OFFICEHAIR

Many of my clients are shocked to find out that they’re actually a natural Blonde and not a brunette. What most people refer to as “Mousey Brown” is in fact Medium Blonde and being a Medium Blonde myself I take umbrage to the term “Mousey” thank you very much!

So here is a list containing the numerical level of colour, what we hairdressers call it and a pic so you can see for your self.

Level 10 – Ultra Light Blonde

Level 9 - Very Light Blonde

Level 8 – Light Blonde

Level 7 – Medium Blonde

Level 6 – Dark Blonde

Level 5 – Light Brown

Level 4 – Medium Brown

Level 3 – Dark Brown

Level 2/1 – Black

These are refered to as “naturals” eg: 6N (dark blonde), 4N (medium brown).

Now that we have established what “level” of colour you are, let’s talk about the term “reflect”. Reflect refers to the actual colour, be it red, copper or gold. Each colour range has it’s own way of defining it’s reflects and most companies use a similar rating system, but not all. they can use a numerical system or Alpha-numeric one.

A classic example is Wella’s system vs. Goldwell. Here, two of the top products on the market use the two different systems to let you know what colour you are using, or getting. In Wella, the colour for dark blonde is 6/0, in Goldwell it’s 6N. If you wanted a golden tone at that level of colour, Wella would use 6/3 and Goldwell 6G.

Due to the fact that some numeric systems differ slightly it can be hard to explain reflect numbers, but generally /3 refers to a golden reflect, /4, red. It is much easier to decode the alpha numeric system, G=gold, R=red, K=copper, B=beige or brown (depending on the level of colour).

Now you’re armed with a bit more info you may be able to understand just what your Hairdresser is talking about and help you achieve the colour you want.

OK. Winter will soon be here and you want to make the change from Blonde to something a bit more wintery but don’t want to have an all over or dark colour? Try low-lights.

Low lights are a great alternative to having a “block” colour allowing you to deepen your blonde without having to go too dark. As the names suggests, low lights add darker pieces to the colour giving blondes more depth and adding tone. This is great for seasonal changes and when done with a semi-permanent will allow you an easy change from season to season. They are also a great way to add texture to your hair as darker pieces playing against lighter will add movement to your style.

I’ve been using a range of semi-permanent colour by Goldwell for this type of work. They have released a stronger version of their Colornace range which I find perfect for this kind of work. These semis last really well and give me the flexibility to change the colour back to something lighter as we head into Spring and Summer, something that permantent colours make a lot harder.

The trick to low lighting your blonde hair is to not make it too dark as then you run the risk of getting too “stripy”, unless that is the look you are going for. I tend to go for a 6 level (dark blonde) and a 7-8 level blonde, but it’s the tone of the low lights that are important so take into account your skin tone when deciding.

Any good colourist will explain to you the process of colouring your hair back to a darker tone once it has been made lighter and should also explain that in order to do this it needs to have the natural undertones put back in. Undertones are the colours that appear in the hair naturally at that level (how light or dark). At these levels of colour, gold and maybe orange/copper will need to be added, and as you get darker, red will need to be added. Now don’t start to worry and think that your hair will look orange or red because these just provide a base for the natural tones to adhere to. The reason goes back to the way that natural tones are composed. Most brands of colour use a green base, therefore if you put them straight over your blonde hair, you’d end up with a green tone. The warmer tones such as gold, orange and red counteract this.

The technology of hair colour has advanced in a major way over the last 5-10 years so it is not always necessary to prepigment the hair before recolouring which makes it so much easier to low light effectively with less chance of it fading out in a few weeks.

If you’re thinking of having this done and need any advice, please feel feel to either contact me or leave a comment.

Today I thought I’d let you in on the big secret about going gray, or as I prefer to call it, pigmentally challenged.

Hair colour is made from melenin, yes, the same stuff you get in skin which gives you a tan in summer, your skin and your hair being made of the same thing, but I’ll leave that for another post.

Melanin comes in two types, Eumelanin and Pheomelanin. Eumelanin conatins the lighter colours such as copper and gold whereas Pheomelanin contains the darker red and brown/black pigments. So where do these colours come from?

In the hair follicle are the cells which produce the keratin that your hair is made from and other cells called Melanocytes that produce the colour.

It’s when these cells stop producing colour that “gray” hair starts to appear. This can happen for a number of reasons, age, genetics (thanks Mum!), a sudden shock or physical trauma such as your wife hitting you with a rolling pin. When the Melanocytes stop producing melanin, you actually get a lack of colour, not gray, though some people get a bit of dark melanin still being produced which is what gives that dark/steely gray look.

When the change finally comes it can also change the texture of the hair from fine to course and even make it curly, or even worse, like frizzy steel wool. This change of texture also means that you may have to change the colour you put in your hair and even the way it is applied.

Because gray hair lacks natural pigment, or what we call an undertone, a natural pigment may need to be put back in depending on the percentage of gray hair you have. This is why it’s a good idea to get a hairdresser to colour your hair once you go gray as they know how to mix tones together to get the desired colour and it’s even harder when colouring mens’ hair. An important thing to remember is that the darker you colour your hair, the more visible the regrowth will be. Different colour companies will give a very different result on gray hair as they have different strengths of pigment and levels of ammonia which is what opens the hair cuticle to allow the colour to penetrate into the hair, and that is why some people end up with a translucent effect on their gray hair. A clever Hairdresser will know how to get around this so it pays to get a good colourist, but a good quality colour product will give a better result than budget ones.

Just as important as a good colourist is a good shampoo and conditioner. Certain supermarket ranges, which I won’t name, can cause your hair to be more resistant to taking the colour as they coat the hair in a plastic like silicone, or strip the colour out too quickly, so always be guided by your colourist to get the most of your hair colour.

Alyssa writes:

Hi! I actually have quite a problem… I’m seeking some advice. I have naturally dark blonde hair, but I’ve been highlighting it for quite some time now. My roots were growing out, and I decided to try Clairol’s Nice & Easy Root Touchup. (What a mistake!!!) Well, somehow, Clairol put black dye in the box of medium blonde root touchup. Needless to say, 2 1/2 inches of my roots were black and the rest of my hair light blonde. (This happened two days before my Mom’s wedding.) I’ve been to the salon three times since the incident. My roots are still a bit red and after adding more highlights, there is a lot of LIGHT blonde hair. The ends of my hair are a medium blonde color. I don’t know what to do next. Please help! I start a new job in two weeks and I just want to look normal again.

Now it appears that your Hairdresser has gone with the “bleach it out” way of hairdressing and this is probably the only other way of getting out dark colour, whether it be in hilites or an all over application. The bleach will break down the artificial colour, but also the protein structure of the hair. Unfortunately it also brings out the undertones in the hair which is where the orange and brassiness comes from. Since the hair near the roots is lighter than the ends you now need to have your hair low-lited to match up the roots to ends. Alternatively it may be hilited and a corresponding medium to dark blonde semi-permanent placed inbetween the hilites to colour balance. The real trick is finding a Hairdresser who is good with colour and knows what to put on to counteract unwanted shades, fill where undertones are absent and get the colour right.

And it doesn’t end there! You will need to keep your hair in really good shape for it to hold the colour as the bleaching process makes the hair porous (meaning that artificial colour will fade out more quickly than on healthy hair). I would recommend Goldwell’s Moisture Definition Shampoo & Conditioner and Vivecap Color treatment. I ahve been using these for years now and the Vivecap treatment will help the structural damage in your hair and lock the colour in.

Hope this helps.

Recently I attended the 50th birthday of one of  a friend of a friend. Since I didn’t know anyone there of course I checked out everyones’ hair and sense of fashion, it’s something that us hairdressers do without even thinking about it. Luckily most had gone to a bit of trouble to look good because Miss 50 had hired a photographer to record the event which was held at the roof top bar of a Darlinghust pub, nice!

I must say that I was very impressed with this photographer as she just slipped throught the crowd and seemed to get those wonderful “real life” shots that always capture the moment better than a posed shot. She was like one of those great waiters that you don’t even realise has topped up your drink and taken away your finished dinner plate. Needless to say, my first impression was good.

This then had me thinking the next day about an article I read from The Brazen Careerist about the importance of having a good photo for your professional image, but after looking at some shots in magazines and papers I can see that some have used a photographer but thought that they could manage their own hair and make-up.

Your professional image is one of the most important aspects of your career, we all judge people by their image whether we care to admit it or not, so why take chances by not doing it right the first time? You may be wearing your best suit but it’s odds on that it’s your hair and picture quality that will get noticed, oh, and make-up for the ladies. So put your best foot forward and impress them before they even meet you.

Being bleach Blonde can be great, but it can also get a bit boring. It is a commonly held misconception that if you want to get rid of the blonde that you have to cut it off, but it is possible to colour the hair back to a darker shade, it’s just time consuming and can very very costly. So here’s an alternative.

Who out there can remember their Mother or Grandmother coming home from the salon with a strange colour in their hair? Who could forget the fabulous Mrs Slocombe from are you being served?

It’s all about water rinses, in particular, Roux Fanciful Rinses. They are easy to use, shampoo out and come in a range of colours though unfortunately pink and blue are no longer available. But it does come in a range of colours that look more natural, including: Black Rage, Chocolate Kiss, Pretty Beaver, Muted Maize, Hidden Honey, Very Vanilla, Spun Sand and Fivolous Fawn among others. They are a great way to get a bit of a change from white blonde without having the worry of it being permanent.

You simply wash your hair and apply the rinse to towel dried hair then style as usual.

It can be hard to get good, reliable and genuine advice for your hair and unfortunately mainstream media advertising can be the biggest culprip for leading you astray. My pet hate about this type of adverstising is the non-professional products that appear in hair magazines because as we all know, advertisers wouldn’t lie to us and if it appears in a hair magazine it must be good. Right? Not necessarily.

Many of these products will tell you what they will do for your hair, but not to your hair. Like coat it in a plastic like/waxy  film which will stop colour services from working properly, if at all. These are ones that are found in shopping aisles and chemists (drugstores for my overseas readers). These products are advertised in magazines next to a selection of hiarstyles submitted by professional hairdressers using professional products, leading readers to think they can get the same results with non-professional products. Can you imagine your Hairdresser whipping out a packet mix colour of Brand X that he picked up from Coles on his way to work to do your hair with? If you can it’s a good thing you’re reading this.

Professional products don’t use nearly as much mainstream media advertising choosing instead to spend their money on research and development and relying on Hairdressers to educate their clients on their hair care needs. While some Hairdressers will try to sell you anything and everything to try and make a buck, most of us recommend products specific for your hair to improve it’s quality which in turn makes it easier for us and you to maintain and “do”.

That said, not all non-professional products fall into this category and not all professional products are as fabulous as they claim. The ebst you can do is find a trustworthy Hairdresser, ask their advice and see and feel how your hair feels and looks after you use your products.

Colour is a temperamental mistress. How many of you have a beautiful colour? How many of you find that it doesn’t quite last the distance, or for the blondes, goes brassy? Lets start with the non-blondes.

When your colour fades it can be due to any number of factors: resistant hair, environmental factors (wind, sun, salt water), hard water and (God forbid) cheap colour products or bad colouring techniques. The answer? Let’s  now look at blondes.

Your beautiful blonde hilites look great, then they start to go brassy and look flat, why? Again it can be envirnoment but add in chlorine from the water, water going through old pipes which can contain any number of nasty things and of course build up from product. This is where a clarifying shampoo comes in handy as it draws out all the impurities. Now let’s look at the solution.

Coloured Mousse. My preference: Goldwell Color Soft. It’s so easy to use and lasts for upto 10 shampoos. A coloured mousse can add tone and depth to fading hair or tone down unwanted brassiness. Why do I love it? It extends the life of a colour so that clients get a lot more value for money and need not get their colour done more than necessary.

But here’s the warning; don’t try and pick it out yourself, get professional advice on which one is best for you, if you pick the wrong one you may end up with a grey blonde, ewww.

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Christmas is only a matter of days away and everyone is trying to fit in that last haircut and colour amongst the shopping, deadlines, shopping, parties, shopping and of course, that last minute shopping.

We all know that cameras will be a-flashing this time of the year, so here’s a few tips to help you, and your hair, look good this silly season.

It’s all about lighting, background and clothes. There are 3 types of lighting – warm, cool and natural, and here’s how each type will affect your hair colour.

Warm light has a more yellow or golden tone to it which is easier on the eyes at night and can therefore be more flattering. On neutral blondes it will make it look a bit brassy, on ash blonde it can make it look a bit greenish but will accentuate honey and caramel tones and is great for redheads and brunettes.

Cool light is bluish and can be quite harsh on the eyes, like entering the 7/11 at midnight to get that mars bar on your way home from the pub, ew! Cool light can really bring out the beauty of blonde hair, cooling down any brassiness or making you look Nordic blonde, though it can make some golden blondes look a bit green. It will also flatten out reds and coppers to a certain degree but brunettes need not worry.

Natural light is a mix of both warm and cool like sunlight. It can bring out the true fabulousness of your hair but it can also expose any flaws.

Like lighting, your surroundings can also affect how your colour looks. All that Xmas green will either set your red hair alight or make it as brown as christmas pudding. If you live in the digital world some of these things can be easily fixed, but if you’re old school and still using an SLR then you need to remember things like lighting and background, even the type of film and the way it’s processed can make a difference.

But I think the most important thing to remember is get the pictures taken before you get stuck into too much Christmas cheer. So to all a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Dean.

Today it’s not so much about your hair as your skin. With summer upon us, it’s likely that most of us will be out and about in the sun a lot more. And that will mean more exposure to the sun. Skin cancer is the fourth most common type of cancer in Australia and affects more than 380,000 Australians each year with nearly 10,000 of those being melanoma, the most deadly form causing around 1,600 deaths per year, and it doesn’t matter how old you are. Your GP can check you out when you visit or you can make an appointment

Hairdressers have access to a part of your body that you don’t, and most people wouldn’t think to look at, your scalp. Just recently I noticed a “dodgy” looking mole/freckle on the scalp of a family friend and I recommended straight away for her to have it looked at, and being from the nursing world she has made an appointment to have it looked at as soon as possible. A few years ago while I was living in Melbourne one of my clients sent her new boyfriend in to have a decent haircut, the first thing I saw was a badly discoloured mole. I sent him straight to the doctor. I didn’t see him for 4 or 5 months, but when I did, he said that if he hadn’t seen the doctor straight away he would have been given 6-12 months to live. This is really serious.

So all I can do is urge you all to do is go and get checked and please don’t forget your scalp or the nape of your neck, besides that, hope you all have a really great Christmas, happy Chanukah or a joyous time whatever your religion may be, and don’t forget your sunscreen.