Ash, graphite, silver shades of hair, which are often called “gray” hair, managed to try on Rihanna, Kara and other world celebrities. However, this hair color is as moody as it is coveted. With the help of HairSilk experts, we saw where utopia ends and ashy hair begins. Columnist Daria Evans tells about this, who managed to turn the chestnut strands into silver twice. Spoiler alert: it turned out perfect only the second time.
Background and Attempt # 1
For the first time, I decided to radically change my hair color three years ago. Then it was not so fashionable and popular, and my desire was not inspired by trends, but solely by my love for this fantasy shade. By the way, silver hair is associated with something fabulous for a reason – such a cold shade does not exist in nature. It should be noted that at the same time I never wanted to be a classic blonde. I remember that I went to several salons, but stylists offered me classic shades, I tried to explain what I want, but then on the Internet there really were no photos of the shade I needed, only multi-colored hair of teenagers from different subcultures.
For a long time, I believed that an ashy shade for a natural brunette is a utopia. Indeed, in the process, you have to lighten the hair almost white, that is, the quality of the hair suffers critically. I probably would have waited until I turn gray naturally, if one day, walking around London, I had not wandered into a wig store, where I saw that very coveted shade. It was impossible to try on a wig, only to buy it. Which I did. I put it on, walked around the city and realized that this was what I needed. Then she returned to Moscow and walked through the salons for a long time until she found a master who decided to take it on. It was a well-known salon, but after the first time I turned out to be far from the desired shade – my hair acquired a blond-greenish color. Therefore, after a few weeks, they had to be lightened again. After the second round, the hair lost a lot in quality, but the shade became perfectly silver.
But I did not enjoy the silver strands for long. Firstly, the hair has deteriorated a lot. I used the best tools on the beauty market, they helped, but only slightly. And then I got to another salon, where I needed to dye the roots (my master had a dense record), and left there without a third of my hair. To say that it was a nightmare is to say nothing. The paint on the roots was overexposed, and the hair fell off at the junction of the regrown and dyed ones. After that, I stopped dyeing my hair and began to return to my natural shade. therefore do not change the colorist spontaneously – he, as a gynecologist, should be alone.
Attempt # 2
Of course, the first bad experience for a long time discouraged me from any desire to dye my hair. Although I missed the silver shade very much. Maybe I would have grieved further, but some incredible boom in this hair color all over the world began – from Rihanna onwards. Plus, if before I could not find on the open spaces of the network at least some decent photos from which I could build on, now there were plenty of them, ranging from steel shades to options with splashes of pink. By this time, I had managed to grow my natural hair below the shoulders, and I nevertheless decided on a second experiment. But now with knowledge of the matter.
The most important thing is, of course, the salon. This time, I chose the most meticulously. As a result, I settled on HairSilk, the masters of this salon are widely known for their work with representatives of Russian show business. And if Alena Vodonaeva was lucky with a luxurious color and a shock of hair, then I should be lucky too. Secondly, HairSilk stylists have an excellent academic base – they studied in the world’s best schools. As I understood, more attention should be paid to this, since many salons in the capital still work in the old fashioned way, while others follow the development of the global dyeing industry and adopt the experience of foreign colleagues. Hence the first rule: pay close attention to the experience of the colorist and salon.
Although the salon inspired me with confidence, it was, of course, scary. After all, the last time the salon where I painted, also had a good reputation. At HairSilk I was recommended by the colorist Anna, who was trained by Guy Tang – the guru in the world of radical hair coloring; he specializes in vibrant, rich colors ranging from ash silvery pinks to skittles.
Also, do not wash your hair for about 5 days before coloring, but do not apply styling products or dry shampoo to it. I have tried this on myself several times, and this seemingly not so important rule works. A special fatty membrane forms around the hair, which makes the effect of the dye less aggressive.
After I was in the chair, Anna asked me in detail about the biography of my hair. This is important in order to decide on a staining strategy. In my case, the hair was natural, without dyeing, otherwise it would have to be pre-prepared for a new shade. From my personal feelings, I note that it is best, of course, to let go of the desired length of natural hair and only then start dyeing, for the quality of the hair it will be less traumatic. After that, Anna prepared a dye, applied it to her hair, and while it worked, she answered my pressing questions.
The dye was washed off, the hair was dried. At this stage, they have acquired a chicken shade a la “back to the 90s”, but this is an inevitable stage in the process. After that, Anna appreciated the quality of the hair, how the dye affects them, and was satisfied. By the way, I, too – immediately felt them, they were almost the same to the touch as before applying the paint. An important point: do not hesitate to closely follow the process, and also first take an interest in what materials the master is working on. For example, many large salons have contracts with certain brands of paints, and they only use them, which is not always in the interests of the client. Plus, understanding what manipulations are currently taking place on your hair will allow you not to be so nervous (and this is still a true thing), and also to understand if something suddenly goes wrong.
After that, the dye was applied to me again. After that, the hair has acquired a much lighter shade. Again, there were no serious complaints about the quality, although problems are already visible at this stage. Once the master dyed me so badly that when I was drying my hair, whole strands remained on the comb – they literally fell off. If I had been more attentive to the process then, perhaps this would not have happened. Therefore, evaluate how the hair behaves. After the second lightening, I tinted them, after which I got the color shown in the photo. As a result, I remained pretty 100%, the shade turned out to be exactly what I wanted. The quality really surprised me. When I was just going to change the image, I got used to the idea in advance that the hair would suffer greatly, they say, this is the price that a brunette will have to pay for such a hair color. Especially considering my past experience. But! The hair is really perfectly preserved, remained soft and thick.
During the hair dyeing, and it took almost 8 hours, I collected all the comments about the dyeing from the salon professionals – the master Anna and the founders of HairSilk Anna and Victoria. They shared tips, described the dyeing process and talked about what to remember before making a drastic color change.
Anna, top stylist for HairSilk
Naturally, if you decide to change so dramatically, from a brunette to a blonde, it is better do not repeat this at home. It’s like in a video where people jump on motorcycles from a springboard, and at the bottom there is a caption: “Made by a professional stuntman.” This is a very complicated and time-consuming procedure.
All my colleagues, including myself, were trained by the best colorists, for example, such as Gai Teng, so I was confident in working on this coloring. We have a large team in our salon, we help each other regardless of rank, stylist or top stylist, this is the philosophy of our brand.
Gai Teng is a guru of color dyes, ballages, he is a world-class professional. For a minute, the record for him is closed, he works only with his regular clients, including the loudest star names. In California, he is a star, everyone dreams of getting to him, he loves to work with bright colors, and he succeeds 100%, although these are the most difficult jobs for a colorist of any level.
Of course, no one remains indifferent, someone wildly likes it, someone almost faints. It’s a challenge, it’s creative, it’s fashionable.
We are working on premium materials, of course, it makes the job easier, and I am confident in the result. The main tool today, of course, is Olaplex, a must-have for an experienced craftsman.… Hair remains dense, they shine even after total lightening.
It’s definitely not worth experimenting at home, clarification is a very delicate and serious process that is best left to a professional. At best, you will remain yellow as a chicken, at worst, bald!
It was easy for me to work, since the hair was completely natural, if it were a dyed brunette, then I would not have taken to work, since I would not have been able to achieve a pure result, even if I had knowledge of black magic, it is simply technically impossible. The coolest results are obtained either on previously bleached hair or on natural hair.
I worked with powder and oxide (6%), since initially the hair was quite dark, I brightened it twice, worked with foil to speed up the process. Next, I tinted everything with violet-gray-blue permanents, achieving the color I needed, at first they decided to make it light from the roots, but having received the previously discussed result, I realized that I wanted depth at the roots so that visual volume and density appeared, after which we darkened your roots to the 6th level, I really liked this contrast.
Anna, founder of the HairSilk salon
Our colorists were trained not only by Guy Teng, stylists of the Hairsilk studio studied at such hairdressing schools as Vidal Sassoon Academy, Toni and Guy Academy, Lebel Cosmetics School, visited and are constantly many master classes Western and European colorists and hairdressing teachers.
Of course, we follow the development of the beauty industry and consider it our professional duty to know what is in trend now and how to bring it to life. Plus, when selecting masters, we pay great attention to stylist’s sense of taste, sense of color, because you can learn any technique, learn formulas, calculate the proportions of the dye, but the sense of taste, the aesthetics of color, as the “artist” sees – this is something that is difficult to learn, whether it is or not.
Do as you would do to yourself. This is definitely the Hairsilk philosophy. My sister and I started working in the field of hairdressing 10 years ago and of course we tried on ourselves and on our girlfriends, dyed each other’s hair, styled, curled, straightened, cut each other’s bangs, applied all sorts of useful hair masks, sometimes of our own production , mixed oils, vitamins, decoctions, found some folk recipes, tried, experimented. This is how our philosophy came about: treating the client’s hair as if it were their own, we are so accustomed and we cannot do otherwise. There is not a single master in our studio to whom we would not entrust our hair. We use dyes that we consider to be the best, and we will not risk applying anything else to our hair. We extend hair, which we have chosen for ourselves for many years. We only recommend products that we consider to be the best.
Nowadays, there are many preparations that allow you to maintain the quality of hair during and after lightening. These are Olaplex, “Happiness for hair” Lebel, “Vitality” Lebel, “Botox for hair” procedures. And the lightening powder we’re working on is soft enough. But any lightening, despite the abundance of auxiliary procedures, is always traumatic for the hair.
In our studio, the client may refuse to illuminate. Before starting the procedure, the master assesses the condition of the hair. And if he understands that lightening will not lead to anything good, he advises an alternative option so that the client leaves our studio beautiful and satisfied, maybe not with snow-white curls, but for example, with light highlights instead of complete lightening, with whole and healthy hair of a noble shade. Or the master completely refuses the procedure if the client wants blond and only blond, and does not consider other options.
For girls who are going to radically lighten their hair, I would advise first of all stock up on various moisturizing and nourishing masks, use them instead of balm every time you wash your hair. After lightening, when toning hair, I advise adding “botox for hair” to the toning composition, this will well moisturize the hair dried after lightening and seal its scales, which prevents brittleness.
Sometimes, in order to change the image, it is not necessary to do a complete radical lightening. Highlights are a very good alternative to lightening. The image changes, and the hair is not injured in the same way as it happens with general lightening.
Clarification with low-quality preparations, non-professional craftsmen can turn your hair in a hard washcloth, and no matter how bright blonde you are, coloring will look cheap and ugly. In the worst case, you can lose hair altogether, there may even be scalp burns and damage to the hair follicles, which will slow down hair growth for a long time and affect its density. All in all, measure seven times, once lightened. Or several times, but gently and little by little – if the stylist advises not radical lightening in one day, but gradual, in 2-3 procedures. For each case, everything is always very individual.
Victoria, founder of HairSilk
Currently there is a lot of products to lighten hair with little or no harm for them. One of these is Olaplex and its analogues. This dye additive as a shield protects hair from an overdose of any percentage of oxide. Now any colorist can not be afraid of how strong an oxidizing agent he took for coloring: Olaplex will not let him spoil the hair, it is a kind of buffer that does not allow the hair structure to be destroyed. Olaplex slightly lengthens the exposure time of the dye, but the result is worth it. But you don’t need to fall into euphoria. Olaplex is just a tool. A skilled colorist can do without it. And the use of Olaplex does not at all exclude the subsequent use of balms or masks, as well as thermal protection during installation. But Olaplex is an essential color aid.
Before the clarification procedure, we always we assess the condition of the hair and ask the client thoroughly, what hair was dyed earlier and what chemical influences were carried out on them. And we make a decision: whether we will lighten and in what way. To achieve the desired result with minimal damage to the hair. If the client comes with a degree of hair damage of more than 4, we refuse him. Before any complex lightening or hair manipulation, if in doubt, we will definitely do lightening the test strand. This helps to understand the whole picture of previous stains.
This kind of staining should only be done by a professional with extensive experience. Application technique and knowledge of chemical processes are of great importance here. It is very important to consider the original color and the original quality of the hair.
As after any other dyeing with lightening of a similar plan, hair more intensive care is required. But not in the first 2 weeks after staining. In order for the color to stabilize. It is recommended to wash your hair with cooler water using special shampoos and conditioners to maintain color. Also maintain the color periodically by tint. About once every three weeks.