All About Matrix Hair Colors

Matrix is ​​a fast-growing brand of professional hair dye products in demand in the world of hairdressing. The first dyes released under this brand were enthusiastically received by ordinary women and received high marks from professionals due to the variety of colors and decent quality, combined with an affordable price.

Today, Matrix hair cosmetics is in stable high demand, helping not only to change hair color in the most sparing mode due to the minimum ammonia content, but also to improve their quality, making them more voluminous, smooth and shiny. We will find out why Matrix paints are noteworthy and why colorist hairdressers trust them.

The history of the Matrix brand began at the end of the last century. In 1980, the stylist Arnie Miller came up with the idea of ​​creating his own line of professional cosmetics for the care of different types of hair from shampoos, conditioners and balms to masks, sprays and paints.

Miller, who had 20 years of hairdressing experience, knew almost everything about hair and strove to ensure that Matrix products were accessible to women from all walks of life, helping them always look spectacular and stylish. And he did it very well.

Since 2000, the brand has been part of the L`Oreal professional cosmetic products division.The acquaintance of Russians with the products of this brand took place in 2003, and since then many residents of our country have joined the global community of users of Matrix hair care products.

Hair dyes Matrix is ​​one of the professional hair dyes. They differ from ordinary dyes in the principle of action.

Entrust the selection, mixing and application of colors from the Professional series is necessary exclusively to the master stylist, who has sufficient knowledge and skills in the field of coloring. On the packaging of such products, as a rule, there is no image of flowers, and this is not accidental.

Their use each time gives a different result according to the type, texture and initial color of the hair. To get a certain result, the hairdresser relies only on his experience and skills in the field of coloristics. And although all cases are individual, the result of staining will always be guaranteed predictable.

The advantages of Matrix special cosmetics include:

• color accuracy - with professional paints there are high chances to get the required color;
• the ability to mix shades with each other or refresh them, adding special mixton means;
• an impressive variety of color palettes with deep, rich, persistent shades;
• minimal damage to the hair structure, since the desired concentration and volume of oxygen is selected individually for each area of ​​the head;
• the ability to eliminate bad colors with special washes;
• quality assurance of products, as they are sold by specialized departments, beauty salons and official distributors.

The manufacturer keeps the unique Matrix paint formula secret, and the package contains only information about the main components of the composition.

• Ammonia or its organic artificial derivative ethanolamine (ethanolamine) as an active ingredient. In the composition of persistent paints and brighteners, the concentration of ammonium hydroxide is minimal, and in non-ammonia paints this substance, which aggressively affects the skin and disrupts the synthesis of melanin and tyrosine, is replaced by a safer chemical compound MEA (ethanolamine, monoethalamine).
• Pigments - special ingredients having properties that are most similar to the properties of the components of natural hair go to their manufacture. When the coloring pigments penetrate the hair shaft, they are firmly fixed inside, which eliminates premature changes in the saturation and color depth.
• Ceramide R - an organic synthetic analogue of natural ceramide, which penetrates the scaly layer and fastens the flat cuticle flakes, restoring the smoothness and strength of the hair. It also eliminates their fragility, solves the problem of split ends and dull color. In the process of dyeing, this substance protects the hair structure from the action of reagents in the dye.
• Natural oils (jojoba, olive, burdock). They restore the natural beauty and strength of the hair, making them more durable, and take care of the skin on the head, reducing the risk of unwanted reactions. Under the influence of oils, hair begins to grow faster and become more obedient.
• Cera-oil - An exclusive nutritious complex with powerful antioxidant action. It has a strengthening effect on the cortical layer and nourishes the strands from the roots to the very ends. It smoothes out all uneven areas on the hair, providing an even distribution of coloring pigments, which allows to achieve perfect evenness of color.

The wide range of Matrix paints consists of several professional series for sensitive, gray and damaged hair.

A popular line of persistent dyes with the widest palette of classic and trendy colors for any type of appearance. What are their advantages:

• the possibility of absolute control over the color and the predicted result of coloring due to the perfect calibration of the tones of the palette;
• the content of the natural base in shades in combination with self-adjusting coloring pigments that interact with natural hair pigments is a guarantee of a beautiful and natural look of colored hair;
• Color Grip technology provides amazing clarity;
• perfectly cope with painting over 50% of gray hair, for a long time maintaining durability, depth and color saturation;
• a caring composition with the innovative Cera-oil complex, saturated with ceramides, polymers and natural oils, takes care of the hair during and after dyeing, providing a strengthening and restoring effect on their structure;
• easily mixed thanks to the gel + cream formula and simply applied, have a pleasant aroma with fruity notes;
• give hair amazing softness, smoothness and natural healthy shine.

The line of cream paints “Dream Age” is a fundamentally new approach to gray hair coloring.

Features and advantages of coloring agents in this series:

• gray hair perfectly camouflage even in the presence of a deep 100% gray hair;
• a composition with an innovative formula and low ammonia concentration provides the most gentle coloring of hair without damaging its structure;
• the unique Pre Softening technology provides complete hair care, making it incredibly soft, silky and shiny;
• restoring composition with the Cera-Destiny complex helps to restore damaged hair to life thanks to the content of Camelina oil in combination with ceramide R, which nourish, smooth and moisturize them along the entire length;
• caring components help to increase the elasticity and strength of the hair, as a result they acquire a silky texture with a healthy radiant shine.

Here it’s worth saying a few words about how to choose the right professional paint for gray hair. When gray hair appears, it is recommended to opt for warm shades, for example, chestnut or mocha with a soft golden tint, so as not to visually add age.

Color solutions with the presence of an ashen shade look elegant, noble and very elegant. The content of natural pigment will provide the highest density coating.

Refusal to use persistent paints is often dictated by an elementary fear of harming the hair due to the content of aggressive ammonia in them. With soft colorless ammonia dyes of the Color Sync series, you don’t have to worry about the beauty and health of your hair.

They not only provide perfect color evenness with amazing shine, but also gently care for your hair, giving it softness and smoothness.

To understand the advantages of dyes without ammonia, it is enough to know how they work. Conventional dyes with ammonia in the composition have a simple principle of action. Ammonium hydroxide raises the scaly layer, giving access to coloring pigments. They penetrate deep into the hair structure and replace natural pigments, as a result of which the curls acquire a completely different color.

Color Sync ammonia-free paints with a special formula act differently. The coloring pigment envelops the upper part of the hair, creating an ultra-strong coating, as when laminating, when the mixture to add shine, volume and smoothness, settles and is fixed on the cuticle.Moreover, the duration of the effect of ammonia-free staining and the standard procedure using persistent paints is the same.

But the main advantage of the Color Sync series tinting cream paints is their versatility. With their help, you can:

• create new shades on natural bases and those that have already been painted, but without discoloration;
• restore color after persistent staining - “revive” the existing shade;
• adjust the color - gently correct the undesirable tone;
• synchronize color - combine the tone along the length of the hair with regrown roots or connect dissimilar shades along the length of the hair;
• exaggerate a bright shade - enhance the selected tone through a booster;
• dilute color - using a transparent nuance provides a lighter tone of the selected hue;
• perform various types of tinting: shade gray hair, making light, gentle or absolute intense tinting and lightened / bleached bases with the creation of persistent shades; they are also used to tint an existing level of shade or a darker tone, pastel tinting - the creation of hair color designs and various highlighting options.

A series of tinting ammonia-free cream paints of a new generation for highlighting and creating shades of ultrablond. Advantages of dyes of the Extra Blond line:

• clarification for one approach without injuring the hair and the need to pre-bleach the hair;
• a composition with innovative Out-Lift Blonde technology that can neutralize and lighten hair in one application, block unwanted tones with an admixture of red or yellow pigment and simulate pure, radiant, cold shades of a blonde;
• a guarantee of obtaining uniform saturated color thanks to Color Grip technology;
• the possibility of maximum lightening to 5 or 7 tones and high-quality shading of 100% gray hair;
• indispensable for masking overgrown roots and alignment of color along the length of the hair;
• a composition with an improved creamy consistency “Stay Put Application” provides an ideal result when highlighting natural hair with subsequent multidimensional clarification without the use of a powder clarifier;
• they are simply mixed due to the dense texture and applied seamlessly, which allows to achieve maximum staining efficiency.

Dyes are used for complete dyeing, tinting of hair in individual areas, masking gray hair and synchronization of shades. A rich palette with a variety of blonde options from shimmering cold to sand and beige will appeal to those who prefer aerial, feminine looks.

A series of universal boosters designed to mix with the dyes of the Socolor and Color Sync lines to enhance the color or give the shade an additional nuance. Mixing “Soboost” shades and the main palette of coloring agents opens up endless possibilities for creating unique color combinations and helps in solving any color problems, from soft color correction to extremely bright tinting.

We list their main advantages:

• convenient to use, since each of the four boosters is suitable for working with all series of dyes;
• multifunctionality of application and advanced painting capabilities due to the creation of a huge number of new tones;
• the possibility of original painting of light bases using creative trending techniques. For example, strobing - creating color accents on the hair in the immediate vicinity of the part of the face that is planned to be emphasized, and watercolor painting - adding bright or pastel accents to the existing color.

What colorists use hairdressers for boosters:

• with the help of a red booster, they enhance the saturation of tones of the red or purple gamma;
• the addition of copper gives additional copper-red nuances to the amber, golden shades of blond with different color temperatures;
• the use of the blue booster solves two main coloristic problems - this is to neutralize the unwanted background of discoloration while working with blondes and highlight cold nuances on bases painted in dark colors;
• with the help of yellow, they add intensity to the blondes or muffle the shades of red.

The professional palette includes a huge number of color solutions for blondes, brown-haired women, red and brunettes. For the convenience of working with the palette, the manufacturer has developed a system of alphanumeric designations of shades:

• A - ashen;
• B - brown;
• C - copper;
• G is gold;
• M - mocha;
• N are neutral;
• P is the pearl;
• R is red;
• S is silver;
• UL - ultralight;
• V - purple
• W are warm.

To determine the intensity of tones, you need to find the digital designation of the hue on the package. All colors are assigned numbers from 1 to 10:

• 1 - blue-black;
• 2 - black;
• 3 - dark chestnut;
• 4 - chestnut;
• 5 - light chestnut;
• 6 - dark blond;
• 7 - blond;
• 8 - light blond;
• 9 - super light blond;
• 10 - ultrablond.

Mistakes when choosing a shade yourself become a cause of disappointment from the discord of expectations and reality. What to take risks, it is better to immediately resort to the help of a colorist hairdresser, who will select the appropriate shade taking into account the color of the eyes and skin, color type and individual appearance.

The Matrix color catalog consists of several lines.

• The color scheme of natural tones includes various versions of blond and chestnut in both light and dark versions with / without ash and pearlescent or pearl shimmer, natural black shade and blue-black version.
• Warm tones line contains a variety of variations of natural, dark, light chestnut and blond with / without a shade of mocha, double mocha, gold or copper-gold.
• Collection of brown tones (red and copper) - these are expressive shades of light / dark blond and chestnut with / without the presence of brown, red or copper pigment, either individually or in combination. There are also several options for very light blond with a touch of gold.
• Mocha color scheme It is presented in several versions of chestnut and blond in a dark and light version with red or ashy pigment.
• Intense Deep Tone Collection includes light / dark variations of blond and chestnut with a deep red and / or copper tint or the presence of silver and pearl pigment. There is a very unusual coloristic solution - a dark blond with a red pigment and a pearly shimmer.
• A collection of color schemes for gray hair contains various options for natural and light chestnut and blond with / without brown and red or copper pigment, with the addition of mocha or ashy. There are several options for blondes of varying saturation with a golden tint.

Updated version of the color scheme of ultrabond:

• UL-IA intense ash;
• UL-A + ash +;
• UL-P pearls;
• UL-V + mother of pearl +;
• UL-NV + natural mother of pearl +;
• UL-N + natural natural +;
• UL-VV deep mother of pearl;
• UL-N natural;
• UL-M mocha.

Although Matrix products are intended for professional painting in beauty salons, they are also used for self-coloring at home. To get the desired result at home, you need to thoroughly familiarize yourself with the instructions, paying special attention to the item on contraindications to the use of persistent dyes with ammonia.

The presence of an allergy to or predisposition to ammonium hydroxide is a reason for refusing to use Matrix paints.

To verify the absence of undesirable manifestations, a sensitivity test will help. To do this, a drop of the composition is applied to the wrist from the inside, the elbow or behind the ear and left for half an hour. If after 24 hours the skin remains clean, without suspicious redness or rashes, then this is a good sign.

Those with bleached, dyed, or brittle, dry hair are also advised to pre-test the paint on a small strand. If the result of its coloring suits, then you can proceed to coloring the entire head.

How to breed a mixture:

• take dishes made of glass or ceramics;
• combine the dye with a suitable concentration of oxygen in equal proportions;
• mix components well until a uniform consistency of the same color is obtained.

Toning agents without ammonium hydroxide should be mixed with an activator.

How to apply the paint mixture.

• At primary coloring, the coloring composition is first applied to the roots, and then to the length. The exposure time depends on the desired color saturation and ranges from half an hour to 45 minutes, and it is detected from the moment the mixture has been fully developed.
• When re-stained with the composition, the root zone is covered, left for 20-30 minutes, and then distributed along the length of the hair. Comb them, stand for another 15 minutes and wash off.
• When tinting or glazing hair (laminating), it is necessary to keep the composition for about 10-15 minutes.

Finally, the hair is washed under running water without using shampoo. They are treated with balm-care, leaving it for 2-3 minutes, wash it off and dry the hair. Hairdressers recommend using salon products for hair care after dyeing.

Matrix paints often become an occasion for discussion on forums for hairdressers. After analyzing the opinions of colorists who have worked with the products of this brand, we can conclude that in the vast majority of cases, beauty industry experts are satisfied with the quality and capabilities of Matrix dyes.

Of the advantages of professional cosmetics of this brand, the following is most often noted.

• Good covering ability and a convenient gel-like consistency, providing high-quality penetration of coloring pigments on wide strands. It is also important that the gel can be operated at a high pace without loss of coating quality.
• The richness of the shades of the palette, especially highlight mocha, cold blond, chestnut with red pigment. There are no rough sharp colors, which is important when working in halftones.
• A softer composition compared to analogues of other brands, which eliminates the “burning” of hair.
• Impressive durability and high quality of “Color Sync” blondes, hair brightens, but does not wash out for several months. After tinting 4-5 shades darker, they look alive and shine beautifully.
• Colors are washed off gradually, however, the curls remain shiny and silky, without creating the effect of unkempt hair between colors.

If we talk about the minuses, then for some masters the color palette seems not wide enough, especially few expressive copper shades. Their opponents believe that in this regard, Matrix more than perfectly, would have the desire to seek a variety of solutions by combining shades and applying color to color. Some complain that it is impossible to paint Matrix gray hair the first time.

Master class on painting gray hair with Matrix SoColor Beauty Dream.Age see more