In completely non-surprising news, a Moneysaver HQ investigation has found that hair maintenance for women typically costs between $160-$250 every 6-8 weeks, compared to the average outlay of $30-$80 for men in the same time span. Yup, nothing we didn’t already know or could not have very easily guessed there. We love righting some wrongs and we have put together our top tips for keeping [...]
Many of us are actively trying to avoid exposure to unnecessary chemicals. Some chemicals are established allergens which can trigger unpleasant allergic reactions from either single use or repeated exposure, other chemicals have a less direct but still very concerning broader health public health impact, such as phthalates. Some chemicals which don't directly cause irritation have not yet been studied extensively, following the 'if it [...]
If you love your greys, then full power to you. Keep them and enjoy the liberty from home or salon colouring. We admire and respect non-conformist silver foxes. I’m talking about you, utterly fabulous mum at school with full length greys, head held high, who I instantly want to befriend. And yet. Some of us are just not ready. My friend who went grey at [...]
Expertise, included! We don’t just bring you better hair colour with healthier ingredients, we include personalised expert colourist advice too. Colour selection and home colouring are just so much easier with a professional colourist guiding you along your home colouring journey. Let us know your hair history, colour, challenges and goals and one of our colourists will follow-up, giving you personalised colour suggestions which consider [...]
Perfect, Personalised Colour Blends Looking for a colour which is a little bit this, and a little bit that and 100% you? Sitting on the bronde fence and, frankly, you want both light brown and a little dark blonde? We’ve got this. We are super excited to announce new Duo Colour Packs which lets you customise your colour to perfectly match your hair goals. Blend [...]
Getting flawless colour isn’t as hard as you think. Here are a few tips to help your hair colour look perfect. Timing really is everything when it comes to achieving a balanced, cohesive colour result. Hair has different porosity at different sections. The more porous hair is, the faster it will absorb colour and the darker your colour result will be. Think of your hair [...]
Most non-colourists have never heard of porosity before when dealing with hair. It is always good to learn something new, so we’re letting you know a bit more about porosity and how it can affect your colour. What is Porosity? Porosity refers to hair’s ability to absorb moisture. The absorbancy or porosity of your hair depends on the natural the natural texture, colour history, styling, [...]
Why, why do we battle brassiness? What actually is going on? To understand brassiness, we must understand Natural Contributing Pigment (NCP). Natural contributing pigment is the varying degree of warmth exposed during the lightening process. Natural pigment is the pigment which remains in the hair after lightening or applying colour and these pigments contribute to the final colour result. When lightening hair colour, the natural [...]
Well done! You’ve got the colour, tools and techniques to achieve gorgeous colour results at home. Now you just need to keep it looking it’s best by preventing damage which can compromise your colour results. Damaged or porous hair won’t absorb or process colour correctly, leading to inconsistent or unwanted colour results, and damaged hair will also cause faster colour fade. Keep your colour glossy, [...]
We’re all grown ups here, so let’s not pretend there isn’t occasional unwanted colour results from home colouring. One home colouring mishap that we do hear of from time to time is orangey colour results when colouring with a blonde colour. As a colourist, I have heard of this complaint over and over again from home colour jobs gone wrong with many different brands over [...]
Straightening and drying and lightening and colouring and balayaging and straightening and heat styling and…. Friends, it’s a lot. Honestly, from glancing at hair (in a non-creepy way) at the supermarket, kids school (insert more glamorous locations I may or may not actually go to), there’s a lot of you doing a lot to your hair. Too much. Really. I have ranted before about over-processed [...]
I see over-processed hair everywhere I go. Hair whose condition is so terrible that it frankly doesn’t matter how nice the colour is, there’s no getting past the damaged, brittle, dry, broken condition of the actual hair. There is a serious case of false equivalency going on here. Nice colour at the cost of healthy hair that actually looks and performs like nice, healthy, real [...]
Unwanted warmth or brassiness is not just a challenge for blondes - If you colour your hair anywhere in brunette range, you may have stumbled upon the dreaded unwanted brassy tones too. Brunettes with brassy tones have a reddish, coppery orange tone through their hair. In some lighting this can look straight up red, which is perfectly fine if you want warm brown tones with [...]
Why is grey hair sometimes resistant to colouring? Grey hair lacks the pigment that is present within naturally coloured hair. Lack of colour pigmentation is usually age related (sometimes due to stress as well) and it not only causes a change in colour, it also usually also changes the texture and coarseness of the hair cuticle. Grey hair frequently has a thicker, ‘tighter’, layered cuticle, [...]
Bleach washing is an easy, effective, hair-friendly way to lift your colour and achieve a lighter colour result. If you want to lighten your hair, your options are generally limited to colour removal products or bleaching processes. Colour removal products aren't effective for everyone, and they will not lighten your hair, but they may lift out permanent colour pigments, although you may need to repeat [...]
Green is great. We love green. On trees, plants, my sweet little indoor succulent garden by the window. Not so much in our hair. Green tones are usually seen in the damaged ends of darker colours such as brunette shades which have been coloured with cooler, Ash tones. Blondes who swim or shower (so, all blondes) or who use cool colours or toners are [...]
That’s exactly the kind of question a great mother-to-be would ask, so well done for being fabulous at the mothering gig already! Firstly, congratulations on your pregnancy! We hope you’re feeling well and you’re all keeping healthy. Secondly, the good news – studies to date do not show there to be any reason to stop colouring your hair during pregnancy. Whilst some of the chemicals [...]
Aah, the surprise darker colour result. We do wish it didn’t happen, and that all colouring outcomes were perfect representations of their particular colour, but, alas, it doesn’t always work that way. Why does this happen? Let’s delve into the dark side. Hair colour results are affected by several factors: 1. Your natural hair colour. That’s the hair colour at your roots, not the mid-section [...]
How much can you lighten your hair colour? Good question! The answer depends on whether your hair has been previously coloured. If your hair is natural, virgin, uncoloured, pure as the day you were born, then you can use our low chemical, salon grade colours to lighten your hair up to two levels. That means a medium brunette is now a dark blonde, or a [...]
So you’ve been casually colouring for years. Ok, there was that time when you thought you were more professional than amateur and you really stepped it up with some interesting new colours, but you’re much more sensible now and you’re just looking for a reliable, utterly fabulous colour which you apply at home, watch Netflix, rinse and look like you just stepped out of a [...]
When someone has an allergy to hair dye, they are most likely allergic to one of the chemicals in the dye rather than the entire product. The most common cause of these allergic reactions is para-phenylenediamine, also called PPD. PPD (paraphenylenediamine) is a chemical used in many hair colour brands (not ours!), particularly in the darker colours, as it is a very effective colouring agent. [...]
Travelling around the world is all well and good if you have super low maintenance hair or you colour just for kicks every 2-3 months. Pack sensibly, learn a few niceties in the local language and see you at Base Camp! It’s a touch more fiddly if you are need to look slightly more high maintenance (read: need to look great and professionally groomed) [...]
Salon colour which is cruelty free colour and also completely free from animal products! Not only is our entire colour range cruelty free, we are also very proud to report that it is also free from any ingredients which are derived from animal products. Our salon grade permanent colour is made in Italy with ingredients which are completely free from any products with animal origins. [...]
Here’s the big news: You cannot lighten hair which has been previously colour with permanent hair colour. That includes hair coloured with permanent colour, semi-permanent colour or henna. It can’t be done. Let’s break down the options for each colour: Henna: Needs to be grown out Semi-permanent colour: Will wash out with time. Permanent colour: Can only be removing through growing out or through a [...]
Red, copper, strawberry, oh my! Shades of red can be deep and rich, or they can go soft and understated—but they all seem to come out quickly in the wash. While the picky pigments in reds require a little extra upkeep, these top tips from our color pros will keep reds happy and vibrant between applications. 01 INGREDIENTS MATTER We have a better understanding of [...]
We know that blondes love their hair. We also know that blonde is the highest maintenance colour around. We’ve put together our top ten tips to keep your blonde hair maintenance as simple as possible, so can spend less time on colour maintenance and more time for whatever else you would like to be doing instead of hairwork. 01 INGREDIENTS MATTER We have a better understanding [...]
If you're currently home colouring, or thinking about it, chances are you have coloured your hair before. Colouring hair which has been coloured previously adds a few more factors into the mix which can affect your colour result. As always, knowledge is power and we're here to help you understand the colour-on-top-of-colour situation and to help you colour with confidence in your home salon! Maintaining [...]
Brunette colours are popular, beautiful, versatile and easy to live with and love. While they are easier to maintain than red or blonde colours, every brunette can benefit from a few colour boosting pro tips. These top ten tips from our hair colourists will help keep your brown brilliant, rich, and fresh as can be. 01 INGREDIENTS MATTER We have a better understanding of ingredients [...]
If you’ve ever wondered how you can colour the back of your hair by yourself, you’re not alone. It's not necessarily obvious, but you can get it right and get even, consistent colour results with a few handy pro tips. We're breaking it down for you in an easy to use guide to help you out with this common home colouring predicament. The good [...]
Wait, on a Colour Plan you can fine-tune your custom colour, control your delivery schedule, and you kick this off with a Free Trial with reuseable salon accessories to deck out my home salon? Harness the power of your colour plan with this no-miss list of ways to stay #winning. Have you heard? You’re in total control of your hair colour plan. From finding your perfect shade to [...]
You know what can be fun, efficient and rewarding? A colour session with your friend/ daughter/sister. Double up, pour yourself a kombucha/hot choccie/mojito and follow our top tips on how to apply colour on someone else's hair like a total pro. Some of you have, some haven’t but you all can. Colour at home like a pro, that is. Got a friend in need of [...]
Let’s take a look in the mirror and a moment to think about what we spend, in terms of time and money on our hair colour. Aussies are spending $3.5 billion (with a B) a year on professional hair colouring, and no prizes for guessing the majority is spent by women. That’s a big number. That comes straight from the pocket of your [...]
Did you know that increasing your vocabulary can increase your IQ? We’re going to raise your colourist IQ through the roof by getting you across the colouring lingo. It’s all a bit easier when we actually understand the words we used. No more winging it! There’s several terms which describe the characteristics and properties of different hair colours: Warm Warm Hair Colours refer to colours [...]
We love great hair, and making womens' lives easier. We are also quite keen on making animals lives easier. The Shade is opposed to animal testing and we support a global ban on animal testing in cosmetics. All of The Shade's colour products and our shampoo and conditioner products are made in Italy. In accordance with European law, our products are never tested on animals. [...]
Are you sick of the grey hair battle and thinking about going grey? If Sarah Harris, deputy editor of British Vogue can do it, while shaping beauty and fashion trends with her uncanny insight into truly cool and chic things, then then it Can. Officially. Be. Done. Let Sarah Harris be our guiding light, our voice of reason, and our natural grey hair inspiration. When [...]
There are a few approaches to colouring - Some colours have a solid colour effect. Some colours are neutral colour (think Nude hair) and their colour results are generally easy to achieve, either in a salon or at home, and their upkeep can be pretty straight forward. Totally doable. Other colours require the whole three ring circus – hours long salon appointments, colour corrections and [...]
Spotted an unwanted glint of grey hair in amongst your roots? Ok, breathe. The good news is you’re alive. Remember, the alternative is worse. You are allowed to a brief, mini-existential crisis – it goes with the territory and now is as good a time as any to over-dramatically reflect on your life. We’ve all been there. Bear in mind that the average age [...]
Many consumers prefer ammonia-free colour, whether for salon or at home colouring, as ammonia has a pungent, harsh smell which can irritate the skin, eyes and nose, but there is little consumer awareness of the upside of PPD-free colour. What is PPD? Paraphenylenediamine, is commonly known as PPD, is an aromatic amine compound and is often used in hair dyes because it is effective [...]
Used in traditional Chinese medicines for centuries, ginseng is a powerful ingredient with a wide variety of uses. In fact, researchers from The Mayo Clinic and National Center for Biotechnology Information have found that is ginseng is associated with improved energy levels, metabolism rates, and even improved cognitive function. However, recent studies have also found that this humble root vegetable can now have profound effects [...]
Grey roots can be unwanted and difficult to cover. If you are looking to colour resistant grey hair, follow some simple tips to make sure your greys are covered and that your new colour is consistent, with total grey coverage. Grey hair isn't actually grey - it's white and the pigment loss which occurs naturally in hair as we age. Grey hair is often [...]
Ever walked into a salon for a colour appointment and sat back and relaxed while your colourists zig zagged a squeezy bottle through your hair? So, no. Colourists always use a tint brush and bowl and are very careful with their colour placement. Their results (and job!) depends on them placing the right colour in the right place. There’s very good reasons why we [...]
We all know someone who wouldn’t dare colour their own hair at home —or maybe you’re one of those people yourself—certain that you’ll mess it up. Well fear no more, because straight from professional colourists, we have the 5 tips you need to know if you think you can’t colour your hair at home. Hint: YOU CAN. 1. HAVE REALISTIC EXPECTATIONS WHEN CHOOSING YOUR [...]
Considering colouring your hair at home? Sounds great in theory, and we all love a convenient DIY solution, and really, exactly whose schedule can accomodate regular 3.5 hour salon appointments? With a sprinkle of knowledge and some simple preparation (don’t worry, we’ll take care of the details for you) you can be a home colouring queen, happily covering greys and processing that perfect shade [...]
Protect, pamper and lock in luxurious, lasting colour with our nourishing Colour Protection Shampoo and Conditioner. Our Colour Protection Shampoo and Conditioner is specifically formulated to meet the needs of coloured hair. They are blended with botanicals and advanced ingredients which seal and lock in colour pigments, leaving your hair with a soft, silky smooth, high shine finish. The Shade's Colour Protection Shampoo and [...]
The Shade's home colour system sends you Italian made PPD, paraben, phthalate and ammonia free colour together with the salon accessories you need for neat, precise, controlled colour application and salon results. Here's how The Shade can help you lift your home colouring to new heights of happy, healthy gorgeousness: • Avoid unnecessary exposure to chemicals such as PPD, parabens, phthalates and ammonia. Off-the-shelf [...]
We have reached peak hair processing and more of us are realising that a kinder, gentler relationship with our hair (amongst other things!) is healthier. Over-processed hair doesn’t look or feel good. We want hair that looks alive and which reflects a happy, healthy you and we want from our at home colour to give us beautiful, natural looking colours, as well as soft, [...]
“Who’s got the time for this?” was on repeat loop in my head for about 3 hours of my last 3.5 hour salon appointment. I wasn’t alone. Far from it. 37% of women aged 35-49 have bought hair colouring products in the past 6 months, and more women on salaries of more than $100k are choosing to colour their [...]
Hair sectioning is a simple, professional technique which helps you manage your colour application, helping you achieve even, full colour coverage and better colour results at home. Sectioning helps you organise your colour application, helping you keep track of the areas you have coloured, keeps your hair manageable throughout, which makes it easier for you to apply the colour exactly where you need it [...]
Colour banding (otherwise referred to as the halo effect) is a term used by colourists to describe the band or halo which can be seen when you overlap colour onto previously coloured hair, leaving you with a darker colour stripes which wrap around your head, and a not so angelic halo effect. It usually occurs when you have stretched out your re-colouring applications and [...]
Colourists use the term hot roots to describe the effect where your hairs roots are visibly warmer, than the rest of your hair colour. Hot roots may appear lighter with an orange effect. It’s not a great look and is one that is best avoided. Why does this happen? Hot roots occur because the heat from your scalp [...]
Ok, so you have sectioned your hair and you have your hot cross bun in place. You are now ready to apply your colour just like a colourist, using the salon accessories we shipped in your Free Trial. After mixing your colour and with your salon accessories at hand, you are ready to get this started and get closer to your beautiful, fresh new [...]
The secret to professional home colouring results is…salon colour and accessories. A few tools, techniques and the right colour selection and you too can be a professional home colourist, achieving salon worthy results in the comfort of your own home salon. Salon appointments take days (ok, hours, but it feels like forever), which can be tricky to schedule in [...]
