How to Apply Hair Color

We've had discussions about haircolor and talked about the rules for choosing the right color for you. We've even talked briefly about the risk of taking your hair to levels that are too light. But the best way for me to show you the results of improper color selection is to demonstrate the application of a haircolor on manikins with two very different color levels.

Step One:

    We begin with two manikins: a blonde manikin whose hair is at level 8 (light blonde) and a brunette manikin with hair at level 3. Both manikins were shampooed, and because the blonde has had her hair lightened previously we gave her a deep conditioning treatment prior to the application of the haircolor, to prevent any damage from the color process. Afterward, both manikins were blown dry and ready to color.

    We used the same haircolor on each manikin. The only difference in the color mixture was the developer we added. For the blonde, we used 20 volume peroxide, and with the brunette we mixed the color with 30 volume peroxide for added lift. The color used was Clairol 72R (Sunberry - light strawberry blonde) a level 9 color with a red-orange base color, because both our brunette and our blonde manikins had hair color with a red-orange contributing pigment. Therefore, there was no chance of unfortunate color results.

  


Step Two:

    We start the color processes with the blonde manikin first. In order to make the color change most visible, we did an all-over color. Now, when you are coloring hair that is medium length or longer, you want to apply the color to the middle of the hair shaft first, about 1 inch away from the scalp and stopping two to three inches from the ends of the hair, starting in the front on one side, then the other and work your way back to the nape of the neck. Then you return to the starting point and apply the color to the scalp area. Once the scalp color is applied, then you pull the color through to the ends of the hair. The reason for this is that the hair at the scalp will process faster because of the heat of the scalp, and the hair on the ends is more porous and will also process faster, therefore, to assure even color, you want to begin coloring with the middle lengths of hair.

    However, because the manikin's hair is so short, we began by applying the color to the scalp first, and continued to add color until it was worked through to the ends of the hair. After the color was on, we took a wide-toothed comb and combed the color through the hair to distribute it evenly. Once evenly distributed, all that was left was to wait for the color to develop.

    It's important to work quickly when applying haircolor, because once you mix the color with a developer, you have about 30 minutes before the color mixture becomes inert and will no longer color the hair. The longer the haircolor is able to sit on the hair and process, the better color results you will get.

 Next we applied color to the brunette manikin, but instead of doing all-over color, we wanted to use the Sunberry as a highlight color. We mixed our haircolor with 30 volume peroxide for extra lift. Using a freehand technique called balayage we brushed swaths of color in various areas of the hair (as shown by the photos) and allowed them to process. The idea was that the highlights would show up better against the starting brunette color.

Step Three:

    After allowing the haircolor to completely process, we rinsed the haircolor from the hair, by first rewetting the manikins' hair and massaging the hair to a lather then rinsing the color and following up with a good conditioning shampoo. Both manikins were then blown dry and styled as shown.

Results:

    As you can see, our blonde manikin's color turned out perfectly. We took her from a level 8 with a pale honey color, to the level 9 strawberry blonde without damaging the hair. The color is rich and even, with natural highs and lows giving the overall effect depth.

    Our brunette manikin, however, shows no change from the original color except for a little more red in the color tone. This was expected. As we stated at the beginning, our brunette manikin was a level 3, and we used a 30 volume developer which only offers a maximum lift of around three shades. Basically, we added as much color to the hair as we would have dispersed with our peroxide, and the result is hair that shows no appreciable difference in color.

    We did this on purpose, to show you that haircolor is often difficult to work with unless you pay close attention to the levels of color you start with and add to the hair. If our intention had been to really give our brunette manikin the strawberry blonde highlights, we would have needed to use a bleaching agent first, in order to lighten the highlights to a level around 8 or 9, then we could have used our Sunberry color and gotten the effect we were telling you to expect.


    So, now you see both the results of a good color selection, and what can happen when you don't pay attention to the color level. Training and experience are what allow your stylist to know what will work best for you, but knowing what to expect will help you communicate better with your stylist to get the results you want.