Level 3 hair colour dilemma

[vicky2231]

Hi. My client is a level 2/3 She has never had colour before. She would like to have low lites. Her description is caramel and honey. I don’t want too much warmth to come through. I was thinking to lift it to at least a 7. Any suggestions without using a
Bleach and toner would be welcome. Thank you.

 

[AcidPerm]

Why don’t you want to use bleach?

 

[vicky2231]

It’s not that I don’t want to, i was just thinking about alternatives really. As I am mobile it’s nice to bounce some ideas about. It’s what I miss in a salon.

 

[AcidPerm]

If it’s Asian hair, then I think you might struggle to lift it without using a good quality lightener as the cuticle layer is so tightly packed together but you could try a tint with 12%. If you’re not sure, could you take some small cuttings and do some strand tests first?

A lowlight is where the artificial colour is darker than the natural so if the natural hair is a level 2 and you want to lift it to a 6/7, then it’s still classed as a highlight.

 

[adamlea87]

I think if you want it to be a true gold-level 7 or 8 type colour then lightener and toning will give you the best result.

If you choose to lift with haircolour instead you will be dealing with a more orange underlying pigment, so that limits your choices somewhat. You can get more lift using a lighter shade, but you'd need to add extra ash into the colour to counteract all the extra warmth.

If you're working on fine hair, maybe try some tests like haircutz suggested. If your client has coarse texture hair I'd personally stick to lightener unless they want very warm results.

 

[vicky2231]

Thank you both so much. I will prob stick to using a lightener.

 

[AcidPerm]

Hi, just to say I’ve edited the thread title and added ‘colour dilemma’ now your query is resolved, because otherwise it’s likely to pop up in any future searches about Level 3 hairdressing training.

 

[vicky2231]

Thank you, I haven't used salon geek much before. Just getting into it.

 

[vicky2231]

Hi again. My client has been in touch again and changed her mind slightly. She still wants hi lites but different tones. I am thinking for the end result I would like to achieve an 8 with a warm tone and an ash tone so possibly an 8.13. ( I use loreal). What would use advise as I am thinking I would need to use 12%, to give an ash and warm tone next to each other. At the moment this is all by text.

 

[adamlea87]

I think this is a situation where you need to manage your clients expectations with what is possible with hair colour. Often when I ask people with very dark hair to show me photos of what they want, they show me colours created on much lighter bases, so I have to explain the limitations of color when working on dark bases.

If the client is a level 2-3, to get her to a level 8 is 5-6 levels lighter. In my opinion this is not possible with any product except lightener.

In order to get the lightness I would stick to your plan of using lightener and toning. If the client really wants another colour then I would suggest something 3 levels lighter than her base, but take thicker weaves as it will be much more subtle than the lighter highlights.

 

[vicky2231]

Thank you. If i advise her to stay within 3 shades lighter would you advise to use 12% with perhaps a 6.03 or 7.13.I haven't worked on hair this dark before so am concerned about too much warmth coming through. I am far more confident with hair 5 and above.

 

[adamlea87]

When you're working on dark hair, even though you are lifting the base with your tint, the dark hair has much more orange pigment to begin with which is exposed in the process.

If you use 12% with most colours (I think you use l'oreal?) what happens is that the peroxide will actually over-develop the dyes and they start to break down (basically bleaching the new dyes), so you end up with very brassy results.
6% gives you the most colour deposit/neutralisation, 9% gives you a little more lift but less deposit. 12% can be used with high-lift colour but will still give you very warm results on dark bases.

What I would do is use a level 7 ash e.g. 7.1+30 vol. If the client is a natural level 3, it will lift your client to a level 6, however you will expose a lot of orange pigment so I would add blue mixtone to the color, or I would instead use a stronger ash colour like inoa 7.11.

I wouldn't worry about adding extra warmth or gold to the colour, since there will already be so much warmth in the natural pigment, the result will be a warm chestnut tone.

 

[ronray]

Take a look at wella magma. It bleaches and tones the hair in one process and you have a choice of different tones. /17 is a nice option and so is/89+ of the hair is Asian I'd definitely use 12% with the /17 and use 9% with the /17

 

[vicky2231]

Thank you both so much. So kind of you to take the time. I will look at all of that. I can’t wait for the time to have the client in front of me to discuss fully with her.

 

[adamlea87]

Take a look at wella magma. It bleaches and tones the hair in one process and you have a choice of different tones. /17 is a nice option and so is/89+ of the hair is Asian I'd definitely use 12% with the /17 and use 9% with the /17

I've always wondered is Magma good for balayage? It sounds like it would be perfect if so!

 

[ronray]

I've always wondered is Magma good for balayage? It sounds like it would be perfect if so!

Yes definitely! For darker bases you have to make sure you have the + version otherwise it won't cut through it.
Be careful with some of the warm shades also as they are usually much warmer than you expect.