Many people go to a beauty supply shop or a drugstore and buy that box of pigments. They think it is some magical concoction of happy hair color. When in actuality, it is a box of well-calculated pigments which will react with the pigments in YOUR OWN HAIR. I know there are many who buy a box of color and start blaming the brand for not making their hair the color they thought it would be on the box. The blame rarely falls on the company, it falls on you! It is all your fault!
First of all, if you read my previous posts, you will notice how much goes into coloring the hair. It isn’t just some color splashed onto the head. All is calculated to give the best end result. Your hair has pigments, the hair color contains pigments. They marry through a chemical reaction and create a new hair color and maybe one you didn’t want or it left your hair in a dry and unhealthy state.
Before you choose a color, review the condition of your hair.
Has your hair been chemically processed?
- Permed
- Previously colored
- Bleached
If it has been chemically manipulated, what is the state of your hair?
- Relatively healthy
- Porous and dry
What is the texture of your hair?
- Fine
- Medium
- Coarse
The best way to test your hair is to pluck out one strand by its roots and stretch to see how much it will stretch. This is testing the tensile strength. If it stretches and returns without breaking, you have good and healthy hair. If you stretch it just a little and it breaks, your hair is not at its best state. This means it is porous too.
Porosity will affect the color. It will grab the pigments of the hair color more. Blondes who choose dark blonde hair color may find it look like a medium brown instead. This is because the porosity just grabbed all the pigments. You need to fill your hair before ever applying any other color on top for an even application.
What is the length of your hair?
- Short
- Long - You will need more than one box.
How much hair do you have?
- Density - amount of in one square inch?
Density has to do with how much your scalp can't be seen. Some people have fine hair but a lot of it. Others have thick hair but the scalp is more visible. Knowing this will also give you an idea of how much hair color would be sufficient to mix for a thorough coating of color.
As stated, analyze the state of your hair first after you do that, determine what is your NATURAL level. This is for everyone including those with greys.
- Dark as in Level 1, Level 2, Level 3, Level 4
- Medium as in Level 5, Level 6, Level 7
- Light as in Level 8, Level 9, Level 10
After you have determined the natural level of your natural hair color, determine its tone.
- Does it have warmth (red)?
- Does it lack warmth (cool toned)?
- Does it look brassy (orange/yellow)?
Now that you know your condition of your hair and the natural level. Next, what end result do you want for color?
- Lighter
- Darker
- Same level
Choose the volume of developer. Remember my last post on developer volumes?
How many levels do you want to lift your hair?
- None = 10 volume
- One = 20 volume
- Two = 30 volume
- Three or Four = 40 volume
What tone of hair would you like?
- Blue (cool)
- Red
- Copper
- Gold
- Beige
What percentage of grey hair do you have?
- None
- Less than 50%
- 50% or more
Once you have answered all these questions, you can learn how to make the little bottles and tubes of pigments play with your pigments!
*Disclosure: I don’t claim to be some great hair guru. I just like to explain difficult beauty stuff.
