This guy IMed me today for help. For those interested, it provides keen insight to my prior job. Some of you may get a kick out of it, but some of you may find it boring! :lol: I just felt like playing show and tell I guess, 'cause it's something that I take interest in. He found me from my AOL profile (searching for haircolor).
[edited for privacy]: i see u have an interest in haircoloring
Hard Rock Soul: yes...
[edited for privacy]: do u color your own or others?
Hard Rock Soul: both, but mostly others. I love my natural hair, so I only mess with an underneath layer.
[edited for privacy]: what is your natural color?
Hard Rock Soul: a medium to dark brown
[edited for privacy]: nice color... i guess u enjoy changing someones color
Hard Rock Soul: Yeah... because everyone's hair reacts so different, it's fun to see what comes up. And I like using my knowledge and skill to create what people want (as opposed to a disaster).
[edited for privacy]: have u done bleaching too?
Hard Rock Soul: yep.
Hard Rock Soul: your name wouldn't happen to be Bill, would it?
[edited for privacy]: nope
Hard Rock Soul: okay.
[edited for privacy]: i have natural bright red hair that i have been coloring for awhile with med ash blonde to tone it down
Hard Rock Soul: wow... has that been working?
[edited for privacy]: ok but i stopped coloring for a few weeks and just got a short haircut so now i am back to my natural color
Hard Rock Soul: okay...
Hard Rock Soul: and you want to bleach it again?
[edited for privacy]: never had it bleached but i am thinking about it
Hard Rock Soul: well see, here's the thing (I'm sure you know this already)-- red hair is extremely hard to get rid of. Sometimes, if you find a strong enough bleach to do the job right, it'll need to remove SO much of the natural pigment that it weakens hair to a point of breakage/"melting"....
[edited for privacy]: i might just go with a darker shade of blonde or brown
Hard Rock Soul: what you could try to do is lighten the hair so light that it's a pale yellow, like the fruit part of a banana and use a special mixture of 1 part shampoo, 1 part developer, 1 part color of either a pale ash or a light ash blonde. But watch the timing, maybe test it first. sensitive hair can turn green or similar colors.
what shade of bright red do you consider your hair to be?
Hard Rock Soul: is it like a tomato, or a goldfish, or a pumpkin? copper penny?
[edited for privacy]: more like a pumpkin with a bit of grey in it
Hard Rock Soul: if you wanted to go darker, it could be easier. You could use a light or a medium brown color, but it may seem very dark to you. It will cut down on at least some of the red. the darker the color and longer the timing, the more elimination of red. You can use ash for extra toning, although on natural redheads it can look really artificial.
[edited for privacy]: u seem to really know alot about this subject
[edited for privacy]: my stylist suggested using a beige tone instead of an ash
Hard Rock Soul: Yeah :-) I'm a color technician/specialist.
Beige as a toner? After bleaching? That's okay too, but it won't take away as much of the yellow... just make sure it's light enough or you may get pink tones.
[edited for privacy]: too bad we arent local u would really fix my hair color perfectly
Hard Rock Soul: lol I know, I get that sometimes. ;-)
Hard Rock Soul: if you have a friend who's done this before who could help you, it may give you a little bit of peace of mind...
[edited for privacy]: i bet u would enjoy coloring my hair too!
Hard Rock Soul: I love it. I think it's great.
Hard Rock Soul: I used to help people like this for a living, but I quit work to take care of my daughter.
[edited for privacy]: i wish i had a friend who could do my hair
Hard Rock Soul: :-( me too!
[edited for privacy]: lol
Hard Rock Soul: :-)
Hard Rock Soul: are you having a good Valentine's Day?
[edited for privacy]: if u saw me, u would either say, u love the red hair or sit me down and get the bleach ready
[edited for privacy]: i am not dating anyone now :-(
Hard Rock Soul: I love red hair, and I love natural hair, so I may just have convinced you to leave it alone (my customers in the past usually don't like that advice).
I'm sorry! Maybe you should go out tonight, be with some people.
[edited for privacy]: i am going out tonight
[edited for privacy]: i want to color my hair first
Hard Rock Soul: That'll be good. No one should be alone on Valentine's Day, even if they just spend time with friends.
Well I hope it works out for you... What do you have there to use?
[edited for privacy]: what do u mean, in terms of haircolor?
Hard Rock Soul: right
[edited for privacy]: probably going to get a drugstore haircolor like nice and easy med or dark beige blonde
Hard Rock Soul: Good luck! To be honest with you, I don't think you're going to notice much of a difference ;-) But you can certainly always ask me for help if you ever need it.
[edited for privacy]: i noticed a difference with the med ash blonde but now that there is more grey in it, i want to go a bit darker and have been told to use a beige tone
[edited for privacy]: i dont want a major change
[edited for privacy]: if i am going to change it more, i want to do it gradually
Hard Rock Soul: Here's what'll happen if you use either of those.
The medium beige will try to lighten you slightly, because it has lifting ability. This may turn you to a lighter shade of an orangey color, possibly a little closer to goldfish.
the dark beige blonde will probably look as though it's done nothing at all. It isn't light enough to bleach you, nor dark enough to tone down the red. You will probably end up mad you ever bought it. But you are welcome to try it and see! ;-)
[edited for privacy]: what would u say is the difference between med ash blonde and med beige blonde?
Hard Rock Soul: Ash has more tonal deposits to eliminate brassy (like red) tones. Beige is more of a neutral to ash tone, with less elimination abilities.
Hard Rock Soul: They are both equally light; both will try to lighten your hair, but stop short at an orange stage.
[edited for privacy]: the ash blonde never lightened my hair
[edited for privacy]: i think i will buy both a med beige blonde and a dark beige blonde, and will try the med shade first
Hard Rock Soul: the medium ash? must not be strong enough, then... If you've liked it before, I suppose there's nothing wrong with doing it again...
Hard Rock Soul: Alrighty... have fun! :-D
[edited for privacy]: been told that beige is better on grey
[edited for privacy]: and if its still too light i can go to a light brown i suppose
Hard Rock Soul: um... yeah, but it may not be very apparent on your grey next to your darker pigmentation. If you were blonde to start, I would say that was an excellent choice!
Hard Rock Soul: Yes, a light brown should develop into a medium brown for you.
[edited for privacy]: bye the time i am done i wont have any red left in it
Hard Rock Soul: Perhaps...
[edited for privacy]: do u enjoy applying the color to someone and seeing it slowly develop?
Hard Rock Soul: Not necessarily. I mostly appreciate the before and after. On most of the occasions I've colored, the timing hasn't been slow, it's been rapid.
[edited for privacy]: when i color, it takes about 10 minutes or so to really show the difference
[edited for privacy]: usually its a very light color cream at first that steadilly gets darker
Hard Rock Soul: well, the color will usually oxidize to various shades once mixed and applied.... it's usually in most cases amber to start... going darker, sometimes strange colors depending on what you purchased.
[edited for privacy]: i remember getting very nervous the first couple of times i colored
Hard Rock Soul: yeah, a lot of people are.
[edited for privacy]: if i leave it on long enough the ash blonde makes my hair look more auburn with brownish tones
Hard Rock Soul: well that's actually pretty good. I'm surprised you got so much toning from it-- you were lucky.
[edited for privacy]: most people couldnt tell i colored it since i did it regularly and it still looked red
[edited for privacy]: either they couldnt tell or didnt say anything to me
[edited for privacy]: a previous hairstylist noticed it every time
[edited for privacy]: do u cut hair too?
Hard Rock Soul: no, I'm only specialized in color, unfortunately.
[edited for privacy]: did u color mens hair much?
Hard Rock Soul: No, I've actually never colored men's hair
[edited for privacy]: i bet u would like to color mine
Hard Rock Soul: lol Why is that.
[edited for privacy]: its a rather unusual natural color
[edited for privacy]: and i think u would like the results
Hard Rock Soul: is it? I'm sure it would be fun. Red natural hair can be so unpredictable anyway.
Hard Rock Soul: But it's so pretty, I don't know why you'd want to change! I love natural red hair.
[edited for privacy]: if u saw the before and after of when i colored it you would agree how much better it looks afterwards
Hard Rock Soul: maybe....
[edited for privacy]: if it looks good with the med beige i might just slowly go darker to light or med brown
Hard Rock Soul: okay... do you want me to give you a warning or let you just go for it?
[edited for privacy]: u can warn me
Hard Rock Soul: okay. when you go from a lighter to a darker shade, the hair has a tendency to overabsorb pigment and go WAY too dark, even if it seems like a gradual change to you. mix 3/4 of the original shade with 1/4 of a darker shade (save unmixed portions up to 6 wks if closed up and stored in cabinets) to darken. next time, go half and half, then 1/4 original to 3/4 darker, until you are finally just using the single darker shade.
Hard Rock Soul: this will be more natural and gradual without going Elvira on anybody.
[edited for privacy]: wow i didnt know that, the nice thing of mens hair is it is usually short so if it gets ugly, there is always shears and clippers
Hard Rock Soul: that's true. a lot of the men I've helped with advice and such have felt that way. so that's a plus.
[edited for privacy]: last question, is buying a clairol color much different from one in a beauty supply store?
[edited for privacy]: still there?
Hard Rock Soul: sorry, hang on a sec
[edited for privacy]: k
[edited for privacy]: i guess u are busy now
Hard Rock Soul: sorry.. yes, it is. Because the beauty supply color is very specific...
Hard Rock Soul: it is meant to be used in very specific mixtures by trained professionals. It can accomplish the same as store color, but there are more variables making it more risky to the retail consumer, who kit color is much more convenient and easy for.
Hard Rock Soul: easy to use. you know...
[edited for privacy]: aside from the fact that beauty supply color is more difficult to use, is it better in terms of more fade resistant etc?
Hard Rock Soul: not really. they're about equal. I would have to say it depends on the person applying the product, and the hair it's being used on. ;-)
[edited for privacy]: so if i am happy with the results of nice and easy or preference then there is no reason to switch
Hard Rock Soul: I'll tell you something else: the professionals don't know a heck of a lot more than the retail consumer regarding haircolor theory.
Correct. Absolutely.
Hard Rock Soul: But the pros get paid under the belief that this isn't true.
[edited for privacy]: u are the first to tell me this, all stylists say that drugstore color is really bad stuff
Hard Rock Soul: of course! and then they used to call me when they turned their clients hair blue.
[edited for privacy]: i rather pay 7.50 a box then $50 at a salon for virtually the same thing
[edited for privacy]: WOW!
Hard Rock Soul: I agree. I think that's wise.
Hard Rock Soul: You probably would do better on your own hair than a lot of pros, honestly.
[edited for privacy]: so its off to walmart for me and nice and easy #106b
Hard Rock Soul: alright! hope it works out for you.
[edited for privacy]: i already checked the clairol website for the color number
Hard Rock Soul: clairol has a pretty good site.
[edited for privacy]: it sure does
[edited for privacy]: so in 2 hrs or so, i will be done with this ugly orange grey hair
Hard Rock Soul: lol well like I said, if you end up needed anything else, I'm right here. I'm sure it'll be okay though, if you've done this before.
[edited for privacy]: i think i will be fine, i already added u to my buddy list... i dont think it will worse than med ash blonde... the clairol number is the same just without the b on the end
Hard Rock Soul: needed=needing (oops)
[edited for privacy]: i will let u know how it goes, thank you for all your help
Hard Rock Soul: you're welcome! great talking to you.
[edited for privacy]: same here
[edited for privacy]: bye for now
[edited for privacy]: signed off at 7:55 PM
