Goldwell Topchic haircolor HELP

I haven't seen Claude in awhile, but if he does show up, listen to him, not to me!  To be honest, I don't get what she's saying about increasing half to 6GB each time, I would ask her to explain that part better.

I don't know Goldwell that well, is there any more info to this effect on the bottle about what the base color is?  (I would assume NN is neutral, what is GB?  Gold?  Blue?  Green?  Not knowing, I can only tell you that you want something green or blue to counteract orange when it comes out as you lighten your roots.  Gold isn't going to prevent that from happening, nor is neutral, but if one of those colors has some blue or green, that would work.

To answer your other questions, just in general, for if you need to know later:

5GB is going to be darker than 6GB (level 5 is darker than level 6).

They are telling you to use 15ml of 6NN and 25ml. 6GB, (plus equal volume developer).  What a ratio!  I guess professionals have very complicated formulas to follow to get these numbers. 

15ml. is about equal to half of one ounce and 25ml. is 0.84 oz.

This will be easier to do if you multiply both dye volumes by 3 to give you numbers you can see on the bottle.  Multiplying both numbers by the same number will not mess up the ratio of each dye to the other (which is the important part of it).

3 x 0.84oz 6GB = 2.52 oz 6GB
 and 3 x 0.5oz 6NN = 1.5 oz.  6NN

If you use 2 and a half oz. 6GB, mix with 1 and a half oz. of 6NN, that gives you a total of 4 oz. of dye.  You would then mix an equal volume of 20volume developer, (add 4 oz. to the mix) to give you a total of 8 oz. of mix.  8oz is enough if your hair is medium to short length.

Make sense? 

These complicated ratios make it a lot more difficult for you to mix a small amount in advance to do a test strand with.  You don't need to know this, but your ratio is 62.5% 6GB and 37.5% 6NN., (then add an equal amount of 20 volume developer to that). You can try to eyeball to make a small amount for a test strand, but its impossible to measure that out exactly without either using large amounts or owning laboratory equipment.

Oh, and your other question:  Yes, color does not lift color.  If your hair was dyed dark brown and you want it lighter brown, and you only dye the roots to achieve the lighter color, your ends won't change.  They will stay the same color they are now, as the lighter dye can't lift them.  It will look like you have lighter brown roots growing out into darker hair.


Edited by Susan W - April 07 2008 at 8:50am

Your ends are more likely to fade if your hair is very porous.  If you had all over dye twice or more on the ends, they may fade some.  It might be worth waiting to see how it goes, since you are doing your roots in a gradual level change like that, you shouldn't get a line between light and dark, and it may look alright. 

If you really want your ends lightened up so it matches the roots, the easiest thing to do would be just let them do it at a salon.  They can do a color remover and redye it a lighter shade (color removers like ColorFix are low peroxide, and not terribly damaging, but it will mean another dye job). 

I know, it sounds like you don't feel comfortable doing that without another trip to NY, but once its done, you won't have to go back again.    If you wear your hair shorter, it won't be that long before it grows out, and it may look alright.  If you wear it longer, you may want to wait and see how it goes.  Good luck!