What's the Deal with Semi Permanent Color Over Grey?

Most people don't understand the difference between Permanent Hair color versus Semi or Demi Permanent Hair Color. The word "Semi Permanent" is very misleading because it is absolutely NOT the same as "Temporary" color and it does not 'wash out' after however many washes. For my business, because I find it less confusing for clients, I call Semi Permanent color a "Color Gloss" on my list of service.

Here is a photo of several months of grow-out of a color gloss (semi permanent color) on a client who has a very small (less than 30% of the whole head) of grey hair:

I've lifted up a few of the grey strands and near the scalp you can see they are just regular grey/white hair but a few inches out, where the color gloss had been done on her last visit, the hair looks like a blondish highlight. At the time the gloss was first applied, it blended almost entirely with her dark hair but in the few months between visits the gloss (semi permanent color) faded to what you see.

Permanent hair color works as a "lift and deposit" system that swells the hair shaft open, removes some of your existing pigment and deposits new pigment. Semi Permanent Color (or a Color Gloss) does no lifting of color, it is a "deposit only" system. It can give very vibrant results but there is some fading with time and washing and it blends with your existing pigment so that the grow-out doesn't have the hard line of a permanent color. Interestingly, it can be more difficult to remove from the hair than Permanent Color but that's a story for another time.

Going grey is not typically a fun transition. Most of my clients want to prolong NOT having grey hair as long as possible (I know I do). As a client sees the first initial grey strands I always suggest a Color Gloss as the first step to cover it. It doesn't cover as fully as Permanent but what it doesn't cover ends up looking like a highlight or fades to look like a highlight as in the photo above. As the client gets more and more grey, I like to begin adding foils so that as the grow-out and fading happen they will blend in with the highlights eliminating the need for very frequent visits to the salon. I would say the time to begin adding highlights is when the percentage of grey on the head is at 20-25%. When the percentage of grey starts to get closer to 30% we could need to start a discussion of where the client wants to be in a few years - do they want to stay dark or would they rather move in a lighter direction? In general, going lighter is an easier option for someone who has a really high percentage of grey hair. If you are 50% grey (white) as your hair grows back in it's going to be less noticeable growing in to hair that is blonde than brown or black. But it's really a personal choice and that's why I like to start that conversation much earlier about what a person may be leaning toward.

I hope this information has been helpful and enlightening. If you'd like to get a conversation started about your own hair journey and dealing with grey hair or if you're thinking of trying a color gloss, book a consultation with me today! www.studiothreehairsalon.com

Adding a Little Fire

This was a fun little red adventure.. For a long long time we had been highlighting and then low lighting with red (she's a natural level 5-6 brunette). As happens over time she was getting a little bored with the color and feeling kind of same-ole same-ole so we came up with a plan to ad lots of chunky red low lights (using the Keune Semi so it's super gentle and conditioning, and while there will be some fade-age I used the Red Intense series so I'm pretty confident she'll stay pretty true between services)

I think next time I will use a different hue from the Red Intense series and maybe just a few peek-a-boo highlights through the front and bangs but I can't wait to see over time how all the awesome red low lights come together for shimmering red calico!

I also like that because she's growing her hair long the Keune Semi will keep her hair as shiny as healthy as possible. I think the heavy/chunky red highlight is much more interesting choice for red because going all-over is such a commitment to upkeep, even in Semi. But since it's got her own natural color all intermingled in there, she can go longer between services.. and seeing as she's got a busy life with family, too much upkeep is just not manageable.

Yaaay for fun solutions and yaaay for smoking hot Red Hair!!

Enjoy the day everyone!
-Lynn

Back to Natural

This model was basically an all-over blonde from heavy foil highlights and she was tired of the maintenance, tired of the grow-out and tired of the time it took for upkeep. She wanted to go back to her natural color with just a little blonde left in for highlights.

I foiled out some of her highlights (using blonde on the new growth and conditioner on the ends) and painted  her natural color between the foils. It's probable that the dark color will fade somewhat the first time because the blonde we were going over is very porous and there's not a lot inside the hair shaft for the color to hold onto. It could mean we will need to repeat this process a few time before we get the desired level of coverage. I'll be seeing her in a few weeks for a haircut so we will assess next steps at that time. It was a really fun transformation and I hope she enjoys having more fun as a brunette!

Before and After:




During the Process (conditioner foils and then the painting between foils):



Close-up of the newly darkened hair with conditioner highlights:

The beauty of the color gloss!

I am really loving this Seattle autumn weather.. and I think people are really gearing up for the coming fall. I've been doing a lot of dark hues these last few weeks. Lot's of people wanting richer colors and a hint of warm.

The color gloss is my number one choice for a rich, natural color that leaves the hair feeling silkier and looking shiny. What makes it different from a regular all-over color is that it does no lifting of the hair cuticle or the hairs natural pigment, it only deposits color. Regular oxidative color does both (lifting and depositing).

A while ago I had a client come in for a gloss. She was a natural dark blonde but prefers dark hair so she'd been coloring her long hair with box color on her own for a long time. Her hair was starting to look damaged and feel brittle and dry on the ends. I freshened up her dark hair with an all-over color gloss and it looked great! It did all the things I hoped it would and left her shiny and no-longer dry looking. Win!!

Unfortunately, the next time I saw her about 6 weeks later for another gloss she told me the first one faded and she went over it again with a box color. There must have been a miscommunication. I thought I explained to her that if it fades in a week or two (which would not be unusual with the porosity of her hair) I would be happy to go over it with a second gloss at no charge. I think maybe she thought I was going to charge her. Sadly, by putting box color over it again it just put us 2 steps back. It's completely normal for really porous hair that has had repeated box dye on it to not hold onto color. By using box dye again she was only making the porosity worse, her hair more brittle and doing needless damage. It's to be expected it would probably take a few times to fill properly.  I felt really bad for not making it clearer when I did the first gloss.

So anyway, today I did another (beautiful rich brown) gloss and then I heat sealed deep conditioner and she left looking like a model.. I told her to call me if it fades too fast, and this time she promised she would!