Colour help please

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Shelly84

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Apr 21, 2021
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Hi I recently qualified my level 3 but due to covid didn't get many lessons. I have just bleached this poor girls roots and then toned with color touch equal parts 8/81 and 9/61 with the ct 4% for 20 mins. She wants it lighter the better so I'm thinking weave as much of the banding out I can and bleach then tone roots n mids with the 8/81 maybe 🤦‍♀️ I've so messed up please help I need to fix this and then I'll never go near hair again. Ooh n her hair goes ginger really quick she said and she's about a level 4 naturally I'm putting on the pics please don't laugh at my suckiness too much.
 

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Anybody got any advice please 🙏
 
Ok, back to basics.
Take your time to read this through and please come back and ask further questions if any bits are unclear.

Her mids and ends are a level 10. You’ve lifted an inch of the roots to a 10, great job so far. 👍

Colour pigment in tint

A level 10 tint ( and Highlift tints) contain only a small amount of colour pigment.

Level - Pigment Weight

The following is a simple explanation about depth of colour at each level in a tube of tint.
It doesn’t match any colour house (so don’t formulate your colours based on this table!), but is used to illustrate the principle of dilution of colour.

Level - Amount of colour pigment in the tube
10 - 3 units of pigment
9 - 8 units of pigment
8 - 15 units of pigment
7 - 25 units of pigment
6 - 40 units of pigment
5 - 60 units of pigment
4 - 80 units of pigment
3 - 110 units of pigment
2 - 125 units of pigment
1 - 150 units of pigment

So a level 8/1 tube of colour has 5 times the amount of colour pigment compared to a level 10/1. Again this is only a simplified explanation and the reality for your colour house is probably quite different.

1. What is the job of a toner used after bleaching?

Toner is used to neutralise the underlying pigment colour that has been exposed when bleaching the hair. That’s why you have to understand the lightening curve to know what level you have lifted it to. (My avatar pic.) Anyone that talks about their hair turning ginger, doesn’t understand the lightening process, so please feel free to completely ignore their well meaning advice.😆

During the lightening process, the hair will lift through the various levels and you stop the lifting process when you’ve achieved the desired level. It might take a long time to go from a 4 to a 10 but that’s normal and to be expected.

As the hair lightens from a 4, it will be quite red and as it lifts to a level 6 it will be very orange looking.
At level 7, it will be a lighter orange, by level 8, it’s a deep egg yolk yellow, and by 9, it’s a light yellow.
when you’ve reached level 10, it’s the palest hint of yellow, like the inside of a banana skin.

Choosing a Toner

As a rule, you choose your toner based on the level of the hair you are toning.
If you’d lifted the hair to a yellow level 8, you might choose a toner such as 8/81. If you lift the hair to an 8 and use a toner that’s 10/6, then although it might be a violet based toner, the amount of colour pigment in the 10 is not going to be enough to fully neutralise the underlying yellow colour pigment of a level 8.

After choosing your level, you look at the underlying colour and consider what you want your finished colour to be. Do you want a colour that’s more ash, cool neutral, beige toned or slightly golden? So you’d look at the primary and secondary tones in the tint to mix for your desired result. For instance, if you want a strong violet or grey colour, remember that after lifting to a level 10, the violet tones will cancel out the pale yellow underlying pigment first, so you’ll need to formulate your colour with that in mind.

What role does Developer play?

When you add a developer to a tint, it’s role is to open the cuticle layer to allow the tiny colour molecules to pass through, where they oxidise and then expand in size. However, developer also effectively lightens the hair a little depending on its strength so when toning already lightened hair, you only need a low strength of developer. That’s why when toning with a demi or a permanent tint, you’d normally use something around 10vol or 3%.


How to fix?

I‘d use a weak strength bleach mixture and carefully apply only to the orange sections and let them lift back up to a 10. Tone with a violet based level 10 tint. Maybe something like 10/6 in CT and pastel developer.

Playing around and having fun with colour

When you really understand the basics of hair colouring, that’s when you can start to mix things up a little and add some 8 to a 10 to or a smidge of blue booster to an 8 whilst understanding underlying tones and depth of pigment and how these things will affect your end result.
That’s when the fun really starts and you suddenly discover that you’re a great colourist! :p
 
The fact that it’s exposed orange yellow tones just outside the root area suggests to me that when it was lightened previously, it was only lightened to an 8 and then toned? Or, a darker tint has been used at some point?
 
The fact that it’s exposed orange yellow tones just outside the root area suggests to me that when it was lightened previously, it was only lightened to an 8 and then toned? Or, a darker tint has been used at some point?
That's so helpful thank you so much I'm sorry you had to tell me all that I know I'm rubbish and shouldn't have qualified because I don't know enough. I will do as you suggested and then put down the scissors and colour 🙈 thank you for your help 😊
 
That's so helpful thank you so much I'm sorry you had to tell me all that I know I'm rubbish and shouldn't have qualified because I don't know enough. I will do as you suggested and then put down the scissors and colour 🙈 thank you for your help 😊

No, please don’t let your current lack of experience put you off. You can do this!

Decide you’re going to be the best hairdresser you can be and put the hours into learning. No-ones born brilliant. It’s a long learning process, that’s all and you’ve already started it.
 
No, please don’t let your current lack of experience put you off. You can do this!

Decide you’re going to be the best hairdresser you can be and put the hours into learning. No-ones born brilliant. It’s a long learning process, that’s all and you’ve already started it.
Thank you I am going to study more I think I'll look into doing a colour course. Just 1 more question if that's OK if I was to darken the roots a little would I have to pre pig the roots first and then use a colour? Or would I just tone with a lower base shade to give the effect of it being darker?
 
What are you looking to change it to?

The general rule when going darker is to pre-pig (add back in the missing underlying colours - yellow/orange/red), if dropping two or more levels.
BUT, it depends on the colour house you’re using as some brands don’t require pre-pigging.

When working out your plan, you always start with considering the existing hair colour and condition, especially if it’s been lightened already. Next, work out what the desired outcome is. Then you formulate your colour.
 
What are you looking to change it to?

The general rule when going darker is to pre-pig (add back in the missing underlying colours - yellow/orange/red), if dropping two or more levels.
BUT, it depends on the colour house you’re using as some brands don’t require pre-pigging.

When working out your plan, you always start with considering the existing hair colour and condition, especially if it’s been lightened already. Next, work out what the desired outcome is. Then you formulate your colour.
I was just thinking if I needed to drop it a shade or 2 to match the banding but I'm going to lighten the band I'll put the after pics on thanks for your help much appreciated 😊
 
I did the band bleach and then toned with 9/16 she loves it and I'm happy and will sleep tonight thank you for your help im so much happier 😊
 

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Ok, back to basics.
Take your time to read this through and please come back and ask further questions if any bits are unclear.

Her mids and ends are a level 10. You’ve lifted an inch of the roots to a 10, great job so far. 👍

Colour pigment in tint

A level 10 tint ( and Highlift tints) contain only a small amount of colour pigment.

Level - Pigment Weight

The following is a simple explanation about depth of colour at each level in a tube of tint.
It doesn’t match any colour house (so don’t formulate your colours based on this table!), but is used to illustrate the principle of dilution of colour.

Level - Amount of colour pigment in the tube
10 - 3 units of pigment
9 - 8 units of pigment
8 - 15 units of pigment
7 - 25 units of pigment
6 - 40 units of pigment
5 - 60 units of pigment
4 - 80 units of pigment
3 - 110 units of pigment
2 - 125 units of pigment
1 - 150 units of pigment

So a level 8/1 tube of colour has 5 times the amount of colour pigment compared to a level 10/1. Again this is only a simplified explanation and the reality for your colour house is probably quite different.

1. What is the job of a toner used after bleaching?

Toner is used to neutralise the underlying pigment colour that has been exposed when bleaching the hair. That’s why you have to understand the lightening curve to know what level you have lifted it to. (My avatar pic.) Anyone that talks about their hair turning ginger, doesn’t understand the lightening process, so please feel free to completely ignore their well meaning advice.😆

During the lightening process, the hair will lift through the various levels and you stop the lifting process when you’ve achieved the desired level. It might take a long time to go from a 4 to a 10 but that’s normal and to be expected.

As the hair lightens from a 4, it will be quite red and as it lifts to a level 6 it will be very orange looking.
At level 7, it will be a lighter orange, by level 8, it’s a deep egg yolk yellow, and by 9, it’s a light yellow.
when you’ve reached level 10, it’s the palest hint of yellow, like the inside of a banana skin.

Choosing a Toner

As a rule, you choose your toner based on the level of the hair you are toning.
If you’d lifted the hair to a yellow level 8, you might choose a toner such as 8/81. If you lift the hair to an 8 and use a toner that’s 10/6, then although it might be a violet based toner, the amount of colour pigment in the 10 is not going to be enough to fully neutralise the underlying yellow colour pigment of a level 8.

After choosing your level, you look at the underlying colour and see How strong it is and also consider what you want your finished colour to be. Do you want a colour that’s more ash, cool neutral, beige toned or slightly golden? So you’d look at the primary and secondary tones in the tint to mix for your desired result.

What role does Developer play?

When you add a developer to a tint, it’s role is to open the cuticle layer to allow the tiny colour molecules to pass through, where they oxidise and then expand in size. However, developer also effectively lightens the hair a little depending on its strength so when toning already lightened hair, you only need a low strength of developer. That’s why when toning with a demi or a permanent tint, you’d normally use something around 10vol or 3%.


How to fix?

I‘d use a weak strength bleach mixture and carefully apply only to the orange sections and let them lift back up to a 10. Tone with a violet based level 10 tint. Maybe something like 10/6 in CT and pastel developer.

Playing around and having fun with colour

When you really understand the basics of hair colouring, that’s when you can start to mix things up a little and add some 8 to a 10 to or a smidge of blue booster to an 8 whilst understanding underlying tones and depth of pigment and how these things will affect your end result.
That’s when the fun really starts and you suddenly discover that you’re a great colourist! :p
I

Iv been hairdressing for 18 years and that’s the best way I have seen it explained yet! Thanks so much 🤩
 
Ok, back to basics.
Take your time to read this through and please come back and ask further questions if any bits are unclear.

Her mids and ends are a level 10. You’ve lifted an inch of the roots to a 10, great job so far. 👍

Colour pigment in tint
Excellent explanation. Thank you so much. 😊
 

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