Your Color Starts Before Your Appointment
Everything your stylist wishes you'd do the night before.
Salon appointment, bathroom sink, box dye, balayage, gray coverage, monthly refresh, major transformation—doesn't matter. Prep changes everything.
You've probably had color that looked amazing in the salon and faded within a week. Or gray coverage that went patchy. Or blonde that pulled warm no matter what toner you used.
That's not bad color. That's unprepared hair.
HERE'S WHAT'S ACTUALY HAPPENING
Your hair accumulates things you can't see: mineral deposits from water, silicone layers from products, oils from your scalp, residue from dry shampoo and styling products. All of that sits between the color formula and your actual hair strand.
When color can't penetrate evenly, it lifts unevenly, deposits unevenly, and fades unevenly. Gray coverage doesn't grab where there's residue. Toners slide off over-coated hair. Blonde pulls warm because buildup traps heat during processing.
The formula isn't failing. The hair wasn't ready.
What Your Hair Colorist Wishes You'd Do
You spend money. You spend time. You sit in the chair or stand at your bathroom mirror, following every direction. And then, two weeks later, the brass creeps in. The gray peeks through. The tone you chose fades into something you didn't.
It's not the color. It's not your stylist. It's not your water (well—not entirely).