My Lover From Another Mother
In just reviewing many of my posts I have sadly and mistakenly left Wella – out of my praises and I have no idea - - why. I have noticed so many of you trying to create the perfect chocolate brown by using 2 of the Renbow colors. . . . when right in front of your face and ten times more easy and twice as luscious. . . you have WELLA staring at you in the face.
Wella has been my home base line for 16 years. Wella is where I come home to rest and come home for security, come home to lay my head down in peace. Their color is that reliable. Wella pretty much invented what every one else - - copies in hair color. That is the truth. No the other companies would never say that, but as a top Colorist we all know it. Every single Colorist I know uses Wella’s Reds – NO MATTER WHAT- when it counts. No matter what the commercial no matter what the brand. No one can come close. That is saying a lot. Why? The hardest color molecule to master staying in the hair strand WITHOUT leaking out, is RED. They still haven’t mastered it as well as their browns or blond’s but they have been working on it soooooooooo long and so intricately that they almost have it. I realize most people don’t want red hair, that is not the point . The point is whomever has the best reds, is the best hair color company. Because blonds and brunettes have been wired for many years, reds is the last living permanent hair color all the major hair color manufacturers are trying to master. Then their entire palette is complete, which is how master colorists look at it.
Wella comes from Germany. Germany is where BMW’s are made, and Germany is where you have the most dynamic and competent Engineer’s in the world. If I had someone say to me: “go, make your perfect hair color line” . . . . most would go to Italy . . . me I would go to Germany. I would want to find the top hair color engineers that worked with – for and around WELLA. Wella has had these technologies for nearly 100 years. When you do something that long, you become Damn good at it. Everything I do in hair color formulating is based around Wella and I can see I have not made that clear. If I had no choice but to pick one line, I would choose Wella’s Koleston Perfect line, period. Its Wella’s most expensive line, its the most creative line and they have finally made some of the most unique colors, there isn’t one line that comes close to it.
One thing Wella has not had…. which is really too bad . . . is they have not had a “good image” in the USA. When I started at Vidal Sassoon and they showed us the charts we would be using . . . they flashed the Renbow Charts, Clairol, Redken’s Levitation on-the-scalp BLEACH and lastly they flashed this giant WELLA chart. Instructing us to make these charts “our best friends”. At that time the top line that was imported into the USA was the COLOR PERFECT line which today is their mid-priced line. COLOR PERFECT really is a great line as well, I learned on that line – and still use various tones in it. GREAT high lifts, great reds, EXCELLENT ash’s. We had instructions to memorize them, sleep with them eat with them…………..KNOW THEM. I kid you not, that was the first week and I swear to you I thought they were truly full of S__T. About all of it.
I was kind of snotty back then….I needed a good head knock and I promise you, I got one. This school wasn’t kidding, and that’s all I was doing, was kidding. You have to understand that right next door was a bar . . . my kids had decided to live at their fathers for the year while I did this and I think I thought it was Camp time and I wanted to have some fun.
WRONG.
VERY VERY VERY WRONG. They would have no part of it. It was the perfect place for me. They whipped me into shape and I remain forever grateful.
What I learned about Wella was, that Koleston Perfect was not even allowed in the United States at this time. And why? It was going through its 3 year FDA analysis to get the approval to come into our country – SIT ON OUR SHELVES – Be sold in our stores > and be applied to our locks ! Can you believe it ! You know why this was so crazy???? Because the lower lines of color products both Color Charm and Midway were already on our shelves , this other line that Wella has had around for 50 years were already here.
I remember the first couple years I did hair we were always having the Instructors that were going back to home base ( London Academy) sneak us in colors from the Koleston Perfect line. There was nothing like these colors, there still isn’t anything like Wella’s Browns, Reds, and Blonds. Wella is so far ahead of everyone else 15 years ago it was offering Levels 2 through 10 in both a single digits and double digits …( your neutral line is always the line you come home to) Its always home base…. you make many decisions off of looking at NEUTRALS ( with ZERO tone to the color)
2/0 N - 3/0N – 4/0N - 5/0N - 6/0N - etc….
Wella offered the double neutral’s to us. So an entire row of double 00 - colors as well. I found that about 8 out of 10 of Stylists don’t know what the double NEUTRAL row of colors means – so lets get that straightened out……Wella offers
22/0N - 33/0N - 44/0N - 55/0N - 66/0N - …etc. . .
the Double neutrals? are double the pigment, what can you think of that you would need really tough – strong – twice the pigment ? ? ? for ? ? ? ……YYYYYYYYYYYep Resistant Gray hair. its funny I noticed that hardly any tubes of the Double neutrals have been sold . . . . .throughout the months
that is such a shame. They are so effective - - you cannot get better cover for gray – pretty much.
For 2 wonderful gorgeous chocolate brown formula’s - - that will cover any gray - - - if need be - - here are the photo’s . . . below it the formula
Level 5 Brown –Chocolate Brown Straight no reds, no violets – just straight up – Chocolate Brown
WELLA KP EURO RUNS 1 FULL LEVEL DARKER
Roots: Koleston Perfect 6/0N + 6/2M + 6/7B….+ 20Volume
Lengths: Color Touch : 6/0N + 6/77BB + 13 V
This is the ultimate manner in which the 2 lines are supposed to be used together. Permanent color on the BASE and Demi Permanent on the lengths. There will be more shine in this formula that a shiny 5 cent nickel !!! seriously. . . . .Wella has mastered the art of shine.. . . .gray coverage, shine and probably the widest range of colors are WeLLA’s strong points. They really don’t have any weak points . . . they make the best bleach in the world…..I used it years before anyone figured it out.
Colorists were using Goldwell’s Bleach forever - - I remember trying it every couple months trying to figure out why in the world so many people bought it. But it has this horrendous smell and you feel like you are working in the chemistry dungeon when you use it. . . One can barely breathe. I already had enough of that with SLS, any product that I cannot breathe around – is immediately AXED off of the list. If its that gnarly to the human nose, I can’t imagine what its doing to the human HAIR strand. That is where we stop and say NO DAMN MORE!
Now this Brunette is a Level 6 Brown – again straight brown . . . no reds – no off tones . . . just straight Level 6 Cashmere Brown. We will use a little different manner of formulating this time.
lets just say she has no gray and wants a rich SHINY Level 6 BROWN….. Wella is your number 1 choice. They have the most wide range of Brunette in all the color lines. When I used the color up above 6/2M - - the is a Level 6 Matt BROWN, a matt brown means the color is a BLUE BROWN……what does blue “counter”??? - - - opposite on the color wheel ? ? ? ORANGE. I receive lots of emails from brunettes saying their DURP is ORANGE . Their Dominant Underlying Remaining Pigment( what color does your hair pull when its natural color is taken out ) Probably less than 5% of all people (USA) have NO DURP…….which is a very good thing. J Anniston is one of those people. So hopefully you will get my drift. . . .
Now a complete Demi permanent level 6 Brown would be
7/0N ………… + 7/71 BA………….+6/77 BB + 13 Vol.
many other factors do apply to these formula’s - - - but if you are lighter and are looking to be a Level 5 or 6 Brown CHOCOLATE CASHMERE . . . . you have your formula’s. You can also modify them to your particular needs as well .
Please . . . . enjoy Wella the way I do, make it your home for all your color work as I do. I compare everything to Wella, and i fear I haven’t given it near the fair shake it deserves . . .
Its Spring and we need an awakening . .. let that be one of the starters for the new Season . . . I will keep them coming all year long
Lets see what formula’s you all come up with for this next model. She has a level 7 Brown. In the comments section below, please write your formulations, lets see how many different formula’s you all can come up with . . .
I have more to say about Wella this is only the beginning. . .
Happy SPRING
Killer Chemist
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