Chapter 3 - Preparation For Tinting

 
At is important to arrange a preliminary consultation before beginning coloring.

Conduct the consultation in a well-lighted room. If you are making your color selection during the day, work if possible, in a room which has a strong north light. If color selection is made at night, or if natural daylight is not available, use the best artificial light. For this purpose, incandescent lighting rather than fluorescent lighting is preferable.

Find out whether your customer wants to brighten her natural color, make a drastic change or to cover gray hair. Frequently, she knows in advance the color she wants, but sometimes because of skin tones or the present color of her hair, the color she has selected would not be becoming or advisable. Discuss the range of color choices and suggest the color you think would be most becoming so that you will have a happy and satisfied customer.

Individualized Colors

Women with olive skins or skins with a yellowish cast will find the ash colors and darker colors most becoming. Fair or creamy complex-ioned women have the whole range at their disposal and can be as daring as they wish. Women with a florid or a pinkish cast can choose dark or light colors, but they look their prettiest in colors with little or no red.

Gray haired women are apt to want to go back to their pre-gray color, but because there has been a lightening of pigmentation in skin as well as hair, a shade or two lighter than the original color is more becoming. The lighter colors are far more flattering and younger looking.

Upkeep Is Important

Explain the importance of upkeep. Tell your patron the cost of the first treatment and how often she should have her hair retouched to keep it looking its best. A color very different from the natural color will need more frequent retouches than one closer to the natural shade. Blonde tints on dark hair, for example, will require frequent retouches. If gray hair is tinted to match the natural pigment it will need less frequent care than if a decided change is made.

How To Make Color Selection

One of the most important reasons for the success or failure of a color treatment is the proper or improper selection of color. The reason many women return month after month and year after year to the same beautician is because of her skill in color selection and blending.

Some rules to follow in color selection are:

1. When selecting color, be sure your patron's hair is clean and dry. Soiled or wet hair always appears darker than it is. Thus, when the hair is soiled or wet, you may find yourself selecting a color that is too dark.
   
   
2. Have a Color Chart available, issued by the manufacturer of the product you are using. This will show you the range of colors and give you their names and numbers.
   
   
3. Match the patron's hair with the color closest to it on the chart.
   
   
4. When matching haircolor, observe the hair nearest the scalp at the back of the head. This is where it is darkest.
   
   
5. Do not look down at the hair. Raise the strand and observe it by pushing the hair up with the hand against the scalp. To study the color properly, look through the hair. In this way, you see depth as well as highlights.

Specific steps in color selection depend largely on the properties of the particular products you are using. Further instructions on color selection appear in the chapters on different methods of tinting.

The Patch Test

It is a well-known fact that certain individuals, for undetermined reasons, may be allergic to certain foods, drugs, cosmetics, and many other substances; and some people have such an allergy to haircoloring products.

Such persons may be called allergic or hypersensitive. The condition itself is called allergy, idiosyncrasy, hypersensitivity or predisposition.

The Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act of the United States prescribes that a Patch Test or Predisposition Test must be given before each and every application of permanent haircoloring whether on a full head or retouch. This test is prescribed to protect your patrons as well as yourself and the entire beauty profession.

Allergy is an unpredictable condition. A person may be free of sensitivity for a period of weeks or years and may suddenly develop an allergy. Without giving a test you cannot be sure that your patron has not become sensitive since her last treatment.


Checking the Color on the Patron's Head.
 
This Patch Test must be given 24 hours before each treatment.

To determine whether a person is hypersensitive to haircoloring, d. the following:

1. With bland soap and water, wash an area about the size of a quarter on the inner fold of the elbow or behind either ear, and extending partly into the hairline. Dry by patting with clean, absorbent cotton or towel.
   
   
2. Prepare a test solution by mixing a few drops of the exact color or mixture of tint colors to be used with an equal number of Clairoxide or Pure White Creme Developer.
   
   
3. With an absorbent cotton-tip applicator, apply the test solution to the area previously cleansed.
   
   
4. Permit the test area to dry. Leave uncovered and undisturbed for 24 hours.
   
   
5. After 24 hours examine the test area. If there has been no reaction, then the haircoloring should be applied immediately

If, at any time during the test period, there is any burning, itching, swelling, irritation, eruption, or any other abnormal reaction or awareness of sensation in or around the test area, then the person is allergic or predisposed to the preparation and must not use it.
Because there is no adequate or satisfactory method of predetermining the presence of hypersensitivity of the more delicate orbital areas or optic tissues, permanent haircoloring must not be used on eyelashes or eyebrows.

If a woman is found to be allergic to one product, this does not necessarily mean that she is allergic to all haircoloring products. For example, a person who is allergic to Hair Tint X has subsequently been given a patch test with Clairol Salon Formula Oil Shampoo Tint and then found, in this case, to be non-allergic to this tint.

Prepare Tint Mixture For Patch Test

Mix 6 drops of color or mixture of colors to be used with an equal amount of Clairoxide or Pure White Creme Developer.

How to give a patch test.
Patch Test Must Be Given 24 Hours Before Each Application.
 
1. Thoroughly wash a small section behind patron's ear with mild soap and water.

2. Apply tint mixture to washed spot. Leave wet. If patron reports no sensitivity or reaction within 24 hours she may be considered non-allergic.

3. You may use inside elbow instead of ear as test area if you prefer.

Preview Your Color Selection

Before the application of tints or bleaches, it is advisable to preview their effect by giving a Preliminary Strand Test.

This strand test will help you determine the following:

1. Whether proper color selection has been made.
   
   
2. The proper length of time to leave the bleach or tint on the hair.
   
   
3. Whether the hair has been previously treated with either a permanent wave, bleach, tint, metallic dye, compound henna, or rinse. Thus you will foresee any possibility of breakage or discoloration. When any of these conditions is evident, do not tint or bleach without first reconditioning and then retesting the hair.
4. If the general condition of the hair is not good, the test will show where porous areas exist and enable you to foresee unsatisfactory results such as streaked or dark ends

A preliminary strand test is given in the following manner:

1. If tint is used, mix a small amount of equal parts of the color or colors selected and Clairoxide or Pure White Creme Developer. If a bleach is used, mix 1 part bleach with 2 parts Clairoxide or Pure White Creme Developer. For exact proportions, check directions which come with the product.
   
   
2. Apply the mixture to a full strand of hair and allow it to develop until the desired shade has been reached.
   
   
3. Wash and dry the test strand and examine results. If the results are satisfactory, proceed with entire treatment.

In tinting, if color is almost correct, leave on longer for a deeper shade; less time for a lighter shade. But if the color is very different from the shade desired, select another color and make another Strand Test.

In bleaching, if the test strand is too dark, this indicates that, in your regular application, the bleach should be kept on the hair longer. If the test strand is too light, then less time is needed.

When discoloration in the Strand Test indicates the presence of foreign elements, corrective steps must be taken. For specific directions, see chapter 15—"Reconditioning Hair," and "110 Professional Case Histories The "1-20" Test, Page 157.

Gather Materials For Tinting

Before beginning your color application, assemble all the materials you need.

The following is a check list: Towels, shampoo cape, rubber apron, rubber gloves, comb, glass or plastic dishes, Miss Clairol Plastic Applicator, swab sticks, cotton, shampoo, a complete selection of tint products, bleaching materials, hydrogen peroxide, manufacturer's color charts. You will also need tint brushes. It is most important to use the right kind of brush. The best brush for tinting is a narrow, fiber brush. Nylon brushes have a tendency to irritate the scalp and cause hair damage. In order to get a brush narrow enough, it is usually necessary to split an ordinary fibre brush in two.

Preliminary Strand Test

1. Mix small quantities of materials to be used.
2. Apply to test strand. Let color de velop and examine results.

Materials For Application

Note the narrow fibre brush and the plastic applicator.


Parting Hair For Tinting
Part hair in four equal sections. Make parallel partings for tint application.
 

Using Plastic Applicator

Part hair and apply Miss Clairol with plastic applicator.

Clairol Plastic Applicator

The Clairol Plastic Applicator makes the application of Miss Clairol much more efficient. It takes the place of dish, comb, brush or swab. The applicator holds the mixture and the nozzle, like the rat-tail comb, is used for parting.

Pour Miss Clairol and developer into special Miss Clairol applicator. Then cover the top of the applicator with your gloved hand and turn it over gently four or five times.

If you are using a Creme Formula the mixture will turn into a thick, heavy cream. The more you turn the bottle, the thicker the creme becomes. Test thickness by squeezing small portions gently through the nozzle.

How To Part Hair A1vd To Use Plastic Applicator

For tinting, part hair in four equal sections according to diagram. White lines indicate parallel partings for tint application.

If you use plastic applicator to apply tint, hold applicator firmly in the palm of your hand and make partings with the tip of the nozzle.

Pick up strand of hair with your free hand and hold away from the head at such an angle as to expose roots or new growth.

Now place the nozzle point over the new growth. Gently squeeze the applicator and apply the mixture liberally. Part hair and apply mixture in applicator from right to left. Make new parting on return motion from left to right.

Two Musts In Tinting

1. Protect your patron from being splashed by the tint preparations. Tint can permanently discolor clothing. It is advisable before coloring to have your customer remove her blouse or dress to prevent staining. See that she is well protected with a towel and a plastic or a rubber cape.
   
   
2. Make a careful scalp examination to see that there are no abrasions, eruptions, or open wounds. Never proceed with tinting if any of these conditions exist.

he Use And Care Of Hydrogen Peroxide

Penetrating tints and dyes must be mixed with a developer. This developer is hydrogen peroxide. In all tint work a good, fresh, stable 20-volume hydrogen peroxide like Clairoxide or Pure White Creme Developer must be used.

Since hydrogen peroxide is a very unstable compound, great care should be taken in its purchase, storage, and use. Purchase your peroxide only from a reputable manufacturer. Clairoxide and Clairol Pure White Creme Developer will remain stable in an unopened bottle for more than three years.


Protect your patron with towel and plastic cape.

Peroxide may be purchased in either a gallon, pint, or 4-ounce size. For tinting or bleaching, it is always preferable to buy the pint size. When used from a gallon bottle, peroxide may weaken because of the exposure to air and impurities in opening and closing the bottle.

If there is any change in the strength of the peroxide from one treatment to the next there also will be a change in the tone of the final shade. When there is doubt about the strength of the peroxide, it may be checked with an instrument called a Peroxometer or Hydrometer. Remember that anything less than 17-volume peroxide will not give a satisfactory result. Anythting more than 20-volume peroxide may impair the quality of the hair. For best results, Clairoxide, Pure White Creme Developer or 20-volume peroxide should always be used.

Be sure to mix your tints or bleaches with developer immediately before application. Do not allow the prepared mixtures to stand for any length of time, or they will lose their strength in the dish.

WARNING: Never store any tint or bleach after it has been mixed with developer; it may burst. Any mixture remaining after treatment must be discarded.

Storing Your Materials

As tinting materials are affected by heat, light, and cold, great care should be taken in storing them. Select a room with an even, normal temperature, not exposed to sunlight. Keep your tint supplies away from radiators and other heating elements. Have your merchandise well marked and keep a record of your inventories so that you will not run out of needed materials.

This is a Peroxometer. It will test the strength of your developer. Use only good, fresh 20-volume Hydrogen Peroxide.

Be sure tint, bleach materials and developer are at room temperature when used.

Keeping Tint Records

Every beauty establishment should keep complete records of each treatment given to a patron. This is especially true of tint patrons.

Properly kept tint records can be extremely helpful and lead to more professional work. First of all, they give you a permanent record and reference to guide you in your future colorings. They also impress your customer with your professional conduct and the personalized nature of your services.

Are You Ready To Move Onto The Next Lesson? Click Here….