The Joy of Colour
How Natural Hair Colour is Determined
Did you know that your natural hair colour is completely unique? Your hair might look like the same shade of black, brown or blonde as someone else's, but there are subtle differences in everyone's natural hair colour.
Your natural hair Colour is determined by three factors:
- The type of natural colour pigment melanin present in your hair's cortex. There are only two types of pigment:
- Eumelanin (black pigment)
- Phenomelanin (red/yellow pigment)
- How many melanin granules exist
- Whether those granules are close together or far apart
Here is how these elements determine your natural hair colour:
- Black hair contains densely packed melanin granules full of eumelanin.
- Brown hair has a loose pattern of eumelanin-filled granules or granules blended with eumelanin and phenomelanin, depending upon its cool or warm tones and its darkness or lightness.
- Blonde hair contains few granules with minimal bits of eumelanin. In fact, the eumelanin is so sparse that the colour of blonde hair is the colour of the hair fiber itself.
- Red hair has loosely packed granules containing phenomelanin.
Grey Hair
Although most people don't see grey hair until their late thirties, a very few see premature grey hair in their teens. Like your hair colour, it depends on genetics.
What causes grey hair? As you age, your natural production of pigment slows down and your natural colour loses its colour strength. This doesn't happen to every hair at the same time, so the contrast between the hair with no colour and the hair that still has some colour causes it to look grey. So how grey your hair actually looks is determined by the percentage of strands with no colour vs. the pigmented strands.
Grey Hair Myths
Myth: Pulling out even one grey hair causes several greys to grow back.
Fact: If you pull out one hair, only one grows back.
Myth: Grey hair is more coarse and wiry than pigmented hair.
Fact: Grey hair tends to contain a larger medulla region, which can result in a hair strand that is:
- Stiffer
- Harder to bend
- Less manageable (wiry)
Grey hair may also be drier because fewer natural oils are present.
Myth: Grey hair colours as quickly as pigmented hair.
Fact: Grey hair can be resistant to hair colour, due to a decreased amount of melanin. Melanin contains metals such as iron, zinc and magnesium that help the dyes develop. If you want to colour grey hair completely, leave the colour on for the full time recommended in the product instructions. Your hair may need a full 45 minutes to completely colour grey hair.
Myth: Your hair can turn grey over night.
Fact: Hair turns grey gradually over time.
Demi-Permanent (Level 2) Hair Colour
Clairol hair colour is available in two levels: Demi-Permanent (Level 2) and Permanent (Level 3).
Demi-Permanent (Level 2) hair colours last up to 28 shampoos.
What they do:
- Leave no noticeable root line
- Colour without lightening
How they work:
- The actual shades are formed in the cortex by use of several dyes. Colour does not shampoo out as quickly because it has actually changed the composition of the hair.
- Colour using no ammonia and low volume peroxide
Use Demi-Permanent (Level 2) colours to:
- Blend or cover up to 50% grey
- Richly enhance your starting hair colour
Take your shade to its richest colour ever. Use our 
Demi-Permanent (Level 2) Hair Colour Products
Permanent (Level 3) Hair Colour
Permanent hair colour lasts until you change shades, your hair grows out or you cut your hair. Reapplication is recommended every 4-6 weeks to avoid noticeable re-growth.
What they do:
- Change the colour so that it does not wash out
How they work:
- The actual shades are formed in the cortex [link to Hair Basics; Parts of the Hair] by the interaction of several dyes. The change in the cortex is made more permanent with the use of a higher volume peroxide.
- Permanent hair colour can lighten hair 2-3 shades, while high lift shades can lighten hair up to 4 shades.
Use Permanent (Level 3) colours to:
- Cover up to 100% grey
- Achieve subtle or dramatic hair colour changes
- Lighten hair colour
Ready for dramatic results? Let our Clairol Expert Colour Consultants help you find the right shade to get the effect you want with our
Permanent (Level 3) Hair Colour Products
Highlighting
Highlights are a quick and easy way to add anything from subtle to intense streaks to your hair. You control how many and where you add them, so getting the look you want is simple.
What they do:
- Change the colour so that it does not wash out
How they work:
- The highlighting mixture enters the cuticle through the cortex to decolourize the natural pigment.
- Can lighten hair from 2-6 shades
- Contain peroxide and alkalizing agents
Use highlights to:
- Complement and add dimension to your natural hair colour
- Achieve subtle or dramatic effects
- Brighten hair colour
Want to spice up your hair with highlights?
Find the Clairol highlighting product that will help you achieve the look you want. Clairol Highlighting Products
