Hot take: most people are over-mixing their color formulas

I was at a salon last week watching this stylist mix up a color and she was stirring it like she was making cake batter. I mean she went at it for a solid 45 seconds. I used to do the same thing until my mentor stopped me and said you are just introducing air bubbles that cause uneven deposit. She told me to fold it gently for like 10 seconds max and that is it. I tried it on my last three clients and the color came out way more consistent with zero patchiness. Has anyone else noticed this or am I just being picky about technique?

2 comments

2 Comments

anderson.spencer2d ago

Oh man, you just reminded me of a disaster I had last year. I was helping my cousin dye her hair for a wedding and I overmixed the color so bad it ended up looking like frothy milk. She had these random light spots all over her head and we had to do a second application in a panic. @craig.reese you nailed it with the pancake comparison, I swear I ruin pancakes the same way every time because I cannot stop myself from stirring. Now I just count to eight in my head and stop, even if it looks lumpy. The color comes out way better and my pancakes actually puff up now, lol.

craig.reese2d ago

Stirring anything too much ruins it, I noticed the same thing with pancake batter where overmixing makes them tough and flat. It's like we all think more effort equals better results but with color (and pancakes) less is actually more. Gentle folding just makes sense when you think about it, the color sits on the hair instead of getting beaten into a frothy mess.