Colouring and bleaching hair is a very exciting part of hairdressing. You can change a clients hair colour subtly by just covering greys or dramatically by turning a mousy brown into a blonde.
Types of colours,
1. Tint- this is a permanent colour. Tints have the best and broadest range of colours. They can lighten, darken and give lots of different tones and leave hair in good condition. They can be used for both full head of colours and low lights.
2. Quasi- these are stronger than semi permanent colours. They give a better coverage of white hair and a good shine. They are mixed with developers and do leave a slight re-growth. They last from 12-24 washes.
3. Semi permenant- These colour and condition the hair and gradually fade away. They are not mixed with hydrogen peroxide and last 6-8 washes.
The pigments that are in tints are tiny therefore they fit right into the cuticle openings of the hair which is why they are permenant.
The pigments in a quasi colour are bigger than the pigments in a tint therefore they sit half in the cuticle opening and half out of the cuticle opening.
The pigments in a semi permanent colour are too big to fit into the cuticle opening therefore the pigments just coat the hair.
Establishing hair colour.
Light plays a very important part in the appearance of hair colours. If you are sitting in a dark room it is difficult to determine the true colour of the hair. The best way to look at hair colour is in natural daylight.
There are two types of natural hair colour. White hair- this contains no pigments at all. Natural coloured hair-this contains colour pigments found in the cortex. It is known as virgin hair which means it hasn’t been chemically treated.
Hair pigment- There are two main types of pigment :
Melanin which is brown or black
Pheomelanin which is red or yellow
The amount of melanin and pheomelanin present in the hair depends on the hair colour
Natural hair colour