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After Color Care Guide

Many things determine how your hair is going to react to hair color or the longevity of your hair color after a service. Damaged Hair is often the result of excessive environmental, chemical, thermal, or mechanical styling stress. Hair can feel weak, stretchy, or spongy when wet and brittle when dry. Pre-treatments may be required to even out the condition of your hair prior to a color service or post treatments may be required to maintain your color after a service to ensure the best possible color results. Its best to consult your stylist to determine the best before and after care for your hair situation. Its important to know that improper at home-care can cause breaks in your cuticle layer resulting in uneven color coverage or premature color fading.

Your Salon Professional is there and can help you determine the best products and process in helping you achieve the KickAss Color you desire.

SO YOU’VE GONE LIGHTER

In this process a decolorizer or lightener has been applied to your hair to break down or remove color pigment. The current level of your hair (lightness or darkness) determines the undertone exposed at each level throughout the lightening process. The highest concentration of pigment lives at darker hair colors (levels). Darker hair colors expose undertones of Red and Orange, while lighter tones are composed of both dark or pale yellow (also known as warm colors). Both the depth and tone of the hair color determines how hair will both absorb and reflect light. Dark hair or color that reflects blue or violet (referred to as cool colors) absorbs light and can appear darker, where lighter or warmer colors reflect light therefore can appear lighter. Thicker hair strands contain more cuticle layers making the break down of pigment more difficult but more resilient to the process. Where finer hair types may lighten quicker but are less able to withstand the process. All of which is considered in your consultation. 

Hair is comprised of keratin protein (70-80%) which is responsible for hair stability and strength. During a color service 10-15% of these bonds are being broken. During a lightening service you can expect to break 15-25% of these bonds. Bonds can only be repaired through chemical treatment and will not repair themselves naturally. Hair fibre can only be pushed so far in one color service. The most you can expect to lighten in one sitting is a maximum of 4 levels before the hair either becomes too weak or a second application is required. If your cuticle is weak, color may have a hard time staying in the hair, or we may have a hard time getting color out of your hair. It is important to do both pre-treatments and after treatments to restore the bonds that are broken throughout the process.

When your go lighter you are breaking down undertones, when going darker you have to add them back in. Think of it like priming a wall. Without a primer if you paint a white wall red without that undertone or base it can look hollow and pink. Some people that go dark without adding that undertone may result in a color that looks green, hollow and it may fade very quickly. If hair fibres are damaged this could result in uneven color absorption and or excessive fading. Its important to know that the number of levels darker you would like to go is what will determine both your pre-treatments and whether or not your end goal requires more than 1 color application. Redken Shades Eq is a Demi-permanent Color that can act more permanently on color treated hair. This color acts like a conditioner and is great for increased smoothness, manageability and shine. 

SO YOU’VE GONE DARKER

SO YOU’VE GONE WHITE OR SILVER

Silver or grey hair naturally is the absence of color. Meaning that your body is no longer producing the melanin that makes up your hair color. When you are creating a color that does not occur naturally in you hair it requires a lot more maintenance and up keep. First hair is pre-lightened exposing the undertone. For example level 10-12 hair has an undertone of yellow or pale yellow. Grey hair is created artificially by counteracting the visible undertones exposed with its counter opposite on the color wheel of violet. Hair is naturally going to want to go back to its undertone color and more so when the undertone revealed is heavier pigmented. Its important if you would like to maintain your silver color that you both repair the composition of the hair and use a purple shampoo or conditioner that counteracts that undertone. 

Fun hair colors do not occur naturally, therefore require extra maintenance and or steps to maintain. Its important to know that fun colors are equally hard to both keep in and remove from the hair. The condition of your hair will determine both the longevity and process of removing these colors. Both before and after care will be important in both you vibrancy and longevity. Evo Fabuloso is a semi permanent color conditioner that can be customized and color matched to your unique hair color. This helps to maintain both your hairs condition and vibrancy of your fun color between visits.

SO YOU’VE GONE A FUN COLOR

so now what can I do to maintain my color? 

TREATMENTS, TREATMENTS, TREATMENTS! – An at home treatment is a must in your hair wash routine. Its also good to have clean hair and treated hair right before a color service for optimal results. Salon favs are Evo’s Mane Attention, Redken’s Extreme Mega Mask and R+co Television perfect hair masque.

BOND PROTECTING ADDITIVES – Often you will be asked whether or not you would like to add Olaplex or Redken Ph Bonder to your color service. Redken Ph Bonder is a synergistic system that helps protect bonds and reduce damage and breakage during a chemical service. Ph Bonder helps to keep hair fibres strong from within. At the sink a step 2 is applied that helps restore the hair fiber while smoothing the cuticle for improved shine and softness, restoring the hairs natural ph balance. Olaplex is designed to rebuild broken disulfide bonds caused by chemical, thermal and mechanical damage. It can be added to your color for ultimate breakage insurance. K18-K18Peptide™ is the molecular breakthrough haircare was waiting for. Clinically proven to reverse damage in just 4 minutes. K18 is both available for an add on to all KickAss services, or for take home. K18Peptide™ was patented after a decade of scanning and testing the 1,242 decapeptides that cover the entire keratin proteome. Our miracle molecule carries amino acids into the cortex of hair to reconnect keratin chains and reconform disulfide bonds to bring damaged strands back to their original, youthful state.


 COLOR SAFE SHAMPOO/CONDITIONER – helps maintain the longevity of your hair color in various ways using ingredients that help to repel water and keep the cuticle closed during washing, and UVA and UVB protection that act as sunscreen for the hair. The wrong shampoo can make or break a great hair color.

COLOR DEPOSITING SHAMPOO OR CONDITIONER – Maintaining a fun color often needs help. A color depositing shampoo or conditioners can help by either counteracting unwanted pigments or depositing semi permanent dye molecules, making colors look fresher for longer. Evo’s Fabuloso is a semi permanent color conditioner that can be customized and color matched to any unique hair color. Redken offers shampoos and conditioners to maintain both your blondes and grey colors.

HARD WATER – Can fade or effect hair color and can leave mineral build up on both your hair or scalp. Color safe Clarifying Shampoo can help to remove build up or a good shower head with built in filters can help keep minerals away. Clarifying shampoo is a must for avid swimmers that are exposed to chlorine swimming pools.

COCONUT OIL – Although it has many benefits it might not be benefiting your hair. If your hair is damaged from colouring or fragile or weak, the coconut oil is acting as a barrier and preventing the effectiveness of any protein and moisture treatments. We all know that oil and water don’t mix! Although it may feel like it’s helping but in turn it’s making things worse.

SUN EXPOSURE – Just as you would protect you skin from the sun, you also need to protect your hair. All of our lines offer products with both UVA and UVB protection.

HOT TOOLS– Turn those hot tools down, and use a good thermal spray. Hair starts to melt at 390 degrees, which means you could be melting your color right out of your hair. Both Redken and Evo offers thermal sprays that will protect your hair when heat styling.

BLOW DRYING – We often forget to protect during this step. Blow dryers get hot and can aid in color fading and damaged hair. Its important to protect your hair during each heat styling step. Redken’s Pillow Proof Primer protects your hair from heat, evens out the porosity of your hair while speeding up the time it takes to blow dry.

OVER WASHING – Over washing can not only fade your color, but over washing with too hot of water can increase oil production leaving your hair feeling greasy. Get your self a good dry shampoo like Redken’s Pillow Proof Extender or Evo’s Water killer and train your hair to go longer between washing.

DRUG STORE PRODUCTS – Although drug store products may contain some of the good things that hair needs they can also contain extra water, filler agents and silicones. Where salon products are much more concentrated. (ex.Tide 4x verses regular Tide) Stylists strive to educate themselves to be able to prescribe and recommend hair care regimes for their clients. Your salon professional recommends products that are individual and personalized to YOU and your hair health. IPhones usually come with headphones and charging block along with access to many apps in the App Store. Apple cannot guarantee gas station accessories, or third party app downloads won’t wreck your iPhone. Same thing goes for us. There is are a lot of great hair product out there, however if we are not educated on the product you’re using, we cannot say one way or another if another line is helping you or hurting you.

GOING GREY – As one ages the body stops producing melanin but continues producing cuticle making grey hair harder for color to penetrate. (That’s why the texture of hair changes when it starts to grey.) Hair color can only penetrate so many levels deep so color choice and formulation is extremely important. With age one tends to use more face creams that we tend to get in our hairlines. Its important to clarify prior to color services to insure optimal color results.

SALON VISITS – Most colors have a longevity of between 4-6 weeks, at which point it begins to fade (this is dependent on how often you shampoo you hair). To insure the best possible looking color we recommend salons visits between 4-8 weeks.

For more information don’t hesitate to consult your stylist for further advice. Healthy hair is happy hair and happy hair equals longer lasting colors, and overall manageability.