level.  Color levels are generally thought of as a level 1 (black hair) on up to level 10 (lightest blonde).  This has nothing to do with tone (red, golden blonde, ash blonde, brown, etc.).  Those come later.  So when we discuss levels of lift we may be speaking of one level (1-2, black to very dark brown), or more (6-10) 4 levels of lift, dark blonde to platinum.

This is an example of a level 9 (light golden blonde), and a 1 (black) on one of my fantasy wedding styles.

The next thing you need to know is the difference between permanent, semi or demi-permanent, and temporary color.

The main difference is in a simple concept called lift.  That means how much your natural hair color is lightened.  Most permanent colors lift your hair color anywhere from 1 to 4 levels.  If we lighten with hair color much more than 3 or 4 levels we lose control of the tone.  This gives us what we call “off” tones of gold and red.  Those are the tones we usually refer to as brassy.  To go successfully lighter than 4 levels you need to use bleach, or other lighteners.  After the lightening process an artificial color is deposited to “tone” the hair-shaft.  This is either done in the process of the permanent color treatment, or as a separate toner application after the bleach/lightener (referred to as a two-step color process).

In contrast, a semi, or demi-permanent color usually will not lift your natural color at all. If it lifts even one level, it has become permanent (get it, re-growth). These products simply deposit the color.  This leaves your natural hair color underneath.  This way you don’t have “re-growth”, what is usually referred to as “roots”.  The color fades on tone so you don’t have weird colors like pink, orange, or green, either.

Then we have the temporary colors.  These are probably referred to by your grandmother, aunt, maybe even mother as a rinse.  It is/was used to tone grey or blonde hair in-between shampoos.  It literally washes out.  Some are used today for shades of pink, primary red or blue, purple, etc.  These are designed to last for about 4 to 6 weeks.  They are usually used over pre-lightened hair, and will almost always leave a stain as they fade.

The different types of products have their special uses. Permanent hair color is used to lighten hair, and cover more resistant grey. Semi and demi-colors are used to cover or blend grey, and change your hair tone. They achieve either the same level (blonde to strawberry blonde), or darker (blonde to brown, brown to black). And the bleaches and temporary products are for more drastic, or artsy effects. 

the following are examples of “permanent”, “demi-permanent”, and “temporary” colors

Here's an example of permanent color, and demi-permanent color. Notice the lighter blocks of color. Those would have to be permanent (because we've lifted the color), and the darker carmel blonde is demi (no lift).

This is an example of a mulit-toned demi-permanent color. I used a darker shade over the top, and a medium shade on the interior to keep it lighter around her face.

Here are some temporary colors on a Rocky Horror cast member. The primary colors are temporary, but the bleaching to make them so bright is permanent. As the color fades it may take on strange tones.

The next thing that could use clarification is the process of color correction. This is usually not a little job. It can often require more than one appointment, and a good commitment from the color specialist, and the client. A good correction (i.e. brassy blonde to beautiful gold or pastel blonde, or black to chestnut brown or warm blonde) is very rarely achieved in one appointment. The first appointment can take anywhere from 1 hour (simple tone), to as many as 6 to 8 hours (stripping, clarifying, bleaching, foiling, toning, or a combination of any or all of these). This is not cheap, and can be stressful for the hair. A very good professional is required! And you will pay highly for it. I charge per hour with a minimum charge, and the results of color corrective services are never guaranteed until the second or third appointment.

This is an example of a fairly simple color correction before,

and after. Her color is now more even, with the bleached tips treated with a demi-permanent color in a red/purple toned, dark brown shade. It was stunning in person.

One more thing to keep in mind with color is commitment. Remember, the lighter you go from your natural color, the more the upkeep.  I find that appointments of 4 to 6 weeks are necessary for permanent applications.  4 to 12 weeks for semi and demi-colors, and foil, block, or baliage techniques can go from 4 weeks to 6 months depending on the effect.

I hope that with this guide to refer to, you are more likely to make the correct decisions on hair color.  Remember, “The greater the risk, the greater the reward!”  But also keep in mind the commitment color entails.  Be sure to stay within your schedules limits and you’ll be much happier.

 
Happy coloring!!