Hair swatches and color experiments

So, because you've been reading, I've been spending my spare time making hair swatches (what a mess when all is done!), and testing out hair color. We have, at the salon, a line of hair color that we didn't get the book for. All hair color lines have a pre-made swatch book, showing the professional what the colors may look like. Two things with these books: A) the hair is both artificial and white, so the color isn't accurate (however, it does show the true pigment), B) it's truly meant for the professional to look at, not the client. This is because the pigments aren't accurate (see A). Any way....the color line is CHI...not a brand I particularly like, all the way around. These particular colors are high lift and no lift. They will do what they say: High lift will lift up to 7 levels, and it will lift color treated hair (most high lifts won't do this). However, on color treated hair, the lift is completely unpredictable. It could lighten (lift) one level, or it could go all the way to blonde...there's just no way to predict what it will do. Which means, if you're using it on a client, you have to watch it like a hawk. And do a thorough consultation before hand, so you know what the client is looking for in the first place! The No lift line only doesn't lift (lighten) when you use 10 volume. It doesn't really deposit, either. Every swatch I did in the no lift, it seemed to just rinse away and leave nothing behind for color. The catch?? Here it is, and a fun one, too. Because we didn't have the book to tell us the details, we didn't realize this: if you are doing a high/low (high light & low light all on one head), you must rinse each foil, individually, instead of pulling out all the foils and rinsing the hair. Why, you might ask?? Because the browns have a chemical mix, that, when you introduce ANYTHING (water, shampoo) to it, it instantly turns COBALT BLUE. Now, if you're only using the one color, say a high lift brown to put a different color into, say, black color treated hair, then you're fine. The blue actually rinses away and no one is the wiser for it. HOWEVER, if you are using lightener, and you pull out all those foils at the same time, you had better like brown and cobalt blue colors in the client's hair. That blue will run all over the high lights, and turn them the prettiest shade of blue you've ever seen. And, it's nearly impossible to get out. How do I know this?? Evelyn, in her infinite wisdom, used the color line without reading the directions (which are conveniently located in the box of color, in tiny, hard to read letters, in 6 languages, including English). In doing my experiments on the swatches, I made sure to do each color this line offers (that we have) on each color of swatch that I have. So, there are blondes, golds, reds, browns, and a little bit of black involved. Now, I was asked to do this on the dark colors. However, I wanted to see what each one would do on each different type of hair. Because, you know, at some point, some girl with blonde hair is going to do something crazy and want to put a bright red stripe in her hair. Which, by the way, is about all the good this hair color is for. The reds in this line, both the no lift and the high lift, are unbelievably artificial in appearance. The RR series is Ronald McDonald red, the RO series is more like Bozo the clown orange, and the RV series is a very VIVID magenta. (RR: Really Red, RO: red orange, RV: red violet) The blondes lift really nicely, but they don't deposit worth a damn when you use 10 volume. However, introduce 20 volume, and they lift quite nicely. The browns are the best of the bunch, until you introduce it to color treated hair. Cleaning up after yourself: this becomes almost an exercise in futility. Unless you use either a glass bowl, or a hard plastic bowl (like Lucite), this color NEVER completely rinses out of the container you put it in. Even scrubbing with soap won't pull it all out of the bowl. Not the brush, either. Most hair color, you scoop out large amounts (because you didn't measure out what you need) into the trash (it congeals in your pipes if you dump all of it down the drain)into the trash, then rinse for a minute or two in the sink and it's clean. Not CHI. And, it makes a mess on stainless steel, too! Oh, yeah...stains the back splash and anything it touches. I told Ginger the other day "the more I work with this color line, the less I like it." And, I wasn't kidding.