Gold is for Filling Hair to Go Darker (not for Grey Coverage). Here's why…

As a hairdresser, I understand there's a lot of misleading or contradictory information about hair colour formulations. It's time to stop sacrificing brightness and tone with fashion colours for grey coverage and vice versa.

It's also time to stop making every Blonde client who requests to return to their natural brunette shade a reddish brown or accidentally green. 

Gold is much better suited as a Filler when transforming a Blonde to Brown than Red.

There are both warm and cool golds in every colour brand.

Cool Golds or Iridescent Violet-based Golds are better for filling light hair on a client who wants to be darker and cooler or have natural results. In contrast, gold or orange-yellow golds are better for filling blonde hair to warm natural results, including copper or red.

Grey Coverage fashion colours should not contain any gold. You need to add Natural to your grey coverage fashion colours. Trust me. It works with every brand.

Show notes for podcast episode 168

I like to fill hair with Gold when going darker. And this shocks or scares hairdressers at first. I want you to think about undertones and the levels. Know your numbers and paint accordingly.

Imagine a client that is going from a level 9-10 blonde to a level 7 light brown. Do you think they would want a red level 7 or when a client says I want my hair to look like my natural roots, if they are an ashy or mousey natural level 7?  I tend to think they don’t want to see any warmth. Gold lives in the hair from levels 7 -10, which is why it is worth considering to fill with.
  

There are both warm and cool golds in every colour brand. This is where it gets interesting. Cool Golds or Iridescent Violet-based Golds are better for filling light hair that wants to be darker and cooler or natural results. In contrast, gold or orange-yellow golds are better for warm natural results and warm copper or red results.

Gold is the best filler option for going darker to a natural or cool result.

Have a look at your colour chart to identify the gold and brown golds (those are your best options for cool filling). Now take another look at your colour chart, and if you don't have access to one, you can google image search (just use the keywords colour chart and your brand to find one). Look at your Gold and Gold Coppers > for levels 8 or 9 copper with clear or gold is the best option for natural filling.  

Now I’m going to share a secret with you about why I don’t recommend using Gold in your Grey Coverage tint formulas…

To achieve consistent and predictable grey coverage results, always opt for ‘N' in grey coverage, including for Redheads! ‘N' is more predictable than using ‘G'. Most ‘N' series already contain Gold, so in fact, you're already using some Gold when you opt for this.  If you have a Redhead grey coverage request and choose to use ‘Gold' you might get grey coverage. You might also get Root Glow. You will get more Gold than desirable and probably end up needing to correct it with toners. Don’t do it! Gold is a “NO” from me. Whatever the percentage of grey your client has is the percentage of ‘Natural’ or Base colour you will need to cover their greys successfully. Trust me. That works. I’ve built my wildly successful haircolour business by becoming the go-to girl when Redheads find their first grey.

Listen to episode 168 of the Colour Kristina Talks Podcast to to learn why Gold is for filling hair to go darker (not for Grey Coverage).