Why Your Hairspray Is Killing Color (And How to Fix It) w/ Brenda Amaral

Hello, my friend. Welcome to the Modern Hairstylist Podcast. Today, I have a very special guest and friend on the pod today, and she is an expert in something that is super specific and very well-needed right now. Now, I don't know if many of you know this, but I was a color educator for a brand from the age of, like, 19 for, like, five years.

And I was a nerd about the color, okay, y'all? Like, I loved the formulation of everything, I loved really understanding the rules so I could break them, and as a color educator, I really had to be very well-versed in manufacturer's instructions and all that stuff, right? And what this beautiful person is doing is just freaking disrupting the hell out of the industry and really opening the eyes of us as beauty professionals and empowering us with knowledge and tools that allow us to be freer in our businesses, probably more creative, and then also probably save a lot of money when it comes to our inventory. And so that's what I'm really excited to be talking about with Brenda today.

What's going on, Brenda? How are you? Oh, my friend, I am so excited to be here. Please forgive me, I'm getting over a cold.

Um- Oh, you sound fine, you sound great. But I am... The, the opportunity to be able to pour in to your community and just to chat with you, because- Yeah. I've watched the pod, I love the pod.

Um, and there, there's nothing that's more fun for me than to be able to share with, with, um, like-minded folks in our community. Yeah, dude. And what you're doing is so fricking cool. I mean, I, I just get to see wh- from all your posts and all the things and from people talking, I'm talking to people who have taken your classes, like, people are, like, their minds are blown after they take classes with you.

Like, you guys are truly creating, like, real results for people and real transformation for people, and that is, you, those are the type of educators that I like to work with, right? Like Kia, for example. Like, Kia is just a next level educator. Like, I, shout out to Kia Neal, Kia artistically.

Uh, I just had her as our guest speaker, um, the other day at our Philadelphia Modern Hairstylist Tour, and she just fucking killed it as she, as she does. I agree. And I'm like, these are the type of people that I wanna s- be around and that I want to learn from and I want other people to learn from, and you are absolutely a part of that, so we are very grateful that you're on here willing to share your lovely knowledge with us today. And so, Brenda, would you mind giving us a little bit of an introduction of who you are, um, what your overall brand name is, and then what you guys do?

For sure. So my name is Brenda Amaral. I am a multi business owner, uh, but I think what we're gonna focus on today, I mean, you can see I'm in my salon space, uh, but what we're gonna focus today on is my company, TruHair Education, which I opened in 2020, but I have been teaching unbranded education for 20 years. Uh, so that's why most people have never heard of me, especially since 2025, uh, 2020.

Like, I really, I have no sponsorship. I have, uh, the only thing I'm selling is education. Tickets to in-person classes and online education is all I have. So I don't have a brand backing me, I don't get a kickback from anyone, and that was why I created TruHair Education, so I didn't have to, I didn't have to answer to anybody but myself.

Yeah. So, uh, I have, let's see, I've chewed all the dirt in this industry. I've worked as a receptionist, a stylist, a booth renter, a manager, uh, now a salon owner, uh, e- on the education side, I've worked as, as a local educator, then moved on to be a platform artist. I did work for the largest hair color company in the world, so if you cut my veins, that product came flying right out of it.

I feel that. Totally, I get your experience. Uh, and then I started to learn things through the now defunct American Board of Certified Hair Colorists, where Andre Niztic, uh, RIP to, to Andre, really changed the course of my, of my career, because he was doing something very different, which was teaching people about the chemistry of hair, hair color. H- h- he'd take whatever, like, was new and hot, right, and then he'd run all these tests, and then he'd, he'd put it out for the whole world to see.

Like, he would, he'd put it in writing, so he had brands that hated him, um, and he'd, he also stayed brand agnostic and was, like, just for the hairdresser, just for the hair colors, hairstylists, however you identify in this industry. So, uh, part of what I do is an homage to what he poured into me for so many years, um, and the chemistry of what we do, that is, that is my love, my passion, my drive. But then what happens on the back end of that is I teach stylists how to save money, make more money, get more predictable results, and just have more fun at work. Because when you are not afraid of what's gonna happen, or like, "Ugh, I hope this formula works this time," or we keep buying shit because we know what we're purchasing or maybe the formula I've used on Linda for five years doesn't work anymore and now I don't know what to do, um, that's why there's a call and a need for this kind of education, because when you sit with me in a class, I'm not trying to get you to buy my color line, I'm not trying to get you to buy my shampoo or my gel or my anything else, 'cause I don't have any of that for sale.

It's just education.That is so freaking beautiful. I love that. And, uh, you know, I think something that I like to focus on in my education is, like, of course, I'll be teaching people, like, certain full-blown strategies, right?

Like, I give people the what, the why, and the how, like, and the step-by-step, you know, to set up something very specifically. But what I love is how people can take the why, and then they understand those fundamentals, and then they can apply that to anything moving forward. Now they have that type of skillset that they can apply to any other part of their career or something new that they wanna create in the future that I had nothing to do with, you know? And I think that's a really beautiful thing that we get to do as educators, and something that you are doing a really cool job of, and it's really inspiring to see.

And so, again, super excited to have you on here today. And so before we got onto, uh, recording, we had a little chitchat before we got on, and we were talking about, like, the state of the industry, specifically right now at the time of recording this when it comes to inventory and what people are buying for themselves right now as far as their stocking on the shelf of color and all the things, right? So I know that you're probably a little bit passionate about that, as I've heard from you. So if you don't mind breaking down what's going on, I'd really appreciate it.

So there, there isn't a time where I share information and education and I talk about how much fear-selling happens in our industry, 'cause it is easy to sell to people when you make them afraid of something. So if I make you afraid of an ingredient or I make you afraid of something, I can backdoor and sell you something else. Uh, and it's an effective way to sell, and it's been happening for years, and I'm watching right now people be sold on fear because of tariffs. "So stock up.

Get as much as you can. If you were thinking about buying it, even if it crossed your mind, get 900 of whatever." So part of the problem is I walk into salons, I go into the dispensary, and I see that fear-selling has already... I mean, it's already happening.

I've done it. So again, like, I just share from my personal experiences in this industry. I did forget to mention that I've worked in manufacturing, in a manufacturing plant, making products, things like that. So, um, so I also have that information, and I just see how much we're buying to try to fix a problem that is not as difficult as we are being told, sold, and scared to death about how hard and, and, and we need to have all the things in case one person walks in and they need this one particular thing.

Uh, and it's a great way to keep us to keep buying, buying, buying. But this tariff thing, uh, currently, I see that people are, uh, fear-selling about the tubes that the color comes in. Now, I'm not saying this is not a reality of our world and, and what could be happening, but I bet there isn't a stylist on the planet, maybe there's 5%, that buy it as they need on the day. As a general rule, stylists are buying the hell out of everything so that I don't have to keep going to the store, I don't have to keep...

"And what if the prices go up, and what if the prices go up?" And we wanna be prepared. We wanna be ready. But again, we're not gonna be ready if we're broke because we're buying a ton of crap that we actually don't need for something that d- doesn't n- actually happen.

Right. And what you teach, I believe, helps people understand what they actually do need and helps them use it and maximize it to the fullest. Am I correct? Exactly.

So my education is based in chemistry, the chemistry of hair, hair color, all of our products, so th- And it doesn't matter what line you use. So you'll be able to take whatever information I share with you because it's chemistry-based and apply it, no pun intended, to any line that you have. So I have students, you know... Well, I, I just taught at the, the IBS show in New York, and I have 250 people in front of me.

They're all using something different. And, and I can't pick out in row five, 10, 10 chairs in, what color line that person uses. I... We're all using something different, and we're all having the same problems, so why don't we figure out how to fix the problem?

And then, like you said, I teach how to maximize what you already have. So I'm not trying to get you to change color lines, again, 'cause I'm not trying to get you to buy anything that I have. I want you to use what you already have more efficiently and better and get better results. And it is instantaneous after you, after you sit with me.

Instantaneously, you get better results. That is sick. And so how about this? How about if I, if I could challenge you- Sure.

and ask you, maybe, like... I would like to ask you the top three, but we'll start with one, because I didn't prep you. You guys, I keep things super casual, and I, like, don't... I d- I...

It's very, it's very rare that I'm like, "Okay, these are the questions that I'm gonna ask, and these are the things that we're gonna say." I like to keep the- I'd rather talk. conversation flowing for you guys. Um.

I love this shit. Okay, cool. I love it. So what do you think...

Maybe w- maybe a g- What would be a good place to start as far as, like, one of the biggest myths that you normally break that will immediately help a stylist or salon owner be more efficient with their color? Oh my God. Okay. There's so many.

Let me pick, um-Let me pick the biggest myth. Uh, well, okay. You can take your time 'cause we'll edit it. Okay.

'Cause, uh, th- I mean, there's just so many. I'm sure there is. So... Okay.

Ew, people are gonna get upset about this. That's okay. I like making people upset. Okay, good.

'Cause it means that we're- it means that- it means that we're making shit move, you know? Shit has to move. Okay. So, I want to just- just like I start every class, I start with an apology, um, because some of the things that I say pinch, and it's only because I love you, and it's only because I care about you, and I want you to do things better.

So, a myth in our industry is glazing and glossing and how that helps extend hair color or, um, brings moisture to the hair, somehow improves the- the health of the hair. Feel-good products don't always fix, and fix products don't always feel good. So, as many of us that sell the glazes and glossing or whatever as- as a finish, a way to finish the work, um, and I'm all about necessary add-ons, so please don't get me twisted there. Uh, but when you're glazing hair, you're actually swelling the cuticle and flushing color that was in the hair out.

If you're glossing over color that you have refreshed, you are swelling the cuticle and making it fade. There are several things we do in and behind our chair and in the sink that makes color fade before our guests leave, and that's one of their biggest complaints and no one is sharing with us that what we're actually doing makes color fade. I'm glad that you're saying this because I had always thought, like, people saying, like, you know, a clear gloss as, like, a shine treatment or something like that, I literally always thought that, I'm like, you're literally putting, like, color on the hair, which is designed to swell the cuticle. And whenever the cuticle is swell- swollen, right, then you have the possibility of things like coming out of it, right?

Yeah. Um, so super fascinating. And also, I feel like when people possibly have felt like the color has made the hair feel better, it's because of, like, the additives that they put into it. Am I correct?

You are totally correct. So, some hair responds to color, and now I know there's not a stylist on the planet that hasn't heard after a client gets their hair done, "I love the way that my hair feels after you do it because I have so much volume and body." Or, "I love the way that my hair feels after you've colored it. It feels so soft, so shiny, so great."

Or, "My hair feels super dry after I get it colored," which introduced glossing and- and glazing, and then I- "My hair feels super flat and heavy for about a week after you color it and then it's fine." So, we get all this kind of feedback, and all of this feedback is because of the additives that are in anyone's particular color line and how the fabric of our hair responds to it. So, some colors are- have a ba- well, all color has base in it. So, the base of some colors are strengthening, volumizing, which is great for thin hair, fine hair, straight hair.

Then you have moisturizing bases that are great for curly, compromised, highly textured hair. Flat hair, straight hair, fine hair doesn't love that, it feels flat and gross afterwards. So, that is why some hair responds so well after, and it is because of the additives. So, you did get me back on track with the whole- the whole glazing because yes, now not everyone wants their ha- hair shiny after, but the majority of people do.

They want it to feel good, they want it to feel shiny, and a gloss does do that, but how about all of the retail products that we have and the silicones that we have for sale? You can- your hair can be shiny every day because when we're making the hair shiny and create a film with chemicals, any time you introduce a chemical, you're creating some kind of porosity, period. So, yeah, it feels good for a while until it washes off, and then what are you left with? Yeah, totally.

And so, I have another myth that I feel like you guys, uh, break and talk about, um- Gimme. often that kind of blew my mind, like it really, like, changed how I think about color, um, about, uh, filling. Yes. Tell me all about filling.

Okay. So, you know being, uh, coming from education, that we went out in salons and we said, "If the- if you're going three levels or mo- darker or more, you need to fill the hair first two levels lighter than the target shade, and it needs to be orange, red-orange," whatnot. So, that's an excellent way to get you to use more shit. Okay?

Now, I'm not saying maybe that wasn't true back in the day, right? Stain the hair first, give it some background color or whatever. But we don't need to do that now. So, they've made every color under the sun, so you can actually add your fill into your formula-...

so that you're not having to do two steps or take a whole tube of red orange, put it on your client. Now, I, there's not a client on the planet that you stain them red orange, you take them over to the chair, and they see red orange. When that color starts to fade, they're like, "Oh my God, my hair's orange, my hair's red." Like, so we're so used to doing stuff like that, that we don't think about how that affects a guest.

And especially if you have a guest that's like, "My hair pulls a lot of red. I don't wanna see red. Don't make me red." And then, "Oh, don't worry, I just have to fill it with this butt load of red or butt load of orange, and then it's gonna look normal when we're done."

So because when we're f- when we're going as a, as a general rule, three levels or darker, you've got hair that you've caused porosity in. So the darker you go, you melanin being granular, so that's the blue color molecule, or a darker color molecule can fall into the pits of the hair, and that's what makes the hair appear muddy, flat, ashy. Because porous hair accepts ash and rejects warmth. So if you add extra warmth into your formula, what that will do, it will help negate the, the granular color molecule from falling into all of those little pits into the hair and look muddy, green, or too ashy when you're done.

So that is why I say put the filler in the bowl. And then if you're not sure, "What do I need?" Do a test strand. So you take a tiny amount of hair, you take an inch of color, a cap full of developer, and you do fi- say, whatever, say we're going back to a five neutral.

You take a five gold, a five copper. You do one strand of five gold, you do one strand of five copper. Because the more porous the hair is, the more warmth it needs. So the gold might not be enough.

The copper might be too much. Then you mix them, 'cause how often are we in the back room going, "Uh, I don't know, and maybe, and what if I..." And then we're putting all these in, and it's like, no, just do a test strand. You hit it with heat.

In five minutes, you're gonna know what you need I love this so much, and I'm glad that you answered, like, my next question, 'cause it was like, okay, that's great, so like, let's say that I, I think it's awesome that I don't have to double process, right? Yes. But then I'm like, okay, but then I feel like the end result is even less predictable, right? Then it's like scary.

But then the simple answer is a test strand, right? And whenever I think test strand, I'm like, "Oh God, I have to spend more time." But that's way less time than doing a double process and like filling first and then doing the thing on top of it. Yeah.

So I love that. And, and we're ta- I'm so glad 'cause we're talking about saving money, right? Right. Yep.

So we're not opening two, three, four tubes of color. An inch of color, a cap full of developer. Right. And the more that you do these test strands and you do enough...

Listen, take a tiny amount that if you're like, "Holy sh- that five copper is a mess." Cut it out and nobody ever sees it. Or you just cover it up with whatever you're doing. Nobody's ever gonna see.

Yeah. Right? So it's... And you use heat, so you hit it with a blow dryer- Mm-hmm.

or steamer or you put them under a hood dryer. In five minutes you're gonna be able to wipe it off and see, because there are some guests that should be a little ashy when we're done. So maybe the five gold is gonna be too warm, so maybe you need half 5N, half 5 gold, but by using the gold, you're going to be able to see. Gotcha.

So maybe you only do the 5 gold. Don't even do the copper. Just do one, but it streamlines everything, and it's way easier than doing that whole double whatever mess beforehand- Yeah. or fixing it after you throw all that shit on there and hope for the best, and now I'm in a color correction situation that I created on my own.

Right. And that costs time and money. Yeah. Yeah.

And then it doesn't create as much, uh, great, long-lasting results for the guests as well, too. Exactly. Yeah. And that affects loyalty, that affects rebooking, that affects all of the things that drive our business.

Yeah. Oh my God, so freaking good, Brenda. Thank you. Hey.

Okay. I have like a selfish question, and it might be like nerdy. Please. I would love to hear it.

So I'm curious to see what you have to say about it. So do you think that there's a difference, or like, especially like with what you u- what, what you teach, do you think that like, 'cause I know that m- more recently, I guess maybe the past like 10 to 15-ish years, like some color lines have started to go like ammonia-free, right? And so they'll use... So they'll start to use like MEA, right, instead of ammonia, right?

I think that's majoritively what the alternative is. Mm-hmm. Um, talk to me a little bit about that, 'cause it looked like you do have feelings about this. Oh, I have so many feelings.

So many feelings, so many big feelings. Okay. So ammonia-free. Okay, um, first of all, if it's permanent color, you need a catalyst to swell the cuticle, to open the cuticle, and so there's usually, th- there's...

I- in class, I'll, I'll say, I'll ask, I'll say, "What is ammonia? What is it?" And then I let everybody sit. I go, "We're all afraid of it.

Tell me what it is." Crickets. And like, "Oh, it's gas in a liquid form." "Oh my God.

Oh, that's, that's so terrifying." Okay? But when you mix it together, it smells bad, and then you have one client out of 150 say, "Oh, that smells."So the human brain thinks, "Oh my god.

Well, Tricia told me that smells bad. And oh, and well, i- it does smell bad." It's so easy to spiral out, so you need something to swell the cuticle for the color to be permanent. But if I can remove the ammonia and tell you that that's causing damage, and I can put something in...

So this is the fear-selling I was talking about when we first started talking. So I make you afraid of ammonia. You don't know what it is. I had someone ask me on stage, when I did work for a color line, she's like, "Well, how much ammonia is in your color line?"

And I pointed at her, and I said, "See, everyone?" I said, "This is sometimes when a little bit of knowledge is worse than having none at all." I said, "Because you know you're afraid of it." I said, "So let me ask you a question," because I like to ask questions.

And I know this is a little dramatic, but this is so it will... I mean, it'll scar into your brain and you will never forget. I asked, "What's an acceptable..." One of the questions I'll ask you, "What's an acceptable amount to you?

What's an acceptable amount of ammonia?" "How much ammonia is in your color?" And I'm on stage and you're trying to make me look stupid? Oh, no, that's not happening.

That is a mistake, darling. So I just waited. "What's an acceptable amount to you?" And they say, "You don't know."

You know you're afraid. You don't know how much would be damaging. So as a general rule, most of us are using products in our home to clean the floor that are 28% ammonia. In any color line that has ammonia, it's .

1 to 2%. Nothing. There's next to nothing. And then when you mix it, half of it's gone.

So you've released the gas that is, "Oh my god, this is so damaging, it's so terrible, it's so awful." No, that's a fear-selling tactic to get you to buy. I go into sal- like I said, I see ammoniated lines, ammoniated permanent lines, ammonia-free permanent line, ammoniated demis, ammonia-free d- ammonia-free demis. We're buying all the shit, 'cause we're, we're trying to do the right thing.

But the problem is... So again, I scare you, and I get you to use, instead of ammonia, now let's replace it with monoethanolamine, which is MEA, for those of you that don't know. So it's a replacement. You want sugar, it's Sweet'n Low.

Same shit. So I choose sugar. I use ammonia, and I, I don't feel bad about it. And if somebody asks me a question, I'll talk about ammonia all day.

Or the guest that tells me it smells. "We're using chemicals, Darlene." So again, everything that I have, "Is my color organic and all all-natural and all the bells and wh-" Yes, it's all of those things, and it's still a fucking chemical. So what I'm trying to do is I'm trying to u- I use ammonia, which dissipates clean up off of the hair, where monoethanolamine doesn't.

So what can happen when you use a replacement for monoethanolamine, if that does not get clarified off of the hair, the next time you introduce monoethanolamine, say you're refreshing with ammonia-free monoethanolamine, so that, that is still in the hair the next time you go to refresh, and you add more monoethanolamine, more monoetham- ethanolamine, easy for me to say, right? Add more on top, you actually have more monoethan- ethanolamine than you did in the first place, 'cause you reactivate what was left on the hair. What was dormant is now activated. So now you actually have more monoethanolamine than you did in the first place.

So another, another, uh, replacement they'll use is AMP, amenomethylpropanol, I believe, is... But let's just stick with AMP in case I'm wrong, okay? So AMP, it is more gentle, however, not as effective. So the color will fade faster because it can't swell the cuticle the way that monoethanolamine and ammonia can, but it is more gentle.

The pH is generally... It is lower. So if you need that... But would I buy a whole line because maybe one or two of my guests need something more gentle?

No, I'd rather manipulate what I have and make it more gentle than buy a whole line. Uh, then some people, instead of ammonia, they'll use sodium hydroxide. Do you know what sodium hydroxide is? It's hair relaxer.

So much more gentle. So refreshing over and over and over again with relaxer, but because it's not ammonia, it's ammonia-free. I mean, some products on the shelf, if they say they're ammonia f- uh, they're ammonia-free, alcohol-free. Alcohol-free, they use butane, which...

I mean, I personally don't care if I need something to dry it, but does it make it better because it says it's free? Free is a four-letter word that starts with F, and it's definitely not my favorite one, 'cause nothing's free. Nothing is free. So if you take something out, what are you using, and is it better, and can you explain it to me?

And if you cannot, then I'm not interested I friggin' love this so much. Brenda, this is so good, dude. Me too. Um, and I'm sure that you're blowing people's minds right now.

And I feel like you attacked a lot of, like, the big, crazy ones, for sure. So, but you have so much more knowledge to share, and, like... And I think when it comes to, like, the curriculum that you have, I think, you know, there is a set standard of fundamentals that we kind of have to start off with as far as, like, the chemistry of the hair, the chemistry of the color that we're working with in general, to be able to understand more, and actually, uh, move forward in a more efficient way in the way that we're coloring. So, um, first off, I wanna know, is there anything else that you think that the audience should know right now?

And then we'll talk about how people can find you, how people can attend a class with you, and all that stuff.Okay. So if people have not seen, um, the viral reel that I did about hairspray. So it's got over a million views.

Uh, and I talk about the fact that hairspray is the number one hair color killer. The hate that I got on that post, the hate! People made videos. Like, I, it was...

I had to have a block party, 'cause I was like, "Listen. If you are that connected to a can of something that you're gonna throw hate at someone on the internet, because maybe I'm telling you something, Theresa, that you've been doing for years, that is actually making your color fade, um, don't be mad at me. Be mad at the hairspray." So if we get color on our clothes- Don't hate the player, hate the game.

Exactly. So if we get color on our clothes at work, we use hairspray to get it out. Yeah? Yeah.

So we go... So this color, I mean, when color is fresh, it needs 24 hours to cure or harden. So if you use something so high in pH, ammoniated compounds, alcohol, you're gonna swell the cuticle. And if you have not prepared that hair to accept color in the, in the way that it's gonna get all the way to the cortex, anything hanging around on the outside or that didn't make it into the cortex is gone in the next shampoo.

So what you could do right now to make your color better, right now, I don't care what line it is, when you're done with a service, don't finish with aerosol hairspray. If it's a great coverage, if it's a fashion tone, um, if you toned it, especially if you toned it with a demi permanent color, 'cause that's made to fade, please, please, please, don't put aerosol hairspray on top of it. Use a stronger foundational product that, you know, that's got a lower pH. I mean, it still might have alcohol in it, so you run the risk of, yes, this could swell the cuticle.

The next shampoo, it could get washed out. But it will not be as aggressive as aerosol hairspray. And I am so sorry if what I just said made you so mad. Tr- I used hairspray for years.

Aquanet. I mean, I've been... I'm that hairdresser, right? I've been around for a long time.

So I mean, the whole salon would be just, you know, in a plume of spray and smoke and whatever, so... So it's... I have changed a lot of the things that I have done and been able to build, um, you know, my commission salon, been able to build, uh, an education company, because what I share comes from experience. I do all the things that I'm asking the, that, that students do, but I'm also like, hey man, I'm sharing.

If you wanna hairspray everybody after and you don't care, I don't care either. Like, do you. I support whatever you do. The fact that you know...

So if you have one client that comes back and says, "Oh my God, I'm experiencing fading," maybe it's the hairspray, so you're not in the dispensary killing yourself trying to find a new formula, trying to figure out what you did wrong. Maybe they just love aerosol hairspray and you didn't do a damn thing wrong. So... I love that, dude.

And I, I really love the overall principle, 'cause I say it all the time. I'm like, "You can do things however the hell you want to, and I will try my best to give you all the knowledge and support to make that thing work for you." Or as long as you know, I love that, like as long as you know, like as long as you have the awareness so you can troubleshoot, or you can make those decisions knowing what risk you're taking. I love that.

Um, would you mind sharing with the people where they can get more education from you? Where they can maybe lay the groundwork and like really think how they're using color so that they can be more efficient, provide better results for their clients, and then also probably save some money as far as their color stocking goes? So, um, the easiest way to, to start implementing this immediately would be to give me a follow @truhaireducation. Uh, that's, that's where I'm at everywhere, @truhaireducation on Facebook, uh, our website is Tru Hair Education.

Um, so you can start to get a feel of, like, this education, because I'm trying to, to give as much of it away for free as humanly possible. And then I do have online courses. So I do have... My two-day course is online.

It's available in a six-month drip, uh, to be a bit more affordable, or, uh, an all at once binge. And then I do in person. So, uh, I'm heading to Washington on Friday, Washington State. I'll be doing two back-to-back weekends.

I'm not sure how quickly this will drop, uh, but the first class is sold out, and we're selling tickets for May 4th and 5th for anyone in the Pacific Nor- Northwest. Uh, I am assuming that that class will be full. Then I will be here in Massachusetts in September, uh, Wilmington, North Carolina, in September, on September 21st and 22nd, and then Westfield, New Jersey, in November. My in-person, they're getting......

uh, less and and less because being a multi-business owner, uh, I've got three businesses now, so that makes it a little more difficult to travel. But, uh, and then, you know, shows, whatever, so sometimes you can catch me at a show if I don't have something that overlaps. But I think the easiest way to begin the journey, if you're interested, if this speaks to you, uh, to give a follow @truehaireducation, and then our links are there and, you know, for you to be able to get more information if you're interested. Beautiful.

And also, can salon owners, like, hire you to do a class for them, either in-person or even digitally? Absolutely. Yes. I do- Very cool.

private one-on-ones and then I do private salon education, yes, where people just have, I come, I teach for their class, I mean, for, for their folks, and that's it. Beautiful. Dude, so badass. Thank you so much for empowering the industry with such beautiful knowledge, um, 'cause it's genuinely very helpful.

You know, I always found that one thing I did like about my color line that I taught, that I taught for, was, you know, it was one of the lines, and I don't know what your opinion about this is, but it was one of the lines that kind of, uh, it tried to condense inventory as much as possible with color. So it was like- Yeah. you could make it, I don't know, uh, what you think about this, but you could make it permanent, you could make it demi, you could make it semi with all the same line, right? I love that.

Yes. That's my... That is my favorite. Okay, love that.

So I loved it too, and the thing about it was that they said, "Yes, this requires you to teach a little bit more." It requires the stylist to think a little bit differently, you know? It's not the same old just mix up the demi, just mix up the semi with the, the, the dedicated developer and this, that or the third. Like, we had to change mixing ratios.

You had to think a little bit more about what you were doing. And what I loved about their messaging around this was, like, we believe that hairdressers are smart enough to learn this stuff and to apply it, where other color lines neglect the intelligence of hairstylists. Like, they neglect the power and the motivation that we have as hairstylists to learn the stuff and apply it so we can be better colorists and be, and create better results and be more creative even. And that's what I found when I started to work with that more condensed line and I had to think a little bit more about what I was doing, I was able to create much more predictable results, it unleashed a lot of my creativity, and absolutely, the inventory on my shelf, especially being in a salon suite, was so much smaller than my salon suite neighbors.

Like, if you're independent and, like, you have to carry all that shit, where are you fitting that in your salon suite? Exactly. No, I totally agree with that. I think condensing and, and they do discount how smart we are.

Like, when I worked for the largest hair color company in the world, I started teaching more universally, more unbranded, and they were like, "No, you stick to the script," because they had all the inventory. They wanted all of us to be mindless zombies in the back and, "Oh, I'll just grab this, I'll just grab that, I'll just grab, and then if it doesn't work, I'll blame the client because they, I'm sure it was something that they did." So no, uh, that message of more condensed... Stylists are so smart, and to discount our intelligence, I mean, they do it in movies, they do it in commercials, they do it in magazine ads, t- th- they treat us as though there was nothing, we weren't smart enough to go do something else.

Um, and, you know, the, the, the realization that everybody had when this country was shut down, about how vital we actually are, uh, I think, you know, people have also forgotten that too. But, I mean, we are... If you just explain it to us, and that's what I've done with my curriculum. I'm like, "I'll teach anyone to use what they're already using better."

I don't care what w- what brand you're using because you're gonna have that foundational knowledge. So even if you do decide to have a brand that's got everything, that you don't feel that you need to buy every single piece in order to make it work or to be creative. Like you said, the more you know, then, oh my gosh, I can get as creative as I want because I actually know how to use this. Ah, yes.

And that is so empowering and so beautiful. Uh, thank you so much, Brenda. We appreciate you very much. And for those of you who are listening to this, uh, you can go ahead and check out Brenda's, uh, information in the show notes.

We'll definitely leave her website and, uh, True Hair Color int- Instagram as well too. And- Yeah, True Hair Education. True Hair Education Instagram as well. And we really appreciate you tuning in.

Brenda, we appreciate you again. So much love to you, my friend. Right back to you. Um, yeah.

And I just wanna say, I, I've also taken some of your classes, Hunter. I've been in classes with you. Uh, I align with you so much. I love you so much.

And I know what you are doing is so important in this industry as well. So to be aligned with someone that, um, is so passionate and so caring and really making a difference, um, was such a huge honor to be asked to be a part of your community. So thank you so much. Thank you.

It's an honor to hear that from you, my friend. Thank you very much. Um, and thank you, listener, for tuning in to the Modern Hairstylist podcast. Peace out, girl scout.

Bye-bye.

End of transcript. © 2025 Hunter Donia LLC.