Coloring Hair | Hair Color

      For as long as we've had civilizations, women have been using different methods to
change and enhance the color of their hair. In ancient times hair dyes were made from
crushed berries and plant extracts and applied to the hair as a rinse. In the 17th and
18th centuries, women applied oil and powder to their hair to achieve a light color. And
today, the color of hair you were born with bears little relation to the color you can have
if you want something else.

      Modern hair coloring is a chemical process that either adds or removes pigments
from the hair itself. Unlike the powders and rinses of centuries ago, today's hair color
can penetrate the shaft of the hair and can take you from blonde to black and virtually
any shade in between. We still have surface coloring products, but we also have colors
that will last a few days, a few weeks or until they grow out.

      In order to make good choices about hair coloring, here is some basic information:
      Your hair gets its color from a substance called melanin, found in the cortex of the
hair (the part of the hair shaft between the outer layer, or cuticle, and the core of the
shaft, the medulla). Melanin comes in two varieties, eumelanin (which is responsible for
brown and black colors) and pheomelanin (which is responsible for red and blonde
shades). Hair can have either of these types of melanin, or none at all - in the case of
gray hair.

      When you start thinking of coloring your hair, you should first determine the
"Contributing Pigment" of your hair. This is the underlying color of the hair. Many
brunettes and blondes have the same contributing pigment, varying only by the light-
ness and strength of the color.

      We use the term "Level" to indicate the lightness or darkness of the hair. Color level
is based on a ten-step scale with 1 being black, and 10 being lightest blonde. By judging
the color level of the hair your colorist is able to choose which color shades will work best
to give you the desired results, and whether you'll need to pre-lighten the hair in order to
achieve the look you want.

      Another important term in hair coloring is "Tone", which is the warmth or coolness of
the hair color. Red, orange and yellow are all warm tones, while blue, green and violet
are cool. And as hard as it may seem to believe, any of these tones can be present in
hair color. By correctly judging the natural tone of the hair color, the colorist can avoid
unfortunate results in coloring the hair. And while we've all heard the stories about the
"friend" who tried to color their hair and ended up with green hair, no one wants to
experience it firsthand.

      "Intensity" is also important to consider when thinking about hair color. Intensity is
the strength of a color tone. "Strawberry blonde" and "Fire Engine" are both red tones,
but I guarantee that no one will mistake the two colors because of the difference in their
intensity.

      Finally, when you look at a color to apply to the hair, you have to consider the base
color. Today's haircolor formulas clearly show the base color on the bottle. These typically
are Red, Red-Orange, Orange, Gold, Neutral, Blue, Blue-Violet, and Violet. The neutral,
blue, blue-violet, and violet base colors are generally found in True black, Ash tones and
Platinum blondes.

By carefully evaluating the color of your hair before you color, you and your colorist can
reach astonishing results in creating a natural look, or even a dazzling new one, for you.
But most importantly, it can keep you from making an unfortunate mistake in the
coloring process. Once you know the important factors in the color you have, you can
have fun with color.

Stacy McCurdy - Stylist                                                                      ©Hairfinder.com

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