Old School.....

I was just reading a question on David Velasco's website, about filling the hair and using permanent color afterward.  Some of the answers were mighty interesting.  And most of them were from old school hairdressers who just won't change what they're doing.  All are convinced that by using a lower volume developer or by even using distilled water, it's less damaging than by using 20 volume and permanent color.

Can you use water with permanent color??  Sure.  Won't be as effective, but yes, you can.  Here's why:  The chemical composition of water is H2O...2 molecules of hydrogen to one molecule of oxygen.  The chemical composition of Hydrogen Peroxide is H2O2...2 molecules of hydrogen to 2 molecules of oxygen.  So, what happens when you use water with permanent color is that it slows things down, making the color "safe" in the eyes of the stylist.  But, here's why it's really not.  The permanent hair color contains ammonia or an ammonia substitute.  What ammonia does is swell the cuticle, allowing the developer (in this case, water) and the pigment inside the hair shaft, to work on breaking up the natural pigment in your hair and deposit the artificial pigment at the same time.  Because water is missing that extra molecule of oxygen, it's not working as quickly as peroxide does.  The ammonia is what causes all the damage and "dryness" in the hair when you use permanent color.

The ammonia swells the cuticle open.  The cuticle remains open.  Lets say you don't like the color you used, so you go out and buy another permanent hair color to change what you did.  So, you mix the product up, and apply it all over your hair, looking for a change.  Just for fun, lets say you waited a month to change your hair color, so you've got some new growth going on.  Here's what happens:  The new growth will be close to the color you want.  It more than likely will be considerably brighter than what the picture on the box dictates you will get.  The rest of your hair??  Well, it might be the color you're looking for, it might be darker.  It will more than likely look "muddy" after a few shampoos.  Why??  Because the dye load isn't permanent!!  Just like when you polish your shoes, they look marvelous for a few days or even a week.  Then, you have to polish them, again, because the polish has worn off.

Permanent hair color works much the same way.  Should you be coloring your hair every week to make up for this??  Not with permanent hair color!!  The other "fun" thing that happens when you keep applying permanent hair color on top of permanent hair color is that the cuticle not only remains open, it opens even wider, causing the edges of the hair shaft (cuticle) to resemble frayed jeans.  Then, when you add water when shampooing, those frayed edges fuse together, temporarily, causing your hair to feel "dry" and for you to feel like you need a TON of conditioner (which won't work, by the way) to get a comb through your hair.  At this point, the damage cannot be "fixed", no matter what product you put in your hair.  The only cure for this kind of damage is a hair cut.  And yet, hairdressers, particularly the old school ones, will continually blame the cheap product you use at home instead of realizing that THEY are causing the damage by dragging that permanent hair color through the hair every time or every other time they color their client's hair.

Have I done this before??  Sure.  Then I educated myself, courtesy of David Velasco and Beth Minardi.  And I don't do color this way any longer.  And because I don't do my own color like that any longer, my hair is infinitely more cooperative than it ever used to be!!