There are so many brands of colour available not only from different manufactures but also from the same manufacturers. It’s a daunting task trying to select a shade just right for your own hair and it is an even more daunting task if as a Professional you need or want move from one colour range to a different one. Not only are there the unique manufactures’ recommendations to study there is also a lot of experimentation and discovery on how the individual shades manifest themselves. OH NO! is it not as straightforward as, a light brown being just that, light brown; they can range from lighter to darker and even tonally from yellow, green/matt to blue and purple.
So why are they all so different? I could sum it up as there are more rules against colours being the same as there is guidance for them being the same. The market and knowledge is constantly changing so today I have captured some of the explanations in this blog.
No rule book; nowhere in the industry does it state a light brown or light blonde must be an exact level. The scale from dark to light has evolved for over a 100 hundred years and to some extent it still is evolving.
Technology, availability at the time of original development, some manufactures have developed and own some of their dyestuff or supporting ingredients making them only available in their brands. Potentially this allows them to create unique colour results not available in other brands.
Copyright infringement; yes, colours are copyright protected where possible, each brand has to create shades that do not from a formula perspective copy a protected shade. An interesting challenge for new brands entering the market, as they need to stay clear from what others have created.
The art of formulation, contrary to belief it is not that simple (as discovered by my good self in the lab); a light shade is not less dyestuff than the dark shade. Each shade is uniquely formulated at the depth level and yes concentrations can vary, but there are also differences in composition of the dyes as well as pH to allow the colour to do certain things within the hair.
Historic shading; when a manufacturer updates or renews a colour, they will tend to stick to the shading they previously delivered on hair, because their customers are familiar with how those given shades work.
Local habits and practices; this is reducing more and more through globalization and Social Media. You can still find some differences in shading preferences between the US, Asia and European brands; example the US brands’ natural shades tend to be lighter than their European counterparts.
Regulations; each market or region has its own regulations governing products fit for commercial use. Examples, different dyestuff allowed, restricted or banned in different markets or H202 strength limitations.
Retail versus Professional; there has always been a difference between retail and professional colours. Both Retail and Professional brands have been designed with their end user in mind. Retail shades are developed to closely reflect the local preferences and the product itself is designed in a way to make it easier for a precise self-application; they are also more forgiving if accidentally overlapped or left on too long. Whereas the Professional shades are designed to allow for shade mixing, different developer strengths and to be used across a wide range of techniques.
Neutral, warm to cool tones can also look very different across brands the reasons again vary and in addition to what I have above I have added a few more reasons;
1) Different dyes reflect differently. Example; not all red dyestuff is the same and depending on what is put together the red result will be different and it will fade differently too over time.
2) Shade composition; each shade is made up of different dyestuff. The combination will influence the overall appearance of the colour result. Example an ash; it can be blue, violet, greyish/muddy and green all of which are formulated with different dyestuffs to create a workable shade suitable across different applications; from toners, lifting and colouring white hair.
3) Subtractive colour theory; (Geek alert) Mixing with other shades will greatly influence the final outcome of the shade. Subtractive theory informs when mixing we will darken the colour result. Some colours are more notorious, so these need to be managed to avoid this. Example, a dark golden blonde might slightly lighter in depth to a natural dark blonde because when applied on natural hair (with no white hair) or mixed with another shade could potentially come out closer to a brown. Formulators apply these theories and calculate this into the formulas to give expected results across a variety of situations.
Why are colours so different; there is no simple answer, it can to create a point of difference for the brands, they can be influenced by us the users and customers as well as regulations and how they will be used.
Do keep experimenting and trying different colours, the beauty is if you don’t like it you can always change it, after-all there are plenty out their to choose from.
Caroline
