In today’s haircolor lesson I want to talk about the role that Hair-Texture plays during the haircoloring process.

When we Color or Bleach hair, there are always three elements that we must consider and work with in order to achieve a good haircolor result and at the same time leave the hair in the best possible condition.

These three elements are: the hair’s TEXTURE, the hair’s POROSITYand the TIMING (how long we leave the product on the hair).

Understanding how these three elements work together during the coloring and bleaching processes plays a huge role in how successful our end result will be.

Below I’ll share with you how to “think about” one of these three elements: TEXTURE, and in another lesson we will discuss the other two (Porosity & Timing)

The definition of the word TEXTURE as it relates to hair, is simply the DIAMETER of the hair strand itself.

That is to say that Fine Textured hair has a very “Skinny” diameter, Medium Textured hair has a Medium diameter and Course Texturedhair has a very “Thick” diameter.

What’s important to point out here is exactly where this “Thickness”of the hair is. This variable thickness is always in the Cortex of the hair, not in the Cuticle or Medulla.

And this is important because the Cortex is also where the haircoloring process takes place.

So with that in mind, it stands to reason that if a chemical product such as haircolor or permanent wave etc. is put on the hair strand, the strands with the less amount of density (Cortex) will react faster and more extreme than the hair with more density, as in Course hair.

So with that said, I am going to give you 3-Things to think about regarding how to deal with different hair textures and why it is important.

Coarse texture hair is much thicker with a bigger (fatter) diameter.

Finer texture hair has a very small (skinny) diameter; and Average hair is a medium diameter.

So think of Coarse Textured Hair as like Denim. Denim is like Blue Jeans, very coarse, very heavy, and very strong.

Think of Fine Textured Hair as like Silk, very fine, very fragile.

And think of Average Texture Hair as like Cotton, such as a pair of cotton pants.  Cotton pants can be washed many times but not as many as Denim.

Years ago when I was a kid jeans didn’t come Pre-washed, like they do now.  They came strong and stiff as a board.  To make them more pliable, they would need to be washed 20 or 30 times.

The more denim is washed, the better it is, the softer it gets, the more pliable it gets, and the easier it is to work with.

Just like when we need to Pre-Soften Resistant Course Gray hair to get better color results.

So, denim can take hundreds of washings and still be great.

At the other end of the spectrum is Silk. You cannot put Silk Blouse (or Shirt) into a washing machine not even once, because it will completely shred apart.

On the other hand Cotton can be washed many times but not as many as denim.

Hair works the same way. If the hair is fine textured, it can’t take strong products. 

Also, the products can’t be left on as long. Very gentle products must be used taking very gentle care with them.

Think about that for a second,

…What this means is that a lot of people think that by using 30-Volume Peroxide it’s going to be able to lift the hair a lot more than using 20-Volume Peroxide. That’s not necessarily the case.

What plays a Bigger Role is the Texture of the hair.

In the illustration above of the 2 girls demonstrates this fact.

The girl on the left-hand side has Very Fine, Skimpy, and Limp Hair. The girl on the right has Very Thick, Coarse Hair.

If you used the same Haircolor or Bleach Product on both girls and given the same amount of time, the girl’s hair on the left side will react much faster to the haircolor than the girl on the right because of the Finer Hair Texture.

Finer Hair will always move much faster with any chemical process, whether it is Haircolor, Bleaching, a Permanent wave, or Chemical Relaxer.

Fine hair will always react much quicker and much more extreme than coarse-textured hair. Coarse-textured hair will always react slower and not as extreme.

So, for example, when lightening hair, it will make the color go lighter faster and lighter than the coarse hair given the same amount of time.

In going darker, the finer hair will go darker, and go darker faster than the coarse hair.

Thing 3:

Haircolor Manufactures Make Haircolor to Work Best on

Average Texture and Normal Porosity

Which means that if we are working on any Texture that is NOT AVERAGE, we must learn to alter the product in order to make it work for us and and give us our desired haircolor result we are looking for.

And we do this in two ways:

For example, when bleaching Fine hair, instead of using 20-Volume developer, you may use a 5-Volume or 10-Volume developer. And instead of using Permanent haircolor for gray coverage you may choose to use a Demi-color.

And for Coarse hair you may need Permanent Color with 25 or 30-Volume developer to cover gray sufficiently or to lift the hair to a very light stage with a bleach product.

 

For example, in order to achieve the same level of Blonde color during a Double Process Bleach-out or a Highlighting the Finer hair may reach the desired color in 20 or 30 minutes were as a Coarser Texture may require 45 to 60 minutes (or more) to achieve the same look.

This is a Law of Haircolor and we must work within the limitations of what is possible with the hair, and remember, good haircolor can only exist in healthy hair, so above all else your strategy must always be to use the gentlest product possible to achieve a specific hair coloring result.

Until Next Time,

Cheers!

David