Honesty Is The Best policy: Strand Test

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Honesty Is The Best policy: Strand Test

BY NATALIE ANDREWS

OCTOBER 04, 2024

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Raise your hand if you’re guilty of using box dye to color your hair black! Anyone? No? Just me? Okay…

I’ll say it. I’ve been guilty of dying my hair with black box dye. With rising rates and service fees at salons, a girl had to turn to the old reliable Jet Black #9.

But when I scrolled through tiktok to see the most gorgeous honey-blonde balayage I knew I had to have it.

So when I finally sat down on the stylist's chair, my smile quickly turned into a frown when my stylist said she might not be able to make it happen. We expect our stylists to fulfill our every command. I mean if I'm paying them to give me my très chic balayage hair then I should get it, right?

Wrong.

Oftentimes, we sit in those salon chairs and expect a certain outcome in just 3 hours. And while yes, we should be getting what we paid for, it’s important to have at least some sort of realistic expectations before you get upset at your stylist.

And when you’ve previously dyed your hair, it can cause a world of problems if not mentioned to your stylist.

How Can I Tell If I Shouldn’t Bleach My Hair

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But don’t worry, any good stylist can spot potential problems from a mile a way before you walk out the salon with teal-green hair.

And how do they avoid that? Enter the strand test. And no, not like the patch test that determines if you're allergic to any cosmetics.

Basically, before bleaching the whole entire head, your stylist will choose a strip of hair to test.

You can do this at home if you decide on the diy route. Just make sure the strip is in a hidden part of your hair.

Make sure you’re watching the time if you’re doing this from home, as it is of the essence when bleaching.

Then, your stylist will pace the strands on to a piece of aluminum foil after applying the bleach, checking the hair after it has fully developed.

And that's it! It’s that simple.

Results

Now, depending on the results, your stylist will either continue on with the bleaching (yay!)

Or, tell you they can't proceed.

Here’s a couple of signs to look out for after the strand test:

If your hair feels rough, stringy, and dry DO NOT PROCEED!
If your hair starts falling out, then do not proceed
If your hair comes out green, or the color you have on will not lift, do not proceed and go see a stylist.

The Takeaway?

Whether it's a do it yourself dye job, or you go to a salon, the strand test is of the utmost importance! Always, always, always do what's right by your hair and check if bleach is compatible with your strands.

And don’t worry, if your dye job went awry, we have just the trick to get your hair back on track with our amazing collection of products!