Realized I was overprocessing my highlights after 5 years in the chair

I was doing these aggressive foils with high volume developer for years thinking it gave the best lift. A client with baby fine hair came in crying last month because her hair was snapping off, and my coworker gently showed me how a lower volume with a longer processing time actually gives a cleaner result. Has anyone else had that moment where you found out your whole technique was just kinda wrong?

3 comments

3 Comments

emmaking13d ago

Wait, faster processing actually means LESS damage? That goes against everything I've ever been taught in school and in the salon. I always thought higher volume meant more chemical burn and more breakage, especially on fragile hair. The whole point of going lower and slower is to give the hair a gentler lift, right? Like that's basic color theory that we all learned in cosmetology class (or at least I thought we did). So how does a higher volume developer cause less damage if it's literally stronger? I'm genuinely trying to wrap my head around this because it sounds backwards to me, but I'm open to being wrong.

carr.abby13d ago

Wait, have you ever actually seen what happens when you put 40 volume on super fine hair? That stuff eats through the cuticle way too fast. The thing with high volume is it opens the hair up quick but it also roughs it up fast, so by the time you think you're saving time you've already stripped half the structural integrity. Lower volume with longer processing gives a more controlled lift because the developer breaks down the melanin gradually instead of blasting through it. Your coworker showed you what a lot of colorists figure out the hard way - slow and steady wins the race, especially on fragile hair. I mean it makes sense if you think about it like cooking, low and slow tenderizes better than high heat that ruins the texture.

anthonynelson13d ago

High volume developer is faster so it's actually better for fine hair since the faster processing means less damage.