FROM DARK TO THE LIGHT SIDE: THE PROCESS OF LIGHTENING YOUR HAIR 'Part 2'
It’s been a week now since I last spoke about the lightening process and i hope everyone has taken the time to read and process the information that was written.
As always I am loving the feedback received from last week’s post and I am ready to continue to educate you on this subject right now in ‘Part Two’
Going blonde can be both super empowering and also high-maintenance, therefore it’s important you’re equipped with the right products and advice to ensure your blonde is kept healthy and glossy all year round.
So, let’s cut the crap and get right to it I say, starting with some home truths
You Need To Maintain Your Colour At Home
Yes, you read that right.
You are responsible for your own god damn hair.
Your stylist is not going to jump in the shower alongside you and make sure you
double shampoo
tone
apply treatments
towel dry appropriately
use the right products for you
or be cautious when exposing your hair to heat tools
We can preach home haircare until the cows come home, but hunny if you don’t take this advice on board and you continue doing what you are advised not to, then whatever happens to your hair is a result of your hair neglect.
leaving the salon loving your blonde colour, then a few weeks later it’s feeling brassy and coarse isn’t uncommon. Colour maintenance is KEY.
Light blonde colour on textured hair can be the most DIFFICULT to maintain! Colours like this are not for the faint of heart and require major TLC in and outside of the salon.
This is why we always STRONGLY recommend that our clients use toning products for at home maintenance.
Our shelves are packed with variety especially when it comes to toning.
For our blondes we have
Lakme ‘White Silver’ Shampoo & Mask
Evo Fab Pro ‘Platinum’ Shampoo and Mask
Also available for toning in the Fab Pro range we have various shades of colour boosting treatments
Light Beige
Caramel
Copper
Purple/Red
Mahogany
Chestnut
Cool Brown
The reason being is ‘toning’ is not restricted to our blonde clients and ill explain why.
Bleach is not a colour
Bleaching is a tool that we use to take colour, or pigment, out of the hair. The professional term is a 'pre-lightener'. During this process, your stylist is pulling the pigment from the hair, stripping away the colour but never adding any colour. ‘lightener’ isn’t a colour or a tone. It’s a raw cuticle that is open and if it’s not closed and the pH of the hair isn’t balanced, it can create damage and split ends over time. Lightener leaves the hair yellow, a little orange and sometimes white. Even if you do love the colour it is, it needs to be toned with clear to close the cuticle.
Toning is when the colour is added
Your final colour comes from the toning process. You can go anywhere with a toner. On blondes, cooler toner makes the colour more silvery and warmer toner makes it more coppery. Toning is the most important part of the colour process.
It's not just for blondes
Contrary to popular belief, toners are not just used for achieving blonde shades, but are also a must for redheads and brunettes. At-home, pigmented masks can be used to ensure the hair stays glossy and healthy between salon appointments
Toners aren't just for colour, but shine too
Toners don't just add colour to the hair.
Toners can add shine to natural hair and won't affect the colour.
By reflecting the light, they give the hair a super glossy varnish-like effect which we call 'glossing'."
Ask in salon for a hair gloss.
After an initial consultation, your Ataraxia stylist will create a custom hair gloss for you which works in 15-20 minutes. Think of this as being like a lip gloss for the hair it boosts the condition while adding shine.
Toning doesn't last
Depending on your hair type, toner can last between two-to-six weeks. The general rule of thumb is that previously coloured hair which is more porous will hold colour for less time than natural or 'virgin' hair, which can hold colour for up to six weeks."
This leads us too
Why a rebooking schedule so important
Ataraxia strongly recommends clients come in every 4-5 weeks for a bleach retouch. If you wait any longer than 5 weeks, your service changes from a simple root touch up to a colour correction. This is because when you have too much new growth, you can create ‘hot roots’ due to the heat of your head causing the hair closest to the root to process quicker than the rest.
This produces what stylists refer to as a
(Insert dramatic music)
‘heat band’
The heat band is about a 1 inch section of hair growing from the scalp which is heated by the warmth of your scalp. If you leave your colour any more than 6 weeks it is incredibly hard to get a nice clean lift, no its not impossible but it requires more product, different application method and costs more.
Some of you may have come across banding in your hair before. Where the roots are quite clean (blonde) then anything after this heat band region is warmer and hasn’t lifted as well.
With foils it is possible although not promised to get a more controlled result as the foil package can sometimes heat up evenly with the help of the heat band this is why foil maintenance can be stretched out an extra week or two but with on scalp lightening we suggest you get booking those appointments girlfriend!
In Summary, this is why regular appointments are of so much importance. If you leave your colour too long between visits it will cost you more to fix.
Reschedule and Refresh visit
Now that you have amazing hair and the tools and products to look after it at home we need to book you in for your Refresh visit and your next appointment.
Why two appointments?
Well honey, I sure am glad you asked
A refresh visit is where you come back into the salon for a Gloss and Style. This way we can make sure your hair is still looking the best it can in between visits. We also have the opportunity to chat you about how well you’re maintaining your hair and how we can help you with the process.
This appointment consists of a Shampoo, Gloss toner, Scalp massage and a beautiful style. Adding a ‘Hot Towel Treatment’ to this service is also a great way to stay on top of your hair health.
These appointments are ideal for your lunch break or a Friday/Saturday ready for the weekend!
Then we have your Maintenance Appointment.
So for Blondes-
On scalp lightening we recommend coming every 4 weeks with a 2 week refresh visit and
Foils we recommend coming every 6 weeks with a 3 week refresh visit
Brunette, Balayage and Bright
Balayage, Brunettes, Redheads and everyone in between are recommended to come every 6 weeks with a 3 week refresh visit.
All of our Bright Hair babes will be recommended a custom rebooking schedule depending on the process taken to achieve your colour.
I’m going to wrap this up for tonight because I have decided to not go into detail about Olapex in this blog, instead next week I will write a separate blog on Olaplex alone.
Until then, enjoy reading
With Love Morgan Drew