Safety!
Instructions and Tips
Before colouring, it’s really important that you test if our colour is suitable for you. Do a sensitivity test before using the colours! Clean a small area of skin for testing. The best area to do it is in the inside of the arm or behind the ears, as these areas are relatively discrete. Squeeze a small drop of dye onto the cleaned area and leave it on the skin for as long as possible – we recommend 48 hours! Allergies are very rare, but if during the test period you notice any abnormal reactions such as itching, redness or swelling in or around the test area, DO NOT APPLY THE PRODUCT!
Remember that ingredients are different in every shade of our colours! Do a sensitivity test before every preferred colour.
How to get the perfect result?
To avoid any unwanted ‘surprises’ make sure you make time for a strand test before colouring your hair. It won’t take long and will ensure you have chosen the brightest colour.
Wash your hair before testing. Do not use any conditioner. Your hair can be dry or towel dry before testing. Choose a hidden section of hair to work with. Then apply 1 tablespoon of dye to your sample. Let the dye soak in for approx 30 minutes before thoroughly rinsing the sample to reveal your new colour.
Note that your hair may have different shades and the colour will look different in darker or lighter parts.
How to get the colour to stick better?
Before dyeing we strongly suggest always to bleach your hair to guarantee the best result. Bleaching your hair will lighten the base colour so that the colour shade will be bright. Treatment will also open your hair’s structure so the hair colour can absorb into your hair.
The base should be light as possible so the colour would be bright. How dark your hair is will effect the result of the colour. You may need several bleaches before your hair is light enough. We suggest you bleach your hair several times rather than bleach one time and for a longer period. This way you avoid any hair damage or burning.
You should always keep at least two weeks between every bleach.
Click here to see our bleaching kit.
We suggest bleaching your hair even if it’s naturally blond. The colour won’t absorb directly if your hair structure is not open. With blond or light hair, you can lower the duration of bleach to minimum.
We suggest using our Herman’s Amazing Bleach Kit. Read directions to the use of bleach kit here!
Do a sensitivity test also with bleach kit!
Bleaching will make your hair dry! If your hair is in bad shape, don’t bleach it. Direct colour is conditioner based so it doesn’t hurt your hair. Still we suggest using conditioner when washing away the colour. Don’t mix the colour and conditioner on the first dyeing time or if you want to maintain a dark colour. Conditioner lighters the shade of the hair dye.
How can I avoid using the bleach kit?
If you don’t want or can’t use the bleach kit, there is some other ways to open your hair structure and get the colour to attach into your hair. Mind you, any of the following ways are not as powerful as bleaching.
Bleach Wash is a gentler way to lighten your hair than actual bleaching. In bleach wash you mix bleach sachets, Cream Peroxide, warm water and shampoo together. This doesn’t lighten your hair that much but opens hair structure so hair dye can get attached to your hair. After this the wanted colour won’t be as bright and the colour may be even remarkably darker or lighter than what it would be after actual bleaching.
Deep Cleansing Shampoo doesn’t lighten your hair at all, but deeply cleanses your hair and it will open the hair structure so the colour may get attached better. Treatments with deep cleansing shampoo will improve the result of colouring if used regularly before the actual hair dyeing. After this the wanted colour won’t be as bright and the colour may be even remarkably darker or lighter than what it would be after actual bleaching.
Baking Soda is also a way to open your hair’s structure. This doesn’t lighten your hair! Wash your hair with normal shampoo first. Don’t use conditioner. Then wash your hair again with baking soda: Mix baking soda with a small amount of water into a paste. Spread it all over your hair. (If you are colouring only parts of your hair you can spread only to those parts.) Let it affect about 10 minutes. Then wash it off, but don’t use conditioner. Dry your hair with hairdryer. The hot air will also help to open your hair’s structure. Then you can colour your hair.
Vitamin C is also one way to lighten your hair and open the structure. This doesn’t lighten natural blond hair. It only fades out the old pigments from your hair like previous colours. In natural hair it will open the structure. Mix vitamin C that you get from a pharmacy, to water and shampoo. Add water carefully so it won’t get too runny. Spread evenly to your hair. Effecting time may change depending on how much you need to take off the earlier colour from 10 minutes to 60 minutes. Wash away, but do not use conditioner if you want to colour your hair right away. You can put the colour on dry or towel dry hair.
These tricks will still make your hair dry! If your hair is in bad shape, don’t try these. Direct colour is conditioner based so it doesn’t hurt your hair. Still we suggest using conditioner when washing away the colour. Don’t mix the colour and conditioner on the first dyeing time or if you want to maintain a dark colour. Conditioner lighters the shade of the hair dye.
During the colour!
Why does my colour fade away faster than others?
Colour fading is very personal and several things can effect fading: Your hair quality, previous treatments, what hair products you use, how often you wash your hair, and how well the colour attached on the first colouring time are all effecting to your hair colour fading.
Curly hair is often more rough than straight hair. That’s why colour may attach better to curly hair and it doesn’t fade away so fast as in straight hair. Your hair condition also effects. If your hair is in really bad condition it doesn’t take the colour in and the colour will also fade away faster. You may get your hair in bad condition if you bleach it too often and too much of heating, like curling and straightening. Some shampoos also make your hair colour fade away faster. You should always use shampoos that are meant for dyed hair.
How can I make my hair colour last longer?
-When you wash your hair you should use cool water. Warm water opens hair structure and colour will fade away faster. Cool water keeps hair closed so colour will last longer.
-Do not use deep cleansing shampoos while having colour in your hair. You should always use shampoos that are meant for coloured hair.
-Avoid sauna. Sauna’s warm temperature opens your hair structure and the colour will fade away. If you go to sauna keep, your hair dry and cover them with a towel. If you have used any hair products during the day, like hairspray, you have to wash it off before going into sauna. Wash your hair, then rinse with cool water and cover your hair with a wet towel.
-Don’t use too much heat on your hair. If you straighten or curl your hair always use heat protection.
-Swimming and especially chlorine water will fade the colour. So, avoid swimming but if you do, use a swim cap.
-Vinegar works like conditioner and it seals the hairs structure and keeps the colour bright. You can use it after washing your hair like conditioner.
How to keep colour bright?
To keep your hair colour bright use direct hair colour after washing your hair. You can use it as a conditioner after washing or mix it with conditioner. That keeps the colour bright much longer
Changing colour/ Getting colour off
How to get the colour off?
When you’ve had enough of your hair colour and want to go back to your natural colour, you need to know the following: If you have bleached your hair before using direct colour you won’t get your natural colour back. Your natural colour will grow back with roots. You can colour your hair with colour that is closest to your natural colour. Remember that you can’t colour just over the last colour. Sometimes earlier colour may show through from under the last colour. For example, if you colour brown colour over green, the green colour will make the brown look greenish and dirty.
Depending on what colour you want next you should try to fade earlier colour as much as possible before colouring new colour. You may also have to fade the colour with another colour first. For example, blues and greens are cold colours and you may have to turn them into warmer shades. Then reds and pinks may have to be turned into cooler colours. This all is depending on your base colour and what colour you are planning to do next.
To fade your colour, you can wash your hair a lot with a deep cleansing shampoo. Use also very warm water. Remember that deep cleansing shampoo makes your hair often dry so remember to use conditioner or conditioning oils. Don’t use any heat during the fading of your colour. Many oils also fade the colour. Oil removes the colour from the hair’s surface.
Most powerful way to fade colour is always bleaching but it can also damage your hair. Bleach may not fade all the wanted colour. Example blue colours can often be sticky and leave light blue or greenish base even after a few bleaches. Also red colour may be difficult to get away if a person has red pigmented hair naturally.
We recommend keeping at least two weeks between every bleach so you can’t damage your hair too much. Pay attention every time to your hair condition after bleaching. If your hair starts to feel dry and harmed, don’t bleach.
How to change into a different colour?
If you want to change into a different direct colour, we recommend fading previous colour as much as possible. After that, the colour wheel is your friend! The best way to change colour without damaging your hair is to go with colour wheel. Turn your colour always to the next colour of the wheel. It’s much easier to cover one colour with one that is close to it on the colour wheel, than to cover one colour with its opposite colour. For example, a faded blue can be easily dyed over with purple, and after that: red tones. If you want to go from red to green, you need to decide what kind of green you want and then just go with the wheel. From red to purple and blue, and eventually to green. But you need to fade the red colour as much as possible.
How to keep hair in good condition?
During many times of colouring, bleaching and fading, remember to pay attention to the condition of your hair. Colouring with direct colours wont damage your hair because they are conditioner based. Bleaching, fading and heat will damage your hair. Always use conditioner or conditioning oils when you are washing your hair. When you are using heat remember to use heat protection. Do not use heat every day. Keep free days from curling or straightening your hair. Once in a while it’s good to do oil treatments or use hair masks. These treatments keep your hair in good condition. Remember that oil treatments fade the colour, so we suggest doing these treatments when you are changing your colour.
Don’t bleach your hair too often or too long. This way you avoid burning your hair.
Tricks!
Perfect pastel hair!
To get the perfect pastel hair we suggest using our Blanc Blanche Toner. It is the perfect way to turn any colour into a pastel shade. You can also use conditioner to lighten your colour, but conditioner has different composition and it may not mix with the hair dye well and final result may not be as smooth. Our toner keeps the composition the same as the colour has so it won’t be too runny.
When you mix toner and colour, be careful. You don’t want to put too much toner to the colour. Mix only a small amount of toner to the colour and then add more and more until you get the shade you want.
Pastel colours fade faster than darker bright colours, so you have to maintain the colour quite often during washings. You can use colour as conditioner or mix it with conditioner to maintain your colour. It depends on the person how often you have to do it.
Perfect grey hair!
Do you dream about perfect grey granny hair? Well here is the answer! We have two different shades of grey colours. Lighter Gilda Grey and darker Mathilda Grey.
Before colouring with our grey tones, the base colour has to be perfect platinum blonde. If there are any yellowish shades in your hair those might turn out green.
Perfect way to get your hair light enough is to bleach your hair first. Then use our Veronica White hair colour or Sylvia Silver to convert those yellow shades away.
You may have to bleach and use these colours a few times before your hair is ready for grey colours.
COLOURING RESULT
Because the quality and condition of each person’s hair is different, we cannot offer a satisfaction guarantee for our products.
Our examples are only indicative, and factors affecting the actual outcome are the quality of hair, condition, history and general health of the person.