Q. Can I change a permanent alkaline hair color into a deposit-only hair color by using a special developer?

A. This is a tricky procedure and may lead to inferior results for several reasons.

Deposit-only hair color has no lift, and thus minimal alkalinity and lower peroxide volume. Several deposit-only color products are formulated around a neutral pH. And some products are promoted as both permanent and deposit-only, depending on the developer being used. A special developer may be acidic enough to neutralize the alkalinity in the color. The catch is that some dyes may not come out true to shade at the lower pH because dye combinations may deliver one shade at alkaline pH and another shade at neutral or acidic pH.

Try this quick test:

Take your permanent color in a level 6 natural brown shade and use it with both the regular developer and the special developer.

Watch for two things:

1. There should be no lift when the special developer is used because if there is lift then the product cannot be called deposit-only
2. The two shades should be the same. If the shade obtained with the two developers is not the same, then you may not be able to change your permanent color to a deposit-only color.

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