How To Choose What Volume Of Developer To Use With Hair Dye In 3 Steps
When dyeing hair, it’s very important that you use the correct volume of developer to ensure you get the best results with your hair color. So in this post I’m going to explain what hair developer is, as well as the 3 steps to follow when choosing what volume you should use.
These steps are an extremely simple and fool proof routine to follow ANY time you’re coloring hair. As a hairstylist, I went over these 3 steps with every single client, any time I colored someones hair.
What is developer?
Before diving into these steps, let’s first grasp a basic understanding of what developer even is.
Developer is technically hydrogen peroxide. It usually comes in a cream base, but you can also purchase it in a liquid, watery mixture as well. Both work the same, but the cream base is easier to paint with than when it’s in a more liquid form.
Now, developer is what activates the molecules in the hair dye or hair bleach. So without it, the hair dye will do nothing to the hair.
Developer comes in different strengths. With hair color, the strength is what determines the amount of lift the hair lightens to. And with bleach, the strength determines how fast the hair will lighten.
The higher the strength used, the wider the hair opens up and the deeper the color penetrates into the hair.
What are the developer volume options?
Developer strength is measured in volumes witch determine the percent of peroxide in the developer.
The most common permanent color developer volumes are 10-40 volume. But we use 5 and 6 volume with demi permanent color, and I’ve seen many 50 and 100 volume developers before as well.
Typically, 5 volume is 1.5% hydrogen peroxide, 10 volume is 3%, 20 volume is 6%, 30 volume is 9%, and 40 volume is 12%.
How much developer should I mix with hair dye?
The amount of developer that you mix with your hair dye is dependent on the line you’re using. You always want to follow what the manufacturer recommends on this.
If the line recommends 1:2, then you’ll mix one part hair color to 2 parts developer. An example would be 30 grams hair color with 60 grams of developer. Or 1 ounce hair color to 2 ounces developer.
If the line recommends 1:1.5 then you’ll mix one part hair color to 1.5 parts developer. So 30 grams of hair color to 45 grams of developer.
Most lines recommend 1:1, 1:1.5, or 1:2.
What volume of developer you should use with hair dye
Okay now that we know what developer is and how it works, let’s determine what volume to use.
The three steps for choosing your developer strength are:
- Determine starting level
- Determine desired level
- Determine how many levels you need to shift
Be sure to read the following section on other considerations as well to make sure you aren’t missing anything!
1. Determine starting hair color level
The very first step to choosing your developer volume is to determine your starting level. If you aren’t sure what levels in the hair color are, see this post here.
Levels go from 1-10, with 1 being black and 10 being the lightest blonde. Keep in mind that this has nothing to do with the shade or tone of the hair, only the lightness and darkness.
If the hair that you’re dyeing has multiple different colors and levels to it, you should consider these separately. This would be considered a corrective color service, and each different color will likely need a different formula applied to ensure even results.
2. Determine desired hair color level
Now that you’ve got your starting level, it’s time to determine your desired level. The best way to do this is to choose a color in a swatch book that is your desired color. This way you know exactly what level you need to get to.
3. Determine how many levels you need to shift
Now that you know how many levels you need to shift the hair, follow the chart below to determine what developer volume you need to use.
- 5 or 6 volume – No lift, demi permanent deposit only, will not alter the hair permanently.
- 10 volume – No lift, deposit only, WILL alter the hair permanently.
- 20 volume – 1 level of lift, best for stubborn gray coverage.
- 30 volume – 2 levels of lift, best for brighter shades like reds.
- 40 volume – 3 levels of lift, best for maximum lift with regular color.
Other considerations for volume of developer
I highly recommend checking over these following considerations to be sure you don’t need to adjust your formula.
- Is the hair virgin or color treated?
- Are you coloring from scalp to ends, or just the roots?
- Do you need to lift more than 3 levels?
- Consider the underlining pigment
- Are you covering gray?
- What texture is the hair?
1. Is the hair virgin or color treated?
It’s very important to remember that hair dye will not lighten through previously dyed hair. So if your starting level is a 5 and your desired level is an 8, bleach MUST be used instead of traditional hair color.
So these steps will only work for lightening virgin hair that has never been colored before.
2. Are you coloring from scalp to ends, or just the roots?
Your formula will need to be adjusted based on if you’re performing a root service only, or an all over color.
Since the roots of the hair are closest to the scalp, this hair will process one level lighter than the mids and ends of the hair. This is due to the heat produced from the scalp.
This is very important to keep in mind any time you’re dyeing the roots of the hair. You’ll need to adjust your developer considering that 20 volume can actually give you 2 levels of lift at the root.
If you’re dyeing the hair from scalp to ends, I highly recommend using a lower developer volume at the root, and mixing up a higher developer volume on the mids and the ends. This is to avoid what hairstylists call “hot roots”.
Hot roots are where the roots of the hair process lighter and brighter than the rest of the hair.
3. Do you need to lift more than 3 levels?
If your desired color is more than 3 levels lighter than your current color, you should not use traditional hair dye. And depending on what line you’re using and what your goal colors are, you have a few options here.
- The first option is to use bleach. You can lighten the hair with bleach to your desired level, and then go back and tone over it with your desired shade.
- The second option is to use a high lift hair color. High lift colors have extra ammonia in them and will lighten the hair 4-5 levels (depending on the brand). I use this on my hair as a blonde to get from a level 6 to a level 10. But they can also be used on brunettes as well for some soft highlights if you want to avoid bleach.
- The third option is to use a “power brown”. This is similar to high lift as they contain extra ammonia, but they’re designed for brunette tones. Not many color lines carry this type of color, so it’s not an option for everyone.
4. Consider the underlining pigment
This post is only designed to help you determine what developer volume you need to use, it’s not meant to help you with formulating your shades.
You need to consider the underlining pigment of the hair anytime you’re using hair dye. The underlining pigment is the warm color that is present underneath all hair. This is why the hair turns yellow and orange when it’s lightened.
When choosing your shade, consider the underlining pigment for your desired level. For example, if your desired level is a 7, you’ll need to consider the fact that there will be yellow/orange present and adjust your shade formulation based on whether or not you need to cancel that out.
See my post here on the rules of toning hair for help on formulating your hair color shades.
5. Are you covering gray?
Gray hair is often more resistant to hair color than other natural hair colors. Since the natural melanin has left the hair, it can be a little more difficult to get hair color molecules to stick.
Most color lines recommend using 20 volume for maximum gray coverage, but some will also recommend using 10 volume. Check with the color line you’re using to see what is recommended. They may have a specific line made just for gray coverage, and these usually have a little more ammonia present.
Another thing to keep in mind is that your shade may need to be adjusted when covering gray. If you want to use a color with some red present, you’ll likely need to mix a percentage of a neutral or gold shade into the red, so that the gray doesn’t turn bright pink.
The percentage of neutral or gold that you mix in will be based on the percentage of gray in the hair. If they hair is solid white, you’ll likely want to use 75% neutral/gold, and 25% your target red shade.
6. What texture is the hair?
The texture of the hair is referring to the diameter of each individual hair strand. When coloring hair, coarse hair may need to use a higher developer volume than fine hair. This is because the strand of hair is thicker and may need more power to penetrate thoroughly.
Coarse hair actually contains another layer that fine hair usually does not contain (the medulla), and it will be more resistant to hair color because of this. To learn more about hair textures, see this post here.
I recently performed a developer volume experiment with 2 different hair types to see how the color would react. I was very surprised by the results! You can read about this experiment here.
What volume of developer should I use with bleach?
If you do need to use bleach, I did a previous experiment on how to choose your developer volume when bleaching the hair.
You can find that blog post here, and the Youtube video below
Recommended developers
You don’t need to use the same developer brand as the brand of hair color that you’re using. Most lines will tell you that you do, but this is mostly just to get you to buy developer from them.
I often used generic developer with any brand of hair color in my salon because it was less expensive and worked just as well!
***Since I’m sharing the products that I love to use with you guys, this page includes affiliate links to these products. If you take action and purchase a product through clicking one of my links, I’ll make some commission money from it at no extra cost to you. This enables me to be able to continue giving you awesome hair tips, so thanks! ***
Conclusion
It’s important to use the correct developer volume when formulating your hair color for best results.
Developer is hydrogen peroxide, and it comes in different strengths that are measured in volumes. These volumes range from 5 vol up to 40 vol, but you can find 50 vol as well as 100 vol.
Always mix your color and developer in the ratio that the brand recommends for best results. That being said, you do not need to use the developer from the brand as it can often be more expensive than a generic developer.
The three steps to determining your developer volume are:
- Determine starting level
- Determine desired level
- Determine how many levels you need to shift
Then, consider the following:
- Is the hair virgin, or color treated?
- Are you coloring from scalp to ends, or just the roots?
- Do you need to lift more than 3 levels?
- Consider the underlining pigment
- Are you covering gray?
- What is the hair texture?
Leave a comment below if this post was helpful for you, and be sure to subscribe to make everyday a good hair day!
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