COLOUR RESTORE Caramel

If you see no difference in the hair colour after using Caramel, this (as with some of the other Colour Restore shades) may be due to the fact that you have applied it to a base darker than the actual Caramel depth. Caramel is a base of 7.3, which is a medium, golden blonde. If someone who was brunette, or even a light brown applied Caramel they would not see a huge shade difference. The hair might look more golden, but the actual caramel colour would not be true to the box swatch. Caramel is designed for use on very light blonde bases or those with highlights, balayage and ombre who are seeking a more natural darker blonde. The purpose of my creating Caramel was to offer consumers an option to deepen lightened hair to a natural depth, whilst not actually becoming a clear brunette. Colour Restore Caramel is a soft lightest biscuit brown when applied to light bases and is a great option for people who are finding their hair is becoming too light and want to soften dark regrowth sitting against previously lightened hair.

Another factor to check is if you have clarified your hair prior to application. If the hair is coated with conditioner and styling product residue, it is impossible for Colour Restore shades to enter the hair. Therefore, if your hair is a light blonde (or lightened base), and you have seen no result, I recommend you use Precolour Clarifier and apply the shade again.

Yes, you can. On very light blonde hair, the first application of Caramel will give a softer colour, it will not be depth heavy. Therefore, if you want a deeper biscuit blonde shade, you can simply undergo another intense treatment, and the hair will develop to a more solid caramel colour. This shade can then be retained in the hair by using Caramel as the regular 2-minute conditioner after wash.

Caramel can be used as much as you wish. If you have gone from being very light to a solid caramel shade, you will need to use the product as their regular 2-minute conditioner after each wash, to maintain that solid depth. However, if you are merely using the product to blend and cover foundation effects such as balayage or ombre, you may only need to conduct an intense treatment every few weeks, without that 2-minute use after each shampoo.

Absolutely. In fact, I now wish I had called this product an ‘Ombre or Balayage Toner’. From all the shades in the Colour Restore line-up, Caramel is 100% perfect for anybody with balayage or ombre lightening who wants to create that more naturalistic ‘multi-tonal’ effect. When applied to such bases, Caramel mutes any raw bleached areas producing a specific soft shade in this pre-lightened hair and preventing it from looking merely ‘stark’ or ‘bleached’. Remember, true balayage effects of today are created by firstly producing those lightened panels, then overlaying a tone on tone colourant throughout. However, a permanent colourant cannot be used for overlay techniques as you risk lifting the non-lightened hair or lightening the natural darker areas. Therefore, applying Colour Restore Caramel after a balyage or ombre treatment would give that on trend hair colour look without any risk of damage to the hair condition or lightened foundation created.

This is a simple one. If your hair looks orange, it means you had a very warm or orange base to begin with and prior to application. Caramel is formulated with a gold tone. The product is designed for use on very light or bleached blonde hair. With such light bases, you can only go to a deeper blonde by using a gold undertone colourant, unless you firstly pre-pigment with a pure gold. If a colourant that was merely depth (so no tone) was applied to bleached hair, the result would be green tinged. However, if someone has lightened dark hair to a gingery-auburn or very peachy blonde colour, then attempt to use Caramel, there is already an abundant level of gold in that hair, therefore the gold tone in Caramel has nothing to fill and can only display.

If your hair looks very orange after using Caramel, the indicator is the base shade was too dark and warm to effectively display the colour. The easiest solution is for you to apply a standard no ammonia tone on tone colourant in a flat base 7.0 medium blonde to the hair. With an underlying gold base present, the use of this flat neutral colour would create a Caramel shade.

As with Colour Restore Chocolate, Caramel cannot cover grey, but it can mute the first signs. So, if someone has a few scatterings of white hair, it is a great product to use to blend out and camouflage early white. However, if someone has very white or heavily grey hair, my recommendation would be to cover this white hair with a flat 8.0 Light Blonde permanent colourant and then use Colour Restore Caramel as a regular treatment. With this method, the 8.0 Light Blonde shade will create a solid permanent (lighter) base and give full grey coverage. However, using Caramel will then introduce gold tones and produce that desired Caramel of soft biscuit shade.