What is Hair History & Why Does it Matter?
Hair history is just that – anytime you have had your hair coloured, used a pigment-based shampoo or root spray or tried a different colour technique.
Throw in any medical conditions, medication and colours previously used and it’s not hard to see that the majority of this colour remains in your hair (despite being invisible to the naked eye.)
You want the brown to ash blonde colour but this can become unhinged by one tiny, vital detail: your hair history.
Knowing your Natural Hair Colour is crucial to Colouring and so is knowing what is in your Hair right now. Colouring straight on top of your Natural is easy, Colouring when there is already Colour in your Hair may need a few tweaks for a successful result.
So your hair is divided up into many segments and not just as the picture but the outer and inner layers may also have their own colour history, like a three dimensional sphere.
So when you attend a consultation we will ask many questions including:
What Colour is currently on your hair? How long have you had this Colour? What was your Colour previous to that? Have you used any box colours on your hair?
Have you been using any Colouring shampoo’s or treatments? (Colour lock Products can effect your process. We recommend to stop using them and seek advice from your hairven Angels ).
These include and we advise you avoid the following products as over the last few years we have seen some adverse affects and have not been able to colour clients hair when the following have been used… NB this list is not exhaustive and we strongly recommend not using any pigment based shampoo’s or root touch ups in between any colour service.
Bleach L***** (leading brand retail colour shampoo) which is one of the most difficult and placing direct pigment into the hair which can lead to your hair turning blue or green when attempting to pre lighten.
******, root sprays (leading brand root sprays)- not only do they place pigment but they can block the hair follicle leading to thinning hair issues.
John ****** lightening sprays (leading brand lightening or blonde sprays) – these are the most difficult use these and you will most likely have to wait for the product to grow out or have it cut out before you can have any lighter colour.
There are far too many to mention but AVOID as this could result in a costly colour correction.
RIGHT An example of a client who attempted a at home balayage and then used some of the above products which resulted in a 4 hour colour correction .. ( result after your Angels worked their magic on the clients’ first visit)
Once we have established your hair history we can then talk about what you are looking to achieve
Photoshopped Images:
We have lots of you lovely clients come into the salon wanting an image you have seen on Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook etc Beautiful blondes, brunettes, purples, pinks, whatever hair colour you want. BUT consider this, 99% of pictures on Instagram have filters applied and in many cases have been photoshopped! The person in the picture has a completely different hair type, base colour and hair history to you so whilst you may achieve a similar look you have to be realistic. Obviously, we will do our best to provide you with the result you want as we are Angels and we take much pride in our work and love nothing better to see a smile on a guest’s face when we have achieved their dream hair.
RIGHT See how Selena Gomez published a pic of her hair in its natural
state and then after when a filter had been applied you can easily see the difference. and BELOW another before edited and after same hair totally different colours and not the person’s real hair.
So after we have considered the above, let’s get down to the detail… you want to go from dark brown/black to ash blonde or grey, pastel or even vibrant purple…
Firstly, we have to consider the stages of your hair history, what is achievable considering all factors and decide on what techniques and personalised formula we will need to use on your hair. In many cases, we will use several form
ulas and techniques combined on the different stages on hair to achieve the desired result.
Depending on your hair history you may not be able to achieve what you want immediately. This is key as we want to give you your desired look but must and will give priority to your hairs’ health & condition at all times. This is by far the single biggest sticking point when it comes to transitioning from dark to light. Let’s make it easier; for example if we say your hair is the colour of the first cup of tea (left) and you want to be as light as the last cup (right) your hair will have to go through the other two stages first ! Obviously the middle two stages are not what you desire, but you cannot avoid this transition stage if you want your hair to remain in good condition.
Some stylists will skip the necessary intermediate stages by applying dangerous levels of agent and over process the hair to get the result you want. However, this is a dangerous game and often ends in disaster with your hair damaged which may not appear obvious at the time BUT this will show in thinning, breakage, hair that drags and is incredibly dry or the PH balance of the hair dangerously altered and unfixable.
Sure, if you had never coloured your hair, never used a pigment based shampoo or crazy colour or even retail silicon shampoo’s ( which can act as a barrier) we would achieve this much earlier .
If it were as easy as painting a black wall white our Angels wouldn’t have had to do the many years training they have!
Once you’ve answered these questions, understand fully the process we will do our best to achieve what you desire. We will and we have considered every possible detail and outcome. We will then go through your options with you along with your personal Hairven homecare prescription to ensure we get the best result possible.
The Skin Test
The next stage is to place a small bit of colour on your arm or behind your ear to ensure you are not allergic to colours. Whilst our Wella colour range are the safest colours on the market we will still check this. Let us explain why, it’s like having a nut allergy and eating nuts you wouldn’t but we need to know and again your health is the most important thing so we will NEVER apply a colour without a skin test at least 48 hours before your service. Any salon that colours your hair without this imperative stage is taking a huge risk with your health.
So if you ever wondered why Hairven consultations are so thorough now you know it’s because they need to be – your hair & physical well being is the most important thing to Hairven and we will never compromise this.
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