Going Darker With Life Color Plus
Going darker looks like the easy direction and is the one that produces the most disappointed clients. Depth is simple to add; the trouble is that hair which has been lightened has nothing underneath for the new colour to sit on, and the result comes out flat, khaki or transparent. Here is how to avoid all three.
Why darker goes wrong
Hair gets lighter by having its natural warm pigment dismantled — red, then orange, then gold, then yellow. That sequence is set out in underlying pigment.
When you go darker, you are putting depth onto hair whose warmth has been removed. A level 9 blonde does not contain the orange-gold that a natural level 6 contains. So a 6.0 applied straight onto it lands on an empty canvas, and the result reads:
- Flat and matte — no warmth underneath means no dimension
- Greenish or khaki — particularly with ash and mat shades, which are cool pigments with nothing warm to balance them
- Transparent — the colour appears to sit on the surface and washes out within a few shampoos
The principle: put back what the lift took out.
Going darker on pre-lightened hair means replacing the missing warm pigment before, or alongside, the target shade. Skip that step and the colour has nothing to hold on to.
What to put back, by target depth
The pigment you are replacing is the pigment that would naturally sit at the depth you are going to:
| Going to | Missing warmth | Direction to replace it |
|---|---|---|
| Level 8–9 | Yellow / pale gold | A gold reflect |
| Level 6–7 | Gold / orange-gold | Gold, or gold with a copper secondary |
| Level 4–5 | Orange / red-orange | Copper, or copper-gold |
| Level 3 and below | Red | Red, or mahogany |
Standard professional convention. Quantities and whether to pre-pigment as a separate step come from the instructions supplied with the product.
The relevant shade families are in the warm side of the chart — 20 golds, 14 coppers, 8 mahoganies and 9 reds to choose from, all at £3.49.
The naturals do a lot of the work
The natural series carries base pigment rather than reflect, which is exactly what pre-lightened hair is short of. Building a going-darker formula around a natural at the target depth, with the reflect you actually want layered in, is more reliable than reaching for the reflect shade alone.
The .00 intensified naturals (4.00 through 10.00) are worth knowing about here for the same reason they matter on resistant white — more pigment at the same depth, on hair that has very little of its own.
Aim lighter than the target
Porous hair takes darker than the tube suggests. If the client wants a level 6, formulating at a 6 will frequently land nearer a 5, and the ends will land darker still. Going a level lighter than the target is the safer error — you can always deepen at the next appointment, and a client who has gone too dark cannot simply be lightened again without another lift.
That last point is the one to explain to the client before you start. Darker is not a reversible decision on hair that has been lightened; undoing it means lifting, and lifting hair that has just been filled is a poor outcome for everyone.
Zones, again
A client going from blonde to brunette has three different starting points on one head:
- Regrowth — natural, still carries its own warmth, needs the least help
- Mid-lengths — lightened, needs pigment replacing
- Ends — most porous, will grab hardest and go darkest
Applying one formula across all three is how you end up with lighter roots and near-black ends. The zone logic is the same one that governs refreshing lengths: different hair, different timing, sometimes different formula.
Warn them about week three
Colour applied to porous hair fades faster, and going-darker results in particular can shift noticeably after a few washes as the excess pigment the hair grabbed washes out.
Told in advance, that is normal and expected. Discovered by the client, it is "the colour didn't last". It is also a genuine argument for booking a check-in a few weeks later rather than waiting six — a small top-up on lengths that have settled is quick, cheap and produces a much better long-term result.
And the honest conversation
A client who has spent two years being blonde and now wants to be a brunette is making a bigger decision than they think, and the part worth saying out loud is that going back is a much longer road than going dark. Depositing depth takes one appointment. Removing it takes several, and the hair pays for it.
That is not a reason to refuse the service. It is a reason to make sure they have chosen it rather than drifted into it — which is what reading the hair, not the photo is about.
For going darker
Life Color Plus — naturals, golds and coppers, £3.49 →
Cream Developer, £3.65 →
The salon shade chart →
Life Color Plus at the chair — part 4 of 5.
Previously: ← Refreshing mid-lengths and ends
Next: Going lighter without bleach →
Underlying-pigment sequence and pre-pigmentation are standard professional convention. Always follow the instructions supplied with the product and strand test. Professional product for salon use only.
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Life Color Plus, salon, technical, technique, trade
