Color Theory - Key Concepts

Color Theory

Importance of Color Theory

• Provides foundation for creating endless color possibilities.
• Helps solve color challenges.
• Critical for color correction and fixing mishaps.

How Hair Colorants Change Hair

• Temporarily: Adding color pigment that shampoos out.
• Permanently: Adding or removing color pigment.

Color and Light

• Color is the visual perception of light reflection.
• Without light, there is no color.
• Each color has electromagnetic waves (wavelengths).
• Visible light creates color.

The Law of Color

• Primary colors: yellow, red, and blue are "pure" colors.
• Cannot be created by mixing other colors.
• The 3 primary colors create all other colors.

Secondary Colors

• Mixing 2 primary colors creates secondary colors.
• Orange: red and yellow.
• Green: blue and yellow.
• Violet: red and blue.

Tertiary Colors

• Mixing a primary color with a neighboring secondary color.

Color Wheel

• 12-hue color circle with primary, secondary, and tertiary colors.
• Helps mix hair colors and neutralize unwanted tones.

Warm and Cool Colors

• Warm colors: yellow, orange, red.
• Cool colors: green, blue, violet.
• Yellow-green and violet-red can be warm or cool based on proportions.

Identifying Undertones

• Blue veins: cool undertones.
• Green veins: warm undertones.
• Both: neutral.

Complementary Colors

• Colors opposite each other on the color wheel.
• Neutralize each other when mixed.
• Varying proportions create brown/neutral colors.

Characteristics of Color

• Hue
• Value
• Intensity

Hue

• Identified by position on the color wheel.
• Primary colors: R (red), Y (yellow), B (blue).
• Secondary colors: O (orange), G (green), V (violet).
• Tertiary colors: RO (red-orange), BV (blue-violet), etc.

Value (Level)

• Degree of lightness or darkness of a color.
• Ranges from 1-10 (or 1-12).
• Darkest hair: level 1.
• Lightest hair: level 10.

Intensity

• Vividness, brightness, or saturation of a color.
• Ranges from mild to strong.