TIL those cheap plastic color swatch books can actually be pretty accurate

I always thought you had to buy the expensive brand name ones or your mixes would be off. My boss at the salon in Phoenix got a set from some online beauty supply place for like $20, and I rolled my eyes. But we've been using them for 3 months now, and I've matched every single client's request perfectly, even that tricky ash blonde. It's saved us so much money on test strands. Has anyone else found a budget tool that actually works as well as the pricey version?

3 comments

3 Comments

emmaking12d ago

That "tricky ash blonde" comment got me. I had the same doubt about those little paint sample cards from hardware stores. My friend swore by them for her art projects, and I thought no way they get the color right. But she mixed this perfect muted sage green from one, and now I grab a stack every time I'm near the paint aisle. What's a color match you were sure would fail but actually worked?

ericw9312d ago

Oh man, that's so true about the paint cards! I totally wrote them off as just cheap advertising. My big surprise was trying to match a weird coral-orange from a faded old t-shirt. I scanned it with a phone app as a joke, fully expecting a neon mess, but the home store's machine actually nailed it. I was shook. Now I trust that little scanner way more than my own eyes.

xena58212d ago

My bathroom's weird peach tile matched perfectly with a paint card.