How to Conduct a Strand Test Before Coloring Hair

Video Transcript

"Hi, I'm Amelia and on behalf of Expert Village, I'll be talking to you about understanding the laws of hair color. A strand test is the only reliable way to get a preview of the color that you're going to get. So always, if you're really unsure about the color, always do a strand test. And I like to choose a piece of hair underneath, sort of in the back, that can easily be hidden. But also want to make sure that you never use hair that's been previously colored because you're not going to get an accurate reading. You're going to want to let that hair process, at least most of the time so that way you can get an accurate color. The less time you're going, if you let it process less time, then you're really just going to get sort of a light underlying tone, and if you let it process the whole time, you'll get a true and accurate reading of what it's going to be. And you can do many strand tests. It doesn't have to be one color. I would recommend choosing several different tones and going in and sort of strand testing, and figuring out which one you like the best. Especially if you're doing a major change, like if going from brown to red, or going blonde to brown, and that way you'll know exactly the right tone to choose in your color, and exactly the right amount of time to leave it on. "