California's Test is supposed to be the hardest in the country, we have 10 times the applicants of other states, therefore the test is more difficult.

Call Yourself a Professional Home Hair Colorist if you can come up with the answers to a couple more hypothetical formulation examples....lets practice some more.

Many of you seem to understand the first example.Here is another example of LIFTING in the LEVEL System:

Your own natural virgin color hair is a LEVEL 4

You would like to be a "preferred" LEVEL 9 ( I prefer to be a Level 9 is one way of putting it)

What do you come up with?

This is where the BOXED kits do not work ( although they don't tell you that, they make you think it will.....) and many of you end up with trashed color. Your hair just did not get light enough and if it did ...it was a hideous shade of orange-y blond, & it sounds like 9 out of 10 of you end up putting brown back on top of it.....For what ends up taking a couple years of growing out to recover from (got that one right didn't I !!?!)

OK. Lets go over it.

Not all requests can be met EXACTLY as asked, which is not made clear to those of you that cannot afford a high dollar Colorist to tell you the honest truth. Unfortunately many Stylists with not a lot of experience in color will be just as bad as if you ( with none of this guidance) were doing it...and I have met many clients who understand color better than many stylists I've met over the years. Knowing how to color hair is not necessary to pass the STATE BOARD of Cosmetology Test, which always blew me away. There is just something not right about a Board that oversees the entire world of Hair and doesn't require the new members to learn color. The whole Theory and evolution of hair color is young but its not THAT young. I could write a 100 page book on it just by using this blog.
Anyway here is the explanation of that problem....

Preferred level of color...................level 9 Blond

Natural level of color (subtract).......Level 4 Brown

Difference..........................................= 5 Levels

Preferred level of Color..................Level 9 Blond

Difference ( add)............................... + 5 Levels

Level to Use................................Level 14 Blond

There is NO LEVEL 14.... the levels only go to 12.

See why sometimes hair color leaves you at some strange orange/yellow stage? The Boxed Kits do not tell you this...or warn you of this. I have so many people contact me about this type of problem...it was the main inspiration for me to start this Blog.

This is a common problem that needs to be brought up, so you all will understand. As a busy Colorist, we use many solutions to a problem like this, and offer them all to the client to come to a safe, and sane solution.

5 levels is a lot of lift and normally you will only get that many levels of Lift from Bleach....even high lift blondes only lift 3 maybe 4 levels and for now that is the most powerful "TINT" available.

The solutions?

come up with a couple of your own....

we will review mine tomorrow......