Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Sensitive Souls with Sensitive Scalps -- What About Hair Color?

What Color Options Are Available ?

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A small portion of people have sensitive skin and sensitive scalps, usually displayed by reddened and flaky skin after color applications. Some have such bad reactions, in the middle of the service, they need to have the color taken off immediately even.  With there being 2 completely different sensitivities, there are 2 separate answers for this problem. Let me get the serious, more radical one out of the way first.

This one is a syndrome... when it happened to me the first time, 3 years into my Salon experience...I will never forget it. Why? It was my daughters friends > identical twins, and it happened to both of them and it had never happened to me before. I was SO freaked out, I called my mentor back at Vidal Sassoon, which was the very first time I had, since leaving - - she knew exactly what I was talking about ... but in the 2 years at Sassoon and 3 years in the Salon I had never come across it? How rare is that?? Super, she said !  Vidal was a full service working Salon, so this was hundreds of thousands of people I'd seen and/or been around over those years.hot head 44

She explained it to me as this unusual lightening syndrome that affects a certain group of people ( she thought with a certain body chemistry) they have never been able to figure it out : 'who' exactly or 'why'. It simply does not happen to a large enough group for anyone to research it. The lightener (seemed to be any lighter than clients hair by a couple levels  & many but - not all  times. . . it was bleach) warms up in the first 30 minutes and the client feels the progressing warmth on their head, many times it is "first timers" - First time they have colored their hair, ever! It soon begins getting very HOT, and finally the twins screamed, I came running over to them and steam was coming out of the foils . . .I quickly yanked the foil work out... throwing it on the floor... I was so freaked out! The foils were continuing to steam and their hair and scalp was super hot . . .  it was the weirdest thing that had ever happened in a coloring application in all my days, still is. I'm hoping I find someone that this has happened to... if this is you ......will you PLEASE write a COMMENT at the bottom? So I can ask you a few questions??? Please? 71990490

The path is > take the foil work out . .shampoo immediately, put  Gleam or something similar on the scalp and never use lightener again. I've heard different stories about how sometimes it  goes away as one ages, as long as the twins were my kids friends it never went away for them.

Now for the majority of you with the normal mild-sensitive scalp, that just can't handle the color directly on your scalp in a minor way . . . the solutions are there and are not too horrible.

Sun Lights, Slices, Panels, Paint Drips, Pirouette, Veil, Weaves  etc..of color, are your best bet. It keeps the product OFF of your scalp with the color being IN THE FOILS. If you need Global Color (all-over) then a semi permanent with NO or LOW-Ammonia could be your option, by not being able to go lighter. The newest trend is many of larger companies are starting to come up with low or no ammonia hair color. What Ammonia does for hair color?  swells the cuticle, which lets the color in the hair strand to do its magic! dv1129017

What I don't quite understand is this: if ammonia swells the cuticle which is necessary for the hair color to get into the hair strand...what's the difference if they just find another chemical to do the same thing? Is it just the smell you don't like? Or what?? that you don't like?? Personally I don't have anything against ammonia, I know we need it to color hair properly. 

This type of question is above my level of cosmetic chemistry knowledge, so I ask questions of colleagues. Just like you do of me. I am told there are a few other chemicals that work exactly the same as ammonia and the companies will be using those.

My recommendation on this subject, is anyone that has even the slightest sensitivities in their body you should ask for a patch test or skin test, whatever they call it in your area - when booking the appointment. If you are sensitive and have never had color at ALL, you need to do 1 of 2 things:

  1. Ask whomever you made a appt.with for a 24 hour skin patch test. Making a 15 minute appt. the day before your real appt. If your skin has a pretty bad reaction - the day before even, call the Salon, ASAP.        OR
  2. Color your hair at home. This way you have all the control and know exactly 'what' is going 'where'. For this type scalp and/or skin I would NEVER EVER take the risk of using boxed hair color nor should you use any type of hair color from Sally's. I would try Color Touch - a demi permanent line - which is Wella's Euro brand of hair color and more gentle than pretty much any other line I know of. It can be used with 6 Volume of 16 Volume - very low developers, yet still a 24 hour skin test is necessary.

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In the works are a few lower ammonia and no ammonia color lines, I have a huge battle with the words "Natural"  &  "Organic"  . . . the Lines Reps come around to different Salons in the LA area to TEST Market them... so the Stylists can try them and we can give them our feedback. I have lost that little advantage, because of not being in the Salon which makes me sad. . . . BUT. . .I get feedback from colleagues. Lately I have heard good feedback about the line PRAVANA, I've bought some of my first colors and they have crazy colors that are apparently --remarkable!  I've written about them somewhere in the Blog I'm sure.

I always have my ear to SKY & GROUND for what's HOT & NEW coming out ... there are a few organic hair color lines on the conveyor belt.

Europe/England are the place where they will come from. The German Wella plant {I think} is where the brilliant new hair colors will stem from, we shall see.

I will point out to you that Pravana which I carry in the store ( in process of displaying all of it )...has about 10 colors that are all intermixable; if you are interested in this line please email : Killerstrands@gmail.com , put "PRAVANA" in the subject line.                      

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PRAVANA  BOTANICALS - HAIR COLOR

* Silk Degrees Botanical Hair Color
* The Natural Botanical hair color with Attitude!
* Plant BasedNo Peroxide - No Ammonia

I have not tested them yet but  the man that started this line is a well recognized pioneer in the hair color world. The tests are forth coming, when, and, if, we get anyone interested in the line.

Killer Chemist

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