Wealden Times | WT188 | October 2017 | Kitchen & Bathroom supplement inside

Beauty
Cover Up
Josephine Fairley shares her advice for
achieving the perfect hair colour
If it sometimes seems as if your colourist is speaking
another language – well, he (or she) is. So this month,
I thought I’d translate all the key terms into real-life
words that any human being can understand – which
should help you achieve the look you want, whether you’re
having your hair coloured in a salon or doing it yourself.
What I truly, truly recommend, though – if at all possible –
is that as you start to develop grey, you have your hair coloured
professionally at least once, and then at least occasionally. Yes,
haircolouring can be pricy – and can carve huge chunks out of
your diary to maintain. A sympathetic colourist, however, will
be able to advise you on the best shade for your skintone. If
they’re really generous-spirited, they may be able to point you
in the direction of a particular shade in a drugstore/chemist
brand that might work for you, or at least tell you where on
the Hair Colour Level Chart you are (see below), and what
level of shade would work best with your (undyed) colour.
Balayage The technique of painting highlights directly onto
the hair without using foils; this can enable a colourist to get
closer to the parting/roots with the bleach. Can give a ‘beachy’
look and lessens the occurrence of unwanted regrowth lines
sometimes associated with foil highlights or those pulled
through a cap – but best left to true haircolour artists.
Demi-permanent colour lasts up to 28 shampoos. Contains
lower levels of peroxide (which means it’s
TIP:
After colouring,
never shampoo for 24
hours. This will help the
colour to ‘set’, so it
takes perfectly.
less harsh and drying) than permanent
colour. It’s great for creating naturallooking
tone changes (such as taking
brown hair to a rich auburn shade)
and will cover grey. Gradually fades
back to the natural underlying shade.
Glaze, a.k.a. Gloss A pigment-laden
or clear liquid used to enhance
a hair colour temporarily.
Highlights, streaks or chunks
of lighter colour (created through
the use of ammonia/hydrogen
peroxide), applied through the
hair – usually using foils.
Permanent colour doesn’t wash
out, and requires touching up of the
roots every four to six weeks. It contains both
ammonia and peroxide, so it can lighten, darken and/or
completely change your hair colour; it can also cover grey.
Peroxide Otherwise known as hydrogen peroxide,
extensively used in haircolouring as a ‘developer’ or
‘activator’. Its role is to open up the cuticle and allow
bleach or colour into the cortex of the hair.
Rinse See temporary colour, below.
TIP:
When it comes to
covering a whole head of grey,
don’t go darker. Not only does
it showcase greys and regrowth,
but it can look opaque, like
you painted your head
with shoe polish.
Semi-permanent colour washes out after six to 12 shampoos.
This enhances natural hair colour but won’t lighten it and
won’t cover grey, although it can soften its appearance. (NB
The reason haircolouring companies cite the number of
washes rather than a time-frame is that some of us wash
our hair every day, others as occasionally as once a week.)
Semi-temporary Not to be confused with semipermanent
(above): this colour lasts from 4-6
washes, contains no ammonia and isn’t mixed with
a ‘developer’ such as hydrogen peroxide.
Single process All-over colouring of the hair, from the
roots at the scalp right through to the ends, in one step.
Temporary colour simply coats the hair shaft and rinses
out after one shampoo. These cannot lighten hair, but
135 wealdentimes.co.uk