Color Theory, and my long hiatus.

First, brief message: I waited to go a few months through school before sharing information with my audience again. :) As a favour to my readers, I wanted to be knowledgable before I wrote another entry. I wanted to be comfortable and familiar with using terminology before I used them with you. I wanted to pick up a bit of experience doing things prior to sharing. As I write this, I am one week way from Phase 2 of my college year. Phase two is most of your practical application. :) (So excited!)

Onward!

Let's start with the basics. What is color? Color is how your eye views the light being reflected from an object. Light is composed of the rainbow of colors, ROY G. BIV, or red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. These combine to form pure white light. A red piece of fabric has absorbed all of the colors that make up the light in the room. It reflects back only the red waves in the light spectrum. A blue chair absorbed all colors in the light spectrum, and reflects blue. Paints that change color with change of light and movement use this property of light and color to cause that effect. This is also why sometimes you can argue with someone about what color something is, because each set of eyes perceives it differently! The color black is the result of the object absorbing all light and reflecting no color in return. White is the opposite, reflecting back all of the light.

BASIC COLOR THEORY

The color wheel is a super handy way to organize and remember colors. The wheel is divided into primary, secondary, and tertiary colors. Primary colors are red, yellow, and blue. These can't be created by any other colors, but are the bases of every other color. (Circle shapes on first color wheel). Secondary colors are created from mixing primary colors. Blue and red make purple, yellow and red make orange, blue and yellow make green. (Squares on color wheel). Tertiary colors are created by mixing a primary and secondary color. Blue-green, yellow-orange, red-violet are examples. (Triangles on color wheel) There is varying intensity, or brightness, of each color as well. (Second color wheel)

OK, SO WHAT DOES THIS ALL MEAN?

Colors can be complimentary to each other. This is important for correct hair coloring. Complimentary colors are directly across from each other on the color wheel. Next to each other, they stand out very vividly. When combined, they will neutralize. For example, mixed in different amounts, blue and orange will begin creating greys and browns. Yellow and violet will do this as well. This explains why very light blonde hair benefits from being treated with a violet toner. This will neutralize any coloring in the hair that is not blonde (brassiness, green, too yellow).

The levels of the hair also help you to know what intensity of color or toner to use. The scale generally runs from 1 to 10. One is black, and ten is lightest blonde. Be aware, some hair color manufacturers sometimes have levels of 12, 13, 14, or even higher.

Color is certainly more complex than you thought, huh? With many more color lessons to build on later, this foundation is a good basis for much more detailed color formulations.