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Level, tone and how colours neutralize each other
Coloring is one of the hairdresser's strongest handcrafts – and one of the places where errors are hardest to correct. Good color theory is about being able to predict the result before you mix, so you hit the customer's wish without ruining the hair.
The colour wheel is the hairdresser's most important tool for understanding tones. Colours opposite each other in the wheel (complementary colours) neutralise each other. This is the principle behind colour correction: an unwanted yellow tone is neutralised with violet, an orange tone with blue, and a red tone with green.
Hair colours are described with a level (how light or dark the hair is from dark to light) and a tone (the direction the colour pulls in – e.g. ash golden red copper). When you read a colour formula the level tells you the depth and the tone tells you the desired shade. Being able to correctly read the customer's starting level is the prerequisite for choosing the right colour.
When you bleach hair, the natural underlying pigment shows through. Dark hair contains more red and orange pigment, light hair more yellow. That's why bleached dark hair often becomes orange along the way—and how you counteract it with the complementary shade. Understanding this means you won't be surprised by the result.
An allergy test (skin test) and a test lock are good practice when colouring. The skin test detects sensitivity to the product, and the test lock shows how this particular hair reacts to the colour. Do not skip them because you are in a hurry – it is your and your customer's safety.
“The skilled colour hairdresser doesn't guess – she predicts the result and explains it to the customer before the mixing bowl comes out.”