Koleston Experts! Going from 6 to 9 w/o bleach; avoiding brass. help on tones?

Hi I got a notification for your PM. I am happy to answer and help if I can. Let me know if I missed something.

I don't think that Koleston runs a whole shade darker, but since ash tones are not as bright as warm tones they will always look darker in the same lighting. You can go from a level 6 to level 8/9 without bleach as long as a neutral result or more golden tone is fine.

The 40vol will only blow out the hair faster and might even reveal more brass, I would only use 40vol with highlifts.

Wella ash:
/1 ash, doesn't tone it darkens existing tones
/6 violet, tones away yellow
/8 pearl, blue ash tones away orange
/9 cendre, blue/violet, tones away yellow and orange

When you are lifting from a 6 you are going from an orange-yellow undertone to yellow, so you should use /6, /8, or /9.

If you haven't bought the colours yet, for a first try, I would use 30 vol with either Wella Illumina 8/69 or Koleston 8/96. I prefer Illumina, the colours are cooler and shiny. You'll be better off with an 8 than a 9 as there is more pigment to neutralise the orange-yellow undertones. If you did want to use a level 9 still, there is Illumina 9/60 or 9/8.

Everyone's hair lifts differently. If you can strand test, great, if not then you will have to make a decision and  adjust for the next time.

Thank you SO MUCH. For some reason I totally overlooked Illumina; I thought it was demi or something. I've been reading up on it though  for the past  half hour or so  and everyone raves about it though.  And I just saw a pic of 8/69 and it is freaking gorgeous, I'm so in!

To be honest, I was getting a little nervous about the 40 developer. I think you're right... Well obviously you are, right? 🙂 better to start out slow. And no I haven't bought color yet and I'll definitely do a strand test.

So you're suggesting a 30 developer with the Illumina 8/69? I'm really more of a 5.5 on the regular scale--I think, and just to be safe. 

And I'd honestly rather be neutral than totally ash, just in case I look really washed out. I haven't gone blonde in decades; it always worked well (in terms of being flattering, tho could never get the tone right with box of course), but I'm 43 now so want to make sure.

Also... is there a back up toner, Wella or otherwise, you'd recommend to keep on hand in case the color is still too warm - - or just get a purple shampoo? Just want to be prepared.

BLESS YOU! 😊😋😄😍 you really made my day.

You are welcome!

If it was my own hair and I had your starting colour, yes I'd go with 30 volume developer and Illumina 8/69. When you strand test, if you find it too warm you could get some Illumina 7/81 and add it into the 8/69. This would cancel out warmth by adding more of the ash pigment. For a tube of 8/69, if you squeeze out a line of about 1-2 inches of the 7/81 into the mixture this should do.

Some people have good results with purple shampoo or toner rinses on top, they don't work that well for me though. If you try purple shampoo it helps to paint it onto dry hair then leave it in for 15+ minutes before washing it out.

If this doesn't leave your hair as light or ashy as you'd like it to be, then you would have to go for a high lift colour that bleaches and tones in one step, or a full bleach.

Wow, thanks again!

So really reading about Illumina, and it still sounds great but one reservation: the reason it is such a pretty, luminescent color is (to my understanding) that it is more "translucent." Does that mean that it might not be as effective in terms of lightening? I know it is the developer that does the heavy lifting with that, but is it as long lasting/effective in terms of penetration as KP? Was a little alarmed because someone on Sleekshop (bka Sleek Hair) who used it in a single process said it was even darker than KP--got me thinking that the translucence didn't give as much oomph in terms of lifting, if you know what I mean, compared with something more opaque/traditional like KP.

So I've got this dilemma... It isn't a biggie, just thought I'd ask. I still think I'm going to go w/ Illumina; the overwhelming majority of what I've read is really positive and, the color looks really pretty. But if you think at all that for a single process lifting KP might be more effective/easier, I could do that THEN try Illumina in the future.

Just let me know what you think when you can, HAIR GURU!! 🙂

Translucency is more of an issue when it comes to grey coverage. Greys will be blended instead of having full coverage so you can only cover maybe hair that is 30% grey. The translucency and cooler tones make it a great toner though, so I've not seen so many comparisons of it being used for a single process.

It could well come out looking darker than KP, partly due to them being more ashy. Using a level 9 instead of an 8 would solve that. I wouldn't go for that for a first try though, you want the level 8 as there is more pigment to cancel out brass as I mentioned earlier.

I would still choose Illumina personally over KP since you are not covering a lot of grey. It's very difficult to tell of course without having tested it to see how your hair lifts so good luck for your first try, choose what you would like to use the most, and hopefully with some of our experience it's less trial and error for you to get the colour you want!

Thanks for the explanation on the gray; that makes sense. I guess I just have to do it! And I think it'll be better in the sense that it is more ash.

Buying now--will PM u to let u know how it went.

Really appreciate all of your help, you have no idea!

Hi:

Just wanted to let you know how the strand test went: used the Illumina 8/69 with vol 30, and it hardly lightened at all! 🙁  Maybe a really light 6?

I'm thinking about trying a high lift but a little worried cuz I know not supposed to use on base colors below 6, and I'm something like a 5.5. Do you have an opinion about this--whether it would be good to try? Also, though most people say to use w/ 40 vol (I think that's pretty much standard), I've seen some convos between stylists on behindthechair and other sites that recommend 30 vol.

Did you keep the strand test warm? It needs to be kept warm or it won't work. It normally has the heat of the body/head to keep it warm.

no, I didn't know that! read a tutorial on doing strand tests but might've missed that.

i'll do again and report back. huh, thanks!

Not all tutorials end up mentioning it! Don't let it be too hot though. I've wrapped them in tin foil and put them in a pocket before.

Hey Janineb! That was it! I put the plastic bowl on my radiator (ahem) and heated it up for a few seconds with my hair dryer every 10 min or so. Got a nice ash, a little darker than I'd like (but that's Wella, right?), but a good ash.

Thanks so much! Man, wasted so much time trying to figure out WTF was going on :).

You're a goddess! 🙂

I'm glad it worked 🙂 It's the most common mistake to be honest! It's not obvious unless you understand how the heat of the head affects it. I'm not a hairdresser, but I did some hairdressing training before realising it was NOT going to work for me, so I have a head start! 🙂