Measuring Hair Colour

[stoley]

Hi all

I am a salon owner (although not a hairdresser) and am trying to cut down on product wastage in my salon. In particular we have a lot of colour wastage.

I have heard about other salons weighting the colour so you get the exact amount to mix up for a clients hair.

I have heard that this can cut wastage down by over half.

Do any of you have any experience in this or any advice you can offer? We use L'Oreal Colour at the moment.

Many thanks

Andy

 

[Prettyflamingo]

Hey there I work in a wella salon but the principles of colour wastage are the same , we use scales which are really accurate , also we did an experiment using plastic containers , any leftover colour from a colour service was put into each technicians individual container to see who wasted the most colour , this technician was then monitored when mixing colour !

 

[stoley]

Thanks Prettyflamingo that's a great idea about colour wastage...will implement that one!

How would a technician know what weight to use of a particular colour? Is it down to expertise and experience or are there set quantities?

Sorry to ask basic questions but I am not a hairdresser and want to make sure I am aware of all the facts before implementing anything!

Thanks

Andy

 

[Lamaur man]

Its also hard sometimes when mixing tint. You must mix using the correct amounts and ratios, and you must always ensure there is sufficient product coverage on the hair. At the same time some hairdressers want to save the product, but skimping on hair tint can sometimes cause uneven and patchy results. It can be a difficult balancing act. Also hairdressers can use a squirt of this and a squirt of that in their mixing which creates odd amounts left in the tint tubes which can lead to wastage.

 

[Lamaur man]

If there are any odd amounts of tint left in tubes, you can keep all these together and inform/make sure your stylists use these in future when mixing tint for future color services. Using scales for these odd amounts will ensure they get their mixes correct.

 

[Dee5]

Im new to Salongeek and only heard about weighing colour recently.
What ive done first is weigh each colour bowl on a digital scales in ml
Then wrote the weight in tippex underneath it.
Then i mix up my colour and on a notepad jot down what quantities of what ive put in the bowl.
When ive.finished applying the tint i re weigh the bowl and take the weight of the
Bowl away from the weight is then i know i didnt need to mix.
It is time consuming but only needs to be done once for.each.customer.
Just need to make sure all techs can note keep.
Apart from preventing colour wastage, it also ensures the perfect mix so less chance of riedos regarding the tint developing incorrectly etc.

 

[Lamaur man]

The majority of tint tubes come in a 60ml size which enables the colorist to quickly mix the tint with an equal amount of peroxide.

ie 60ml tint : 60 ml peroxide
30 ml tint : 30 ml peroxide

As you can see these are easy ratios.

Many years ago when I trained, we used L'oreal colors which do not have an equal mixing ratio, but the hairdressers always seemed to mix them up using equal ratios because it was easier for them. This also caused wastage.
I also remember my manager mixing tint without measuring the peroxide which also led to wastage or odd amounts left in the tubes.
It may be a possibility that your staff could be adopting these ways of mixing.

 

[jazmine]

Weighing all the way! I am head technician so being responsible for the orders I hate to see waste!

Colour results are far more accurate with scales, saves washing measuring jugs.

From time to time we all mix up a little much! Ask your stylist/colourist to take into account the process....are they applying a regrowth application or doing a full colour? Also if you have an assistant/junior ask staff to teach them how to mix (obvs make sure they understand) it just means your technician can start a colour and of they run low there are a couple of other competent team members about to mix a little more!

Explain to your Staff the better u manage the costs of product use the more profit you make the better rewards/commission for them.

But defo get on the scales when measuring from a tube it's so much harder to be accurate so staff have a tendency to round up and mix to much!

Good luck

 

[Prettyflamingo]

Your techs will know the mixing ratios for the colour they are using , i always write down what I have put in the bowl as soon as I have used it , on the scales in my salon there is a button that resets the scales to zero , so you don't have to minus the weight of the bowl etc , I tend to mix a little less and have to get more as opposed to over mixing and wasting tint , granted there is sometimes slight wasteage it is hard to get it spot on, however I do write the amounts used on a clients record card for future reference , we can't be perfect all the time!!!

 

[stoley]

Just wanted to say thank to everyone for there help, fantastic source of information, thanks all! I'll keep you posted on what we do!

Thanks again!