When I catch up with friends, it seems like a mandatory part of our time together is to be spent talking about Hair, like when you meet a doctor and want their advice about your suspect mole.

It goes something like this.

I listen to their issue, respond wearing my My Hairdresser cap, they stare back blank at me, I try to simplify my answer, we part ways. Next time I see them there Hair looks exactly the same because they didn't understand certain words I had said.

So in order to break down this language barrier, I asked them the keywords they wanted me to explain, so our next appointment, I mean social gathering, can be successful.

Lift

Lift means to Lighten the Hair. You’ll hear this mentioned a lot around Developers and how many levels they lift - Example: 20 Volume Developer Lifts the Hair 2 levels, which means 20 Volume Developer will Lighten the Hair 2 levels.

Deposit

To deposit Colour is to do the opposite of lifting the Hair, you’re making your Hair darker by adding Colour to it. No Lift Developer has, as its name suggests no lift, so we use it to go from Light to Dark.

Depth

Depth can be interpreted in two ways. It can refer to the darkness of a Hair Colour - Example: 5.53 Chocolate Brown has a lot of depth. It also refers to the Colours that have multiple reflects, most commonly Dark Colours, that create the illusion of Volume or a fuller Hair Colour. Choosing a Colour with depth can make your Hair look thicker because of the dimension the Colour brings.

Pre Lightened

Pre Lightened Hair is previously Lightened Coloured Hair, most commonly done by Bleaching. We use it as the first step before applying another Light or Intense Colour. By Hair being Pre Lightened, it means those with a Darker starting point will more likely get a Lighter, Vibrant Colour.

Reflect

Reflects are Colour hues that are added to Naturals to add character and dimension, and help you understand the Colour. There are 2 types of Reflects: primary and secondary. The primary reflect will be the more dominant Reflect, the secondary Reflect is prominent in sunlight or with movement.

Example: 6.4 Dark Copper Blonde has 1 reflect that is Copper.
7.46 Rich Copper Red has 2 reflects that are Copper and Red.
A 3 Dark Brown is a Natural Hair Colour and therefore has no reflects.

Reflects create depth through the layers they add to your Hair, through your Colour. In contrast, you can use reflects to help with Colour problems. Example - use 9.1 Light Ash Blonde to Cool down a Warm Blonde because of the Cool, .1 Ash Reflect.

Vibrant

A vibrant Colour is one that is bright, has great shine and is striking or intense. Colours like 8.44 Intense Copper Blonde or 7.46 Rich Copper Red.