Blog #3 Can You Mix Developers, But Really, Can You Trust Marketing?
I got this question this morning and I want to answer it! BTW, I LOVE getting questions!! If there is something you want to know, REACH OUT!! I will tell you!!
Ok, the question was can you mix different strength developers. Short answer, yes of course you can! Long answer, why is someone telling you that you can’t?
Short answer- developer is 5, 10, 15, 20, 40 Volume, but volume what? Quiet part out loud, that is an incredibly outdated way to think about it. But it is what we have always done!! What I hate about that phrase, is that it is essentially peer pressure from dead people. Chemists call these liquids 1.5%, 3%, 4.5%, 6% and 12% H2O2. That means that the stuff you are pouring out of the bottle is 1.5 to 12% hydrogen peroxide, the rest is all something else.
But, how did your developer get to that strength? Someone else mixed H2O2 and the other things to get there. Are they magical? Do they have skills you don’t in mixing? Is anyone else thinking that the idea is ludicrous? Solutions don’t just pop into existence at different percentages.
So long answer- Can you trust the marketing? Ask the questions! WHY would someone tell you that you can’t mix different percentage developers? Look at the words they are using and see if they make sense, because YOU ARE SMART ENOUGH TO BE A STYLIST! One excuse I have heard that is truly laughable as a chemist is that the molecules, the little bits of H2O2, are encapsulated. That is an official sounding word! Of course, someone who can throw around words like that knows exactly what they are talking about!
Ummm, no. Encapsulation means that each little H2O2 has a cage around it to protect it from reacting. But we need it to react, that is why we are putting it in a bowl and then on our client’s hair! How would encapsulation prevent you from mixing them together? Again it is just how much of the stuff you are pouring out is those little H2O2 bits and how much is all the other stuff. Even protected molecule developers don’t pop into existence at that strength. Someone mixed it to get it there.
Have you ever heard the saying, if someone tells you who they are, BELIEVE THEM! If someone is telling you that their products can’t be mixed for magical handwaving reasons, believe them. There are a couple of different things they could be really saying. Our product is so unstable that you can’t mix the developers? That would be a reason not to mix them but then do you really want to stake your client’s hair and your reputation on unstable chemicals? Another thing they could be telling you is that they don’t trust your ability to mix. Yikes! My guess, and the answer that makes the most sense, is that anyone telling you this is trying to sell you more product. That one really hurts my heart. I wish that were not the case because stylists don’t need anyone else making them question their judgement or doubting themselves. What we do, all day every day, is put our hearts and souls out there for our clients. Ideally ALL of our clients would appreciate that effort and respond with gratitude. HA!
So, an influencer or a company making us doubt ourselves in order to sell product is painfully sad.
Here are some facts. Hydrogen peroxide is ALWAYS a molecule of 2 hydrogens and 2 oxygens. It doesn’t matter is you are dealing with 0.05%, 90 Volume, or any mix in between. 2 hydrogens, 2 oxygens. They don’t do a different reaction if you have different strengths, the reactions are ALWAYS the same. The extra, awkward oxygen will pull off extra hydrogens to make a new water. The holes where those hydrogens were will react with something else to make a new molecule and you have oxidative or permanent color.
Here are some more facts, YOU ARE SMART!! If something doesn’t make sense, ask questions and get answers! (ASK ME!!) Keep asking and looking until you understand! And believe people and companies when they tell you who they are. Here are some links so you can read for yourself and understand for yourself!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Host%E2%80%93guest_chemistry#Molecular_encapsulation
https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/references/how-to-make-a-dilution
Love this so much! We are smart and capable of critical thinking, and I really appreciate your matter-of-fact approach to sharing the proper information 🙂 thanks Camie!!
Bobbi! That means do much coming from you! I admire what you do! I love talking with you and geeking out over cool science!