Autumn and Winter Hair Trends E-Magazine

Instead of a blog post today, I would like to invite you to download my Autumn and Winter Hair Trends E-Magazine for free. Have a read to find out what will be a hot trend this season and read some of my tips on how to achieve them, you can find my product recommendations and some information on my consultation classes.

12 Tips for Colour Removal and Correction

1. A hair colourremover and a hair colour stripper are very different.  

A colour remover contains a sulphite agentwhich works only on destroying the artificial colour molecule so it can beflushed from the hair, it cannot affect natural pigments present.  A stripper contains a peroxide agent and isdesigned to gently remove both natural and artificial pigments so you canre-colour immediately to a different or lighter permanent shade.

2. Fading unintentionally dark hair colour.

If you haveapplied a colourant and it’s too dark wash it in baby or clarifying shampooseveral times immediately.  Most homehair colours contain an after colour conditioner which is designed to help thecolour molecules settle inside the hair. If you are not sure if you are happy with the colour, washing it willremove any barriers (from the conditioner) and unsettle the new permanentcolour.

3. Removing colour sooner rather than later.

If a colour istoo dark, try to remove it immediately or within 48 hours.  The fresher an artificial colour the quickerit will remove from the hair (especially if you have already washed andclarified it several times with baby or clarifying shampoo).  New unwanted darker hair colourants onlyrequire a hair colour remover, they shouldn’t need a hair colour stripper. 

4. Fixing hair colour that is too light.

If a colour hascome out too light (for your liking) try to do the opposite as to darkercolours and wait at least 48 hours before attempting to re-colour, ideallywaiting one week.  Lightened hair canlook brighter when first coloured and will often calm done over the followingdays, so judgement should be reserved before attempting to go darker.

5. Balancing warm tones in hair colour.

If a shade hascome out too warm, golden, coppery or gingery work out if you have applied acolourant which contains (gold, copper or red) as one of its tones or whetheryour hair has lightened in the colouring process and ‘kicked up’ your naturalwarmth.  If you have applied a neutral orash based colourant and are seeing warmth it’s because your own shade was toodark for the colourant applied and possibly needed pre-lightening or strippingfirst.

6. Use colour remover to remove unwanted tones.

If you haveestablished a shade applied and it has caused your hair to go warm, golden, copper orred due to the secondary tones featured in the product applying a hair colourremover should rectify this issue.

7. Options for covering unwanted shades.

If you haveestablished a shade applied has caused your hair to go warm, golden, copper orred due to the lightening of your natural shade you need to make a choice as towhether you want to strip the hair and apply the desired shade again (onto alighter base) or whether you wish to go to a slightly darker shade which wouldcover the unwanted warmth.

8. Do not apply aperoxide based colourant immediately after using a hair colour remover

Thechemistry of colour removal and peroxide contradicts - so you need to leave thehair ideally 1 week (to normalise) before attempting to apply a peroxide basedcolourant.  You can (however) use nonperoxide temporary colourants and toners after using a hair colour remover.

9. Stripper creates a blank canvas for recolouring.

Hair that hasbeen stripped has seen both natural and artificial colour pigment removed fromthe hair, therefore you should always have your selected subsequent colourantshade at hand to achieve your desired result after the stripping process.

10. Retaining a good base shade.

The key to asuccessful hair colour is mostly achieving a good base shade.  If you are looking to go blonde, obtaining adark blonde base shade can prove a good canvas for highlights.  If you prefer darker (brunette hair) alwaysensure you apply colourants only to your re-growth and do not apply throughoutthe hair.  This will prevent buildup.  Using toners and colour enhancingshampoos will also retain your shade and do not attempt to use severalpermanent colourant processes on your hair within at least a one monthperiod.  Very frequent exposure toperoxides, ammonia and PPD’s can cause the hair to become very porous anddamaged.  Once hair becomes damaged it isthen difficult to achieve a good colourant result as the shade could grabinitially and appear too dark (or patchy) and then fade fast over subsequentwashes. 

11. Fashion colours can be difficult to remove.

Be aware thatfashion colours such as pink, blue and purple (and often bright red) do notwork on oxidation (peroxide) technology to evoke a long term result; insteadthey are a ‘direct dye’ which stains the hair. If the hair is bleached these direct dye molecules can stain the hairand make the shade impossible to remove. A hair colour remover is not designed to remove direct (fashion)dyes.  A stripper may have more successbut always give a strand test first.

12. Clarifying hair to improve results. 

Prior to anyhair colour removal, stripping or correction clarify the hair fully.  Even if you have just conditioned the hair,there may be a barrier on the surface which will prevent removal, stripping orcorrection working effectively.  If yousee absolutely no hair colour change from a removal or a stripping treatment theremay be a chance your hair has silicone damage. Here the hair has been encased in a silicone which quite often has beenmoulded to the hair by heat.  In theseinstances follow the blog advice for ‘Hair Clarifying’.  

Hair Clinic Summary: Tone on Tone, Colour Glazing and Hair Colour Effects

As some of you will know I've been running a regular Hair Clinic on Facebook at 8pm every Sunday. This is where I set a topic and you ask me your questions around the topic. This has been really popular and the team has decided that we will record summaries of each of these chats on the blog for your reference.

Hair Clinic: 25th September Chat Highlights

The Topic

Top Questions Answered

Q: just wanted to let you know the advice RE: using crazy colour capri blue and a crazy colour bright red mixed together to create a decent purple worked amazingly well. even fine on my gross greeny/blue foul coloured hair i had haha. best purple ever!

A: I'm glad it worked for you, I used to constantly try and achieve a deep royal purple and tried all types of pre-mixed fashion colours but found the mixing with the bright red and capri crazy colours gave by far the best purple! Cheers Scott

Q: Hi my friend has bleach hair with pink semi over she wants to go blonde, will the de- colour work on the semi pink thanks pxx

A: Hi Paula decolour isn't really designed to remove fashion colour. She can try it and see what it removes, she just needs to be aware sometimes pink can stain bleached hair and it becomes tricky to remove - it depends how porous her hair was when she applied the original pink shade. Kind Regards Scott

Q: Hi Scott, my roots will not lift and keep going a golden colour whilst the rest of my is ash blonde! I use 40% and leave on for an hour.. Toner doesn't do anything.

A: Hi Sarah, 40 volume is way too strong to go on the scalp and I often found it will kick up more ginger (with colourants) than all the other volumes as it lifts too quickly, it will also boot out the colour pigment you are trying to add to the hair. Have you tried using a high lift ash tint with 20 volume? You may find this gives you a better level of lift and goes past that coppery shade. Let me know - regards Scott

Q: Hi Scott, I use nice n easy sb2 for all over colour, it can go brassy at the root, anything I can do to tone the roots and make sure the lengths are the same colour?

A: Hi Sarah have you tried treating the hair afterwards with Colour Restore Iced Platinum? If you haven't I'd suggest you apply the colour as usual but wash out with baby shampoo (not the colourant which comes with the Nice and Easy as it's a colour sealer - use this in later washes). Then after washing the colour out with baby shampoo apply the Iced Platinum throughout it develop for 10 minutes and finish. This should tone the hair for you. Also, you might want to look at a lightening Nice and Easy that has more ash in it, but I think you should try toning with the Colour Restore immediately after colour application first. Kind Regards Scott

Q: Hi Scott, I used your Decolour remover on my very red hair, fabulous product btw, very impressed with the results, I then went over it with a medium ash brown and the bleached into an ombre effect. As expected, a it brassy so then toned with purple shampoo. Still a bit on the warm side so toned with a neutral blonde, literally for 20 seconds as the bleached hair completely sucked up the colour on strand test and didn't want to end up purple grey. It's cooled considerably, but still some warmth, which of your Colour Restore products do you recommend?

A: Hi Jana use Cool Ash on the hair, for a tip Cool Ash takes the best on clarified hair (without conditioner barriers on it) and if your hair is porous it should pick up well. It also needs a few applications to hit optimum coolness as it can start neutralising first. If you use a blue shampoo to wash and a little Cool Ash as your 1 minute conditioner (after every wash) you should find you get quite a cool effect. Kind Regards Scott

If you would like to take part in the next Hair Clinic be sure to keep an eye on the Facebook page every Sunday from 8pm.

How to Create Vibrant Red Florence Welch Hair

So many people want to display a vibrant permanent red shade but often find this particular colour a difficult one to achieve for a whole variety of reasons.

The biggest problem with red hair colourants (in my view) is a lack of understanding as to the level of depth in the actual colourant.  If a red shade uses a brown as its base (such as deep auburns and mahogany's) and is subsequently applied to hair that is already fairly brunette the result will be much darker than expected

Remember, red is a tone not a base – meaning the more base which is presented in the hair (or added to it) the darker it will become and the less the (red) tone will be displayed.

The Perfect Base for Red Hair Colouring

In order to achieve a true vibrant red shade (in a natural brunette) the base colour must (initially) be a medium blonde or copper.  This will allow for the red pigments to fill the inside of the hair and display the colour 100% accurately. 

The key to retaining a good redhead shade is to try to avoid pre lightening with traditional bleaches (designed for blonde results) and use only non-ammonia products to lift up the base.

In addition, very bleached or pale hair should always be pre-pigmented before applying a permanent red shade.  Pre Pigmenting will fill the empty hair with additional red colour molecules and these pigments can form a layer underneath the permanent shade (applied) which not only reduces fading but also add to the vibrancy of the overall shade.

The Florence Welch Red Shade

The Florence Welch shade is a really popular example of the ‘vibrant redhead’.  Florence’s colour is prone to changing in intensity from being a more muted auburn to a fiery pure red.  This demonstrates that Florence (herself) has issues with both getting the vibrancy right in her colour and finding a shade which doesn’t slip out too aggressively during washing.

I would imagine that Florence’s natural base is a medium blonde to auburn, for this reason she would be able to apply a colourant directly onto her hair without prior stripping.  However, for the purposes of this how-to I am explaining how to achieve the shade on darker light to mid brunette bases or for those with lighter (natural) bases who have been previously colouring to achieve the look.

You will need

• ·         Decolour Remover or Stripper (depending on camouflaging shade desired)
• ·         Garnier Nutrisse Ultra Colour Fiery Red  - 6.60
• ·         Colour Restore Deep Red (if using Decolour Remover)

Step 1 – Removing or Stripping

Remember, this how to is designed for brunettes (who wish to achieve a vibrant red) or lighter bases who have overlaid previous red colourants and achieved a darker than expected result.

Step 1 - For natural and artificially coloured dark blondes to brunettes

The key is to firstly strip the hair of both base shade and artificial colour molecules.  In order to obtain a true vibrant blanket of red you must start with an even lighter canvas that will display the colour effectively. I've outlined my step by step instructions for stripping hair colour below, or you can watch my tutorial.

To strip the hair

·         Firstly wash several times and towel dry. Comb the hair smooth and make sure it’s parted correctly.

·         Now mix the Decolour Stripper as instructed and apply firstly to any areas which appear heavy or dark.  These will typically be the mid-lengths and ends.  Once you have applied to these darker areas leave for 10 minutes.

·        After 10 minutes, apply the remainder of the Decolour Stripper to the damp hair and comb through evenly from roots to tips, the hair should be damp as this will enable the stripper crème to work evenly throughout the hair.

·        Once the crème is combed through the damp hair (as you would a conditioner) leave to develop for a further 20 minutes and proceed to rinsing and applying the conclude balm.

·         After stripping you should notice your hair is a lightened coppery shade.  This is good as you now have a base on to which to apply the Fiery Red hair colour.

Step 1 - For natural but previously artificially coloured medium blonde shades

Repeat the above steps using Decolour Remover, but ensure you give a full development (once the crème is applied throughout the hair) of 60 minutes.  A full development of remover will ensure all the artificial colour molecules are eradicated and the natural (light) base is exposed.

After using Decolour Remover you cannot apply a peroxide based shade for 7 days.  Therefore, to achieve your desired ‘Redhead’ effect, follow the removal immediately with an application of Colour Restore Deep Red.  This will create a short term ‘redhead’ result and will also act as a pre-pigment.

After 7 days (or so) I would recommend applying a second Colour Restore Deep Red application (to further pre-pigment the hair) and then proceed to applying the permanent colourant as outlined below.

Step 2 – Applying your permanent redhead shade

Garnier Nutrisse Ultra Color Fiery Red 6.60 would be my recommendation for achieving the Florence Welch shade at home.

REMEMBER: If you have used Decolour Stripper to create your new canvas you can proceed to the colour step immediately, however if you have used Decolour Remover (to expose a natural lighter base), please ensure you immediately re-colour with Colour Restore Deep Red (as outlined above) and wait 7 days before applying this permanent colour.

I would recommend you apply the Fiery Red shade to slightly damp (non-dry) hair as this will ensure the colourant goes onto the hair smoothly.

When applying, use a tangle comb and work the colourant evenly into the hair and develop for the instructed development time.

Step 3 – Maintaining a vibrant red shade

It’s crucial to maintain red shades with appropriate haircare products.  Using a red enhancing shampoo will ensure the hair is cleansed but the artificial red colour molecule is not depleted in the hair by the regular washing.  I would recommend using ‘John Freida Radiant Red’ shampoo as your home care solution for this purpose.  It is also worth giving your hair a weekly (or bi monthly) ‘Colour Restore Deep Red’ infusion to retain the overall red shade and vibrancy.

 

Step 4 – Regrowth Application

If you are a natural brunette, I would recommend a monthly (to 5 weekly) re-growth application of the Garnier Ultra Colour Fiery Red 6.60, as soon as the hair demonstrates a very small amount of re-growth close to the scalp.  Scalp heat will accelerate the strength of peroxide and offer more of a lift in the base shade.  If the dark roots are allowed to grow through too much, this scalp heat will be less effective and not lift the overall base shade to a level which will display red vibrancy.  Therefore, subsequent red applications may start appearing too dark at the top sections as the hair grows.

Whenever you conduct the ‘redhead’ re-growth application, always apply with a tint bowl and brush to the new growth only.  This will ensure precision of application.  Try to keep your head as warm as possible and this will also aid lifting of the base shade and a good overall display of the red colour.

Do not pour the entire contents of the colourant over the head, as you will subject the previously coloured hair to unwanted chemical treatment.  However, 10 minutes before the end of the regrowth development, wet a tangle comb and begin working that root colour through to the mid-lengths and ends.  This will ensure the old hair colour is refreshed and the red shade remains fully vibrant. 

Clarifying Hair and Silicone Damage

What are Silicones?

Many people still don't realise that many hair care products contain polymers (including silicones) which sit on the outside of the hair shaft and can create a barrier.  Silicone molecules can be the worst for this because many are not water soluble so cannot just be 'washed off' in one go. You can spot silicone ingredients in products by looking for ingredient names ending in 'cone'.


Silicone Build Up in Hair

If you are using different shampoo and conditioning brands and then following with another styling product - which again contains silicones you could have three different types of silicone molecule on the hair.  Washing the hair with another silicone based shampoo will then add further silicone molecules onto the hair and result in the hair suffering heavy build up.

What is Silicone Damage?

If you use heated styling products such as hot irons you can seal this build up onto the hair, gluing down the cuticle layer, trapping in the silicone and making it difficult to remove.

In some instances a straightening iron can reach such a high temperature that the silicone molecule actually reaches boiling point and melts onto the hair shaft.  Please be aware this is the fault of the straightening iron and not the silicone and quite frankly if you are using a devise which gets so hot it can melt silicone imagine what it's doing to your hair fibres and proteins!

When hair suffers build up and/ or silicone damage, the surface is closed off to hair alteration meaning that colourants, perms, colour removers and even bleaches might not work on your hair.

If you are worried about silicone build up, hair should be clarified once a week to enable the hair to breath and function in conjunction with the products you are applying.

Hair Clarifying Tips

1.  Try using a baby shampoo on every third wash to prevent build up.

2.  Keep conditioner use to only the mid lengths and ends of the hair and use sparingly.

3.  Once a week use a Clarifying product such as Pin Up Clarifying Shampoo.  It's designed for use prior to perms and chemical services but is great for removing weekly build up  finish with the Pre Perm 'Leave In' conditioner as a light hydration product.

4.  For a deep clarifying treatment put two spoons of bicarbonate of soda into a mug of warm water.  After using a Clarifying Shampoo, pour the Bicarb rinse through the hair and comb through.  Leave for 10 to 20 minutes and rinse off.  The bicarb will help to break down any surface residue and over time can help with severe build up.

5.  If you have suffered silicone heat damage, clarifying the hair may not reverse the situation.  I would recommend you refer to Philip Kingsley products for your hair type for at least six months. Philip Kingsley products will not coat the hair any further and (overtime) will hydrate if the residue begins breaking from the hair.

Remember, if hair is very damaged from heated build up, the middle of the hair could be highly fragile.  Whilst it may look shiny on the outside, this shine is often synthetic and if a chemical product is successful in breaking through the build up the hair and entering inside, the hair could break due to its fragile state.  Always strand test before undertaking such treatments.

How to Create Chocolate Brown Catherine Zeta Jones Hair from Black Hair

Many people find themselves in the murky territory of black hair when simply trying to achieve a ‘Chocolate Brown’ shade. Continually trying alternative browns or constant recolouring ultimately leads to a build-up of colour which becomes black, heavy and artificial looking.

By contrast, some individuals - who have actually chosen to sport raven black hair - often look to find a way to reduce the edge of the black and create that effective Chocolate Brown shade. The below method uses Catherine Zeta Jones shade as a destination and explains a way of partial colour removal to reduce a black shade to a softer deep brown

The Catherine Zeta Jones Shade

Catherine’s natural colour is known as a 4.0 ‘Medium Brown’ which displays on the head as a dark brown.   Her colourist would avoid using any shades too much darker than a 4.0 as otherwise the hair would start becoming ‘flat’.  In addition, a very subtle violet tone is possibly added to the overall base shade to create the richness but counteract any copper hue which is prone to appearing in darker, coloured brunette shades.

If you have unwanted black hair colour and you are wishing to display a more ‘brunette’ look, try undertaking a partial colour removal or stripping and then ‘camouflaging ’ the hair with a new lighter brown base shade.  With unwanted blacks the tendency is to try to remove the entire shade and start again, however working with the black (as a base colour) can actually create quite good results.

What you need

• Hair Clarifier
• Decolour Remover or Decolour Stripper (read below for recommendations)
• Tint bowl and brush
• 5.0 (light brown) hair colourant either semi-permanent or 8 wash (see recommendation)

Do I need Decolour Stripper or Decolour Remover?

My recommendation would be that if you have recently coloured your hair black or obtained an unwanted black hair colour result through recent colouring, use Decolour Remover.  The Decolour Remover will take out the black on any areas it is applied to and you can then subsequently apply an 8 wash brunette shade to evoke your colour result, prior to switching to a permanent version in the future.

If you have a long term black colour or have suffered colour build up (from constant recolouring)  I would recommend using Decolour Stripper. If you are looking to completely remove all traces of black hair, please refer to my previous blog post on removing black hair dye for tips.

Step 1 – Clarifying

With black hair and colour build up it’s crucial to clarify the hair several times before even attempting a removal, stripping and re-colouring. Quite often the cuticle is coated in conditioners, styling products and residue which will prevent the subsequent treatment working effectively.  I recommend Pin Up clarifier, whilst it’s designed for pre perming clarifying  it’s also great for use prior to colouring, removal or stripping, use this without a conditioner to remove unwanted product build up.

Step 2 – Removing or Stripping

With partial removing and stripping the idea is to keep some of the black base in there and introduce a lighter brown which will blend and create an overall deep brown, that will be multi-tonal and quite natural looking. This technique is quite similar to Balayage, which you can read about here.

Mix your chosen Decolour in a tint bowl. You should only need to mix 50% of the product as you are not required to cover every hair on the head.

Brush the hair thoroughly.  Dip the tint brush into the Decolour and take a panel of hair from the parting and starting at the mid-lengths and ends begin coating this panel in the product.  

Pay less attention to the root areas, and only lightly brush the product onto these areas – always ensure the majority of the crème goes onto those mid lengths and ends.  Roots will traditionally remove or strip easier, so require less of the crème than the stubborn mid lengths and ends.

After applying the first panel, next take a second panel of hair on the opposite side of the head and repeat, and then begin taking panels from the under sides of the hair and back sections.

The aim is to coat panels of hair throughout the hair, but not apply the product to the hair in its entirety.   Remember, you also want to make sure there are (untouched) panels of black hair still remaining.

Step 3 – Developing

Once you have applied the crème to panels of hair throughout the head leave to develop for 40 minutes.  

If using Decolour Remover do not cover the hair in cling film (as instructed in the box) as it will squish down the product into the untouched areas.  Simply leave the product to develop as it was applied to the hair.

After 40 minutes, wet a tangle comb and begin combing the hair through (evenly) from root to tip.  At this stage you can begin combing the remover or stripper into the untreated black hair.  

When the crème is fully combed through develop for a further 20 minutes.  Combing the crème through the hair will gently shift a layer of the remaining black hair colour to reduce the shade slightly.  

Once the further 20 minutes have passed you can rinse and remove the crème from the hair.

Step 4 – Camouflaging

Camouflaging is a method of re-colouring pre-lightened, highlighted or lifted hair with a new hair colour.  After Camouflaging the hair will take on the new shade, but have varying translucent depths due to the previous lifting method applied.  

Camouflaging prevents hair looking flat or heavy which is a common pitfall of block colour.

At this stage (and prior to applying the new colour), your hair should be displaying a mixture of varying depths and the previous removal or stripping should be noticeable.  

You now need to re-colour your hair.

What Shade Should I Recolour With?

If you used Decolour Remover for your panel method I would recommend using Nice and Easy Non- permanent 765 Medium Brown.   This is a temporary shade, but can be used immediately after colour removal without risk of re-oxidation.  If you wait several weeks (for this shade to fade) you can then use the permanent version in the same brand.

If you used Decolour Stripper for your panel method I would recommend using John Frieda Precision Foam 5N Natural Brown.  This is a permanent shade and can be applied immediately after stripping the hair.

Step 5 – Upkeep

After you have applied your subsequent colour you should find your hair now appears a deep chocolate brown.  Whilst the hair will still be deemed a ‘dark shade’ it won’t have the black appearance and will look much softer.

If you wish to soften the hair colour further, I would recommend waiting 6 weeks and then repeating the above exercise with the remaining 50% of the remover or stripper you have left over and sticking with the same shades as outlined above.  A second partial removal, stripping or re-colouring will reduce the depth further and create a softer brown still.

When maintaining this chocolate shade in the future, apply to re-growth areas only (with the tint bowl and brush) and do not pour the contents of the colourant over the entire head.  Doing this will cause the hair colour to build up again and over several months start becoming darker and possibly black again.

Another Tip

If you want to keep your Chocolate Brown shade as deep as possible (after this method) but retain the lustre, try use Wella Shaders & Toners Dark Brown 4.0 immediately after conducting your colour and then use very few weeks to maintain.

Wella Shaders are ‘Wash in Wash Out’ colours which add tone and some depth and are perfect for keeping a brunette shade deep without risk of build-up.Using the Plum variant will add a purple tone into the hair which can also look very effective on dark brunette bases.

The Problems with Removing Black Hair Dye

Why is Black Hair Colour Difficult to Remove?

Whether by design or intention black hair can often prove to be a bugbear many people get stuck with when using home colourants and can prove very difficult to remove.

The creation of artificial black hair is achieved by a total saturation of pigment.  Basically, the hair is quite literally stuffed with a much higher ratio of artificial colour molecules than usual.   Remember, with an artificial colourant the lighter the shade the less base pigment present in the product.  With black and darkest brown colourants the shade is abundant in a very high level of artificial pigment molecules.  With black shades these can also include the pure black molecules (which are very large) and blue.

Black Hair Colour Due to Colour Build Up

A black hair colour can also be found in colour build-up of brunette shades.  This happens when the whole hair is continually subjected to artificial colour applications, rather than just the re-growth areas.  With each application, more and more pigments are introduced into the hair until it becomes so full it can literally take no more colour.  At this point the hair will appear black – which indicates complete colour saturation. 

The Problems of Removing Black Hair Dye

Even using a hair colour remover, black shades can be notoriously difficult to remove in one go, simply because the level of pigment in the hair is high and the remover has to work extra hard to extradite all of it.  Quite often, the colour remover will become inactive whilst it is mid-way through the removal and a second or even third application is required.

Removing only one application of a pure black colourant from the hair can be easier than people think, simply because the colour molecules have entered the hair at the same time.  The big issue is removal of colour build up.  Here the colour molecules can be sitting within the hair in layers and are of varying ages, therefore it’s quite common for a colour removal application to be required for each of the colour layers the hair has been subjected to during its lifespan. 

Top Tips on Removing Black Hair Dye

Work with Clarified Hair

Always clarify black hair several times before attempting to remove to make sure any barriers are shifted from the hair.  These barriers can quite often prevent a colour removal from working at all. To clarify hair you need to use silicone free products, something like a baby shampoo works well.

It takes time

On long term black use, don't expect the black shade to be removed in one hit.  Instead, try applying the remover once every couple of weeks to take a layer off at a time.


Black Colourants Contain Peroxide

Remember, with black colourants come peroxide.  Therefore, built up shades could reveal a coppery lightened base that will start toward the root and expose further down with each colour removal application until the ends reverse. 

Temporary Colour Camouflage

Use a product like Clairol Nice and Easy Level 1 (8 Wash) in medium brown to cover revealed copper whilst you are in a period of removal.  The Level 1 Nice and Easy has no peroxide or ammonia and will create a shade which will fade with washing.  Therefore, you can top it up in between colour removals and until your permanent black shade has been completely reversed.

Stripping black hair is ineffective for revealing a very light base.Simply because the pigment is so abundant the stripper has to work much harder.  It will quite often strip to a rusty brown shade.  However, if you just want to go to a deeper brown shade, you can strip the black and re-colour immediately with a 4.0 or 5.0 (medium and light brown) to achieve a rich true brown.

Silicone Damage will Cause Removal Problems

Some hair colourants use high amounts of silicone and if you use heat or irons on the hair this silicone can melt and cause the hair colour to become permanently trapped.  Silicone damaged hair will have a slightly synthetic appearance and the black does not shift with a remover, stripper or bleach. You will need to reverse this damage before any subsequent treatments can take full effect. I'll write a full post about silicone damage soon.

Home Balayage Step by Step Tutorial: Medium to Light Brown Bases

Balayage is a technique which has been used for nearly 40 years in many of the top salons in Paris and Beverly Hills.  It involves the direct brushing of either a colourant or lightener onto the hair without the use of a cap or foils.

This Balayage technique works best on natural (non colour treated) hair.  However, using Decolour Stripper, the Balayage method can now be used on colour treated hair to partially strip hair colour prior to recolouring to effectively create a multi-tonal base in a soft, natural way.


DIY Balayage Tutorial for Medium to Light Brown Hair

This tutorial is designed for current medium to light brown bases who want to achieve a natural medium blonde base (either cool or warm). Please refer to the end of this blog post for my notes on DIY Balayage on brunettes and black hair.

You will need

• Tint Bowl
• Brush
• Decolour Stripper
• Permanent Colourant (see colourant recommendation chart)

How to Create Balayage Hair at Home

Make sure the hair is clarified (washed with a sulphate & silicone free shampoo such as baby shampoo) to ensure it's 100% free of styling products and conditioning residue, this will allow the treatment to work fully. Most importantly dry hair into your usual hair style, this is crucial to ensure good positioning of your balayage. 

Home Balayage Tutorial Preparation 

1. Mix only 50% of your Decolour Stripper elements in the tint bowl and ensure only the tip of the tint brush is dipped into the product. You can keep the remaining 50% of product in their separate containers and save them for another treatment at a later date.  
2. Working on dry hair, use the pointed end of the tint brush and segregate a thread (about 1cm wide) of hair from the front of the parting.  Pull the thread outward and starting at the end of the hair section, begin coating in the Decolour Stripper, working up the section and applying slightly less stripper at the root area. Go Along the parting and continue creating these streaks.
3. Once you have applied the threads along the parting, begin using the tip of your tint brush to pull out and coat slightly thicker sections of hair in the stripper (1.5cm-2cm wide) from underneath your parting. Again, apply the stripper to the mid lengths and ends of the section first and apply less to the root area.
4. When choosing chunks to coat on the underneath of your hair, you can coat sections as wide as 3 cm if you wish.
5. Work through the hair taking these slightly wider sections from both the sides and the back of the hair.
6. Once you have applied the stripper to your sections, do not comb through as you want to leave a lot of your darker base intact.
7. Once applied, leave the Decolour Stripper to develop on the hair for between 45 minutes and 1 hour before rinsing as instructed.
8. Once you have developed and rinsed off the Decolour Stripper, fully towel dry the hair.  You will now notice the overall colour looks streaky and the tone may be warm, this is normal.

You have now created the base for your balayage look, next, you need to select the correct shade of permanent hair colour for your desired look, below are some suggested colours that you might like. Further instructions are below.

TOP TIP If you are prone to warmth and do not want to display a golden tone in the finished result always select a colourant with ash tone as your ‘camouflage’ shade.


What is a Camouflage Shade?

Camouflaging is a method of applying a permanent hair colourant to a pre-lightened, highlighted or Balayaged base to deepen the lightened areas but retain any deeper (unlightened) parts. Camouflaging mutes the overall colour and creates a richer multi tonal result without hard edges as seen when the hair is just lightened and left.

DIY Balayage Selecting the Correct Shade


Blonde Hair Colour Suggestions

DIY Balayage on medium to light brown shades wishing to go blonde with their balayage, might want to take inspiration from one of these fabulous ladies from Elle's honey blonde to J-lo's ash blonde.

Red Hair Colour Suggestions

If you want to be bold with your colour, why not go for a red shade? Here's my colour recommendations for auburn to vibrant red shades.Whether you want a subtle, Isla Fisher red to a vibrant, striking Rhianna red, here are some suggestions.

TOP TIP: If you need a hand choosing the right hair colour for your requirements, this is an easy way to understand what that shade aims to achieve in your hair colour. 

Natural = will mute warmth but retains tones already present in the hair.
Ash = neutralises warmth and creates a natural looking blonde.
Golden = Adds to the gold already present to create a soft copper effect.
Copper = Creates deep, warm copper shades.
Red = Creates vibrant red.

DIY Balayage Tutorial: The Hair Colouring Stage

1. Mix and Apply your camouflage colourant as per manufacturers instructions, apply to towel dried hair as this will enable the product to cover the hair evenly. 
2. Comb the colourant through the hair to ensure your whole hair is fully covered in colourant.
3. Leave the product to develop as per manufacturers instructions, rinse and finish.
4. Dry and Style your hair as normal. 
5. Your Balayage Stripping is now complete!

If you wish to build a lighter base and create further multi-tones in the hair, wait 4 to 6 weeks and repeat the process.

DIY Balayage on Dark Hair Colours

If you apply this technique to a deeper medium or darker brunette or natural black shade you need to remember to re-colour only with brunettes shades with a 6.0 (dark blonde), 5.0 (light brown), 4.0 (medium brown) and 3.0 (dark brown) base level.  If you are currently very dark and attempt this method with the colourant shades outlined the result will appear streaky as the chosen colourants applied will be too light for the level of pigment removal you can obtain during your Balayage Stripping.

  

How to Ombre your Hair at Home

Do you want to be able to achieve a creative and professional looking Ombre hair look at home? It's a technique I've been getting more and more enquiries about lately, so I've pulled together my technique that  will help you get it right at home.

What will you need?

• Tint Bowl 
• Brush 
• Decolour Stripper or Decolour Remover 
• Two hair bands 
• Colour Restore of your choice 

Ombre on Dark Hair

If you currently have a dark hair colour, you can use a Decolour product to ombre your hair with no extra hair colouring.

• If you have dyed dark hair with a lighter base underneath, you can use Decolour Remover to remove just the artificial dye. 
• If you are working on a naturally dark colour, use Decolour Stripper to remove artificial and natural colour from your hair.

Ombre on Fair Hair

When working on a fair hair base you have two options:

• If you are looking to add a fashion colour to your ombre such as red or pink with a chosen hair dye and are looking to create a light base for a more vibrant outcome, use Decolour Stripper to remove natural and artificial colour. 
• If want a dark colour on top and lighter ombre tips, you will need to dye your hair a darker shade all over and use Decolour Remover to remove the artificial colour only from the chosen ombre area.

The DIY Home Ombre Technique by Scott Cornwall

All hair treatments and colours work best on clarified hair, so wash your hair with a clarifying shampoo a few washes prior to treatment.

1.Work with towel dried hair pulled into two ponytails.

TOP TIP: Rather than mixing the product in the supplied bottles, combine them in a tint bowl for 1 minute, you may not require the whole mixture.

2.Using the suitable Decolour product (see above), use the tint brush to apply the product to the ends only. Allow to develop for 10 minutes.

3.Now apply the Decolour to the next section of hair and leave for 10 minutes, continue this process until the desired result has been achieved. Applying in stages will help to achieve the dip dyed or fading out effect.

4.Leave Decolour on for a further 10 minutes to develop to the desired results.

5.Reapply Decolour to the entire length of hair to even out application, leave to develop based on personal removal requirements, see pack instructions.

6. Rinse and apply the Conclude Balm or continue to use the Colour Restore product of choice.

Want to enhance your at home ombre hair? You could apply a fashion colour of your choice or use Colour Restore to improve and maintain your ombre colour.

To use Colour Restore with your Ombre

Colour Restore Cool Ash can be used to remove unwanted orange tones, Colour Restore Iced Platinum to remove unwanted yellow tones and Colour Restore Deep Red can be used to add a vibrant red pigment to your ombre.

1.Rinse out the Decolour product and apply the Colour Restore shade of your choice like a conditioner, before rinsing towel dry and reapply Colour Restore and allow to develop as instructed.

2.Rinse and dry as desired.