When I Googled Myself....

When I Googled myself the first entries that came up were for an attorney in Ohio who happened to have exactly the same name as me. There were also a number of LinkedIn and Facebook pages that showed up that were also not me. Not until I ventured onto the second page of the search did I come across links that actually referenced me. These website belonged to a professional affiliation of mine - the Connecticut Chapter of the Society of Cosmetic Chemists, a group in which I am currently the secretary.

            From my searching I found out that there are a large number of people with the exact same name as me. I was determined to find more websites referencing me specifically. I experimented with keywords. I am a chemist and many of my affiliations both professional and extracurricular involve chemistry, so I added the search words "chemist" and "chemistry" in addition to my name [Luisa Taddeo chemist]. This yielded a lot more results for my name, including many references from my undergraduate career.

            My Facebook and LinkedIn accounts were not searchable through Google as I have blocked them through security preferences. However, when I Bing-ed my name, my Facebook was the first link to show up with all the previous links mentioned above following it. At this point I continued to refine the keywords, and put my name with the keyword "CT" [Luisa Taddeo CT] and on the first page of Google results I saw my name on the website mylife.com. I continued to this website where I found myself as a first entry with a town I used to live in and my exact age. There was advertisement to create an account in order to search my further. I clicked on it and saw that this site gathered and displayed the names of all the towns I’ve lived in within the area and promised more information about me, but for a fee. 


Ammonia vs. Non-Ammonia Hair Color: FAQ's

What is Ammonia-Free Color and How Does it Work?

• Color products that are labeled "ammonia free" generally contain an ammonia substitute called mono-ethanolamine or MEA. Like ammonia, MEA is effective at performing the first step of a permanent color service that of opening the cuticle. However, because the MEA molecule is 3.5 times larger than ammonia, it cannot penetrate the hair as effectively, so it might not be as efficient when it comes to lifting natural color out of the hair and depositing artificial color deep into the hair strand. Therefore, non ammonia colors may be less effective than ammonia based color when the colorist attempts to create lasting gray coverage, or the sufficient lightening required to produce exceptional light blonde or vibrant red shades. 

MEA vs. Ammonia What are the Pros and Cons? 

• Ammonia has a distinctive odor, and colorists and clients find the odorless nature of MEA appealing during the color application. What's more, MEA can be quite effective when used in deposit-only demi-permanent formulas which do not lighten hair and which fade gradually. But when it comes to permanent hair color, scientists report that permanent hair color results obtained via use of ammonia based formulas provide excellent predictability. Historically, we note that ammonia-based formulas provide long lasting color, intense vibrancy and superior gray coverage.

Color Theory

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Three primary colors: Red, Yellow, & Blue

• Mixing 2 primaries together (in equal proportions): Orange, Violet, & Green
• Mixing a primary with a secondary gives a tertiary: Yellow-Orange, Yellow-Green, Red-Orange, Red-Violet, Blue-Violet, Blue-Green
• Can create new colors & can Neutralize/Counteract one color by using another
• Colors that are in opposite positions = Complementary
• When all 3 primaries are combined (in equal proportions): Black
• When all 3 primaries are combined (in unequal proportions): Brown
• Tone depends on which primary is dominant (i.e. more blue gives a “cooler” brown)

Permanent (Oxidative) Hair Color Dyes

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Primary Intermediates

• PPD – Darker & more Intense shades
• PAP – Lighter & Less Intense shades

Couplers

• Blocked – Brighter & more Chromatic Colors (Give shade its characteristic color)
• Unblocked – Drab colors (Used to build intensity without any particular shade characteristics)
• Color Molecules penetrate deep into the cortex where they combine and increase in size making it difficult for them to exit (thus making them permanent)

What Makes Hair Color Work?

Hydrogen Peroxide (Developer)

• Comes in varying forms & strengths
• Needed to dye hair a color lighter than original hair
• Lifts previous dye color
• Activates the dyes in the product (induces chemistry)
• Modifies hair surface by making it more porous

Ammonia

• Determines pH (Around 9.5)
• Allows for lightening by acting as a catalyst when the permanent hair color comes together with the peroxide
• Lifts the cuticle & allows the hair color dyes to penetrate the cortex of the hair
• Raises pH inside the hair to accelerate the dye chemistry

Dyes

• Very small molecules that combine with each other to form larger molecules once inside the hair
• Enter all the way into the cortex & expand to a size that cannot be washed out
• Permanent hair color lightens the hair's natural pigment to form a new base and then deposits a permanent new color

Hair 101: What is Hair Made of?

Cortex

• Spindle-shaped cells aligned along the fiber containing the fibrous proteins
• Natural pigment (Melanin) resides deep in here

Cuticle

• Layers of flat overlapping scale-like structures
• Designed to prevent penetration

Medula

• Located near the center of the fiber

 

(Dyes or Bleaches must penetrate the cuticle and travel through to the cortex)