Semi Permanent hair colour is a class of colour all on it's own that needs to be discussed and explained, even to so called "professional colour technicians".
Since my exposure to the professional world of hairstyling, it absolutely baffles me how so few professionals understand the world of semi permanent hair colour. In the constantly repeated words of my teachers, you don't have to use it, but you have to understand it.
A true semi-permanent hair colour can be characterized by any hair colour that requires no catalyst, peroxide or like chemicals. It colours hair by depositing colour that sits under the cuticle but above the cortex of the hair. No lift can be achieved with any kind of true semi-permanent hair colour. These colours will also wash out of the hair, generally in 4-6 weeks, but may be more or less depending on the hair, application, brand, and care. Popular examples of semi-permanent hair colours include Manic Panic, Raw, Colour Jams, Directions, and Special Effects. If you're not sure if your hair colour is semi-permanent or not, check the directions, if it involves mixing it with any kind of developer, it is not semi permanent.
Semi-permanent hair colour is also not to be confused with demi-permanent or colour rinses. These colours involve mixing the colour with very low concentrations of peroxide to achieve better colour deposit, and longer lasting colour than true semi permanent, but less so than true permanent colour.
Semi permanent hair colour is best applied on clean towel dried hair. Check the directions first, but most brands are made to be applied on towel dried hair. That's not to say that you wont get any results if you use it on dry hair, but I find that if it is applied on dry hair, you end up using more colour than necessary and more bleeding, always, and splotchy colour, usually. Wet or dry, the hair should be clean, in contrast to using permanent colour or bleach. Because this type of colour contains no ammonia and uses no peroxide, the less "barriers" (dirt, oil, styling products) present on the hair, the better colour result you will achieve.
As far as the hair colour, these products are usually used to achieve "fantasy" hair colours (blue, green, pink, purple) so yes, you do have to bleach your hair first. There is no product that exists that will take your naturally dark brown hair to bright blue in one application, or without bleaching. Stop asking, you have to bleach your hair, the end.
That being said, the only exception would be extra pale blonde hair, but I'm talking, "Nordic blonde" hair, or hair that is almost white-blonde. But I would still recommend using a low strength bleach first to increase the porosity of the hair, because using semi-permanent colour on hair that is not lightened (no matter now naturally light) can result in the colour looking muddy.
How long the colour stays on, is up to the manufacturer, I never leave semi-permanent colour on less than half an hour if I have the time. Also, due to the fact that these colours contain no ammonia or lightening agents, you can literally leave them in all day with no adverse effects. The longer you leave it in, the more deposit, and in my experience, the longer it lasts in your hair. So if you find that you're colouring your blue hair for 15 minutes every 2 weeks, try leaving it in longer and the colour may stick to your hair better.
I would also like to clarify that semi permanent colour DOES NOT damage the hair at all. These products are made to basically be conditioner with tons of colour in them. Therefore, colouring your hair with them once a week (ex. me) doesn't damage the hair any more than washing your hair that often. People you encounter with very damaged hair that is bright colours is most likely from them abusing bleach to lighten their hair, and not from the actual colour itself.
Monday, April 7, 2014
Hair School: The Calm of the Storm
So the worst is over, I hope, of hair school, and now it's my time to share what hairstyling school has been like.
I'll be honest, with less than three months left of school, I'm just waiting for it to be over. In the case of my school, (and with a lot of hair schools) by this time, I'm expected to be able to take pretty much any client that comes my way, not to toot my on horn, but I'd say I'm up to take on about 90% of the clients that come in to my school.
The first two months of school were easy, Basic Cuts class, followed by Salon Cuts class, but really, by the time I left those classes, I still had no idea how to do a haircut. Pretty much all I learned in those classes was the technique behind cutting hair, how to hold your shears, how to hold the hair, etc. but that's not even half of cutting hair.
The next two made a basket case of us all, let alone that these two months my class was joined by some choice characters. Perms and basic sets. Perm class is as boring as it sound, practice wrapping and unwrapping a perm, and the chemistry behind perms and relaxers. I will say though, that with the hard work and dedication to practising that I put in to that class, I can wrap a perm with the best of them now. Basic Sets seemed to be the class with the most foreign of concepts to myself and the rest of the students, but honestly, when was the last time you or one of your friends hit up a salon to get a roller set or a head of skip waves? That's probably the class that my teachers lost me the most on, I could barely get myself out of bed in the morning if I knew that a roller set was what I would be facing that day.
January was my blessed month. Barbering. For anyone that's ever asked me about school, I probably would have told you how I walked into the school wanting to be a colour technician, and seven months later, I'm looking into barber shops. Despite how much I hate the school, my teachers, my classmates, I would stomach it all if I could spend all day with clippers in my hand. Clippers are totally, totally different from cutting hair with shears, and is a whole technique on its own, a technique that I picked up quickly and loved. Basically, I'm saying that guys who wants a nice fade, line up.
We've just been downhill from there, two months of colour class in a row. Applying colour really is not something we need to practice as much as we do, but I guess any practice is good practice? I think I checked out after the first day, this is the class where I can confidently say, I've learned the least. Not that there isn't a lot to learn in colour class, but that I just had a great co-op placement before starting school where I learned all I needed to learn. The most valuable thing I've learned all month is how to put in foil highlights, which is surprisingly way easier to do than I thought.
Throughout the length of my program, I've managed to keep a 90% average on my theory tests, and better than decent attendance. That's not to say that these are easy things to do judging by my classmates, but it's been one of the things I'd urge everyone to not forget if they plan on attending a hairstyling school, keep your theory sharp and attendance up, especially if you're in an hours based program, and double especially if your school charges for over time hours.
Overall, hair school has definitely had more downs than ups, between the issues I've had with my school director, teachers, and classmates, I'm just waiting for it to be over. I hate the place, I hope it gets shut down as soon as I get my diploma. My way of explaining it is that I love what I'm learning, and I love hairstyling, but I hate the school with every fibre of my being.
I'll be honest, with less than three months left of school, I'm just waiting for it to be over. In the case of my school, (and with a lot of hair schools) by this time, I'm expected to be able to take pretty much any client that comes my way, not to toot my on horn, but I'd say I'm up to take on about 90% of the clients that come in to my school.
The first two months of school were easy, Basic Cuts class, followed by Salon Cuts class, but really, by the time I left those classes, I still had no idea how to do a haircut. Pretty much all I learned in those classes was the technique behind cutting hair, how to hold your shears, how to hold the hair, etc. but that's not even half of cutting hair.
The next two made a basket case of us all, let alone that these two months my class was joined by some choice characters. Perms and basic sets. Perm class is as boring as it sound, practice wrapping and unwrapping a perm, and the chemistry behind perms and relaxers. I will say though, that with the hard work and dedication to practising that I put in to that class, I can wrap a perm with the best of them now. Basic Sets seemed to be the class with the most foreign of concepts to myself and the rest of the students, but honestly, when was the last time you or one of your friends hit up a salon to get a roller set or a head of skip waves? That's probably the class that my teachers lost me the most on, I could barely get myself out of bed in the morning if I knew that a roller set was what I would be facing that day.
January was my blessed month. Barbering. For anyone that's ever asked me about school, I probably would have told you how I walked into the school wanting to be a colour technician, and seven months later, I'm looking into barber shops. Despite how much I hate the school, my teachers, my classmates, I would stomach it all if I could spend all day with clippers in my hand. Clippers are totally, totally different from cutting hair with shears, and is a whole technique on its own, a technique that I picked up quickly and loved. Basically, I'm saying that guys who wants a nice fade, line up.
We've just been downhill from there, two months of colour class in a row. Applying colour really is not something we need to practice as much as we do, but I guess any practice is good practice? I think I checked out after the first day, this is the class where I can confidently say, I've learned the least. Not that there isn't a lot to learn in colour class, but that I just had a great co-op placement before starting school where I learned all I needed to learn. The most valuable thing I've learned all month is how to put in foil highlights, which is surprisingly way easier to do than I thought.
Throughout the length of my program, I've managed to keep a 90% average on my theory tests, and better than decent attendance. That's not to say that these are easy things to do judging by my classmates, but it's been one of the things I'd urge everyone to not forget if they plan on attending a hairstyling school, keep your theory sharp and attendance up, especially if you're in an hours based program, and double especially if your school charges for over time hours.
Overall, hair school has definitely had more downs than ups, between the issues I've had with my school director, teachers, and classmates, I'm just waiting for it to be over. I hate the place, I hope it gets shut down as soon as I get my diploma. My way of explaining it is that I love what I'm learning, and I love hairstyling, but I hate the school with every fibre of my being.
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