We often hear hairdressers refer to the color of coloring products by numbers. Here's what the numbers used to code hair colors mean.
1- The base color of your hair (natural or colored hair)
For blond or white hair above ten, there is no official numbering, because such hair has almost no pigment left.
A dot is always inserted in front of the hair color coding number to indicate the natural or artificial reflection of your hair.
2- Reflections
Colors and their equivalent in hair coloring
Warm highlights (yellow, orange, mahogany, red) are suitable for tanned skin tones or those with a more yellow or peachy complexion, while cool highlights (blue, purple) flatter fair or pink complexions.
Now that you know the two systems, let's see what the combination of a base color and a highlight gives:
- A 6.3 color gives a dark blonde with a golden highlight.
- A 4.6 color gives a medium brown with a red tint.
- A 1.1 coloring gives a black with a blue ash reflection.
- And so on.
Remember that the higher your first number, the more predominant the second will be. For example, 6.6 will be much more fiery red than 4.6, which will be more brown than red.
When the first digit exceeds 6, highlights have a predominant effect on all digits after the point (the highlight color).
In summary
- The first number indicates the tone level. Example: 5 = light brown.
- The second number indicates the main reflection. Example: 3 = gold.
- A third number can be added if a secondary reflection is desired. Example: 4 = copper.
This code will give a light, golden, slightly coppery brown (5.34).
The figures may vary slightly depending on the manufacturer, hence the importance of referring first and foremost to their own color chart (or wick).
In rare cases, some companies add a 0 to lighten or intensify the highlight. Placed before the highlight number, the 0 has the effect of lightening it. For example, 5.04 will produce a light brown with a slight copper tint.
Conversely, placed after, zero intensifies it. Thus, 5.40 will give an intensely coppery light brown.
To designate intense reflections, we also use doubling. Thus, .44 represents an intense copper reflection, and .66, an intense red.
To fully understand coloring, you need to master colorimetry, or the science of colors, and always keep in mind that the complementary colors on the color wheel cancel each other out.
Armed with this knowledge, you now know that if you ask for golden highlights, there will automatically be yellow in your coloring.
3- Complementary colors of the color wheel
The colors of reflections that neutralize each other
Here are some tips to help you remember complementary colors:
Blue (.1) has orange (.4) as its complement. Think about your vacation! The sea and the sun... Yellow (.3) has purple (.2) as its complement. Think about the colors of Easter. Red (.5) or (.6) has green (.7) as its complement. Think about Christmas.
As you'll see, with these little tips, it will be easier for you to find the color that cancels out an unwanted reflection. For example, if you find that your hair is too yellow, the next time you color your hair, simply add an iridescent reflection to your dye to tone down or eliminate the yellow.
So, if your dye is an 8.3 and your hair looks too golden, simply add a little 8.2 to your next color (about one part 8.2 to three parts 8.3). The purple will have the effect of "turning off" the yellow, since colors that are opposite each other on the color wheel cancel each other out.
This is why, in cases of blond, too yellow hair, or even to prevent the hair from turning yellow (which is often caused by oxidation), the use of a mauve or blue shampoo is prescribed.
Colorists will add highlights to the color to get rid of unwanted or overly intense highlights.
4- The volume of peroxide
Hair peroxide is oxygenated water in the form of an activating cream for color development.
10-volume peroxide helps semi-permanent hair dyes adhere to your hair to achieve the desired color. It can also be used with a hair color remover.
The 20 volume, on the other hand, opens the cuticles for good penetration of the color down to the cortex of the hair, and lightens your current color by about two tones.
As for 30 and 40 volume peroxides, they can reach 3 to 4 degrees of paling.
So, with 30 volume peroxide, we can reach more or less 8 starting from 5.
Similarly, if your hair is naturally a 2 and you're aiming for a 6, you'll choose a 6-volume hair color with the desired tone. Then, mix it with 40-volume peroxide.
Now you know the secrets of the numbers used to code hair colors.
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