 Hi, beautiful. It honestly is just a very big coincidence that I am now blonde again and I'm filming a video about T-18. I did not plan this, but I just sat down to film. It's honestly perfect. So yeah, hi, I'm blonde. And we're talking about T-18. You guys know, oh my God, if you know anything about me and have watched basically any of my videos, you know that me and T-18 have a very love, hate sort of thing going on. Sometimes T-18 is great. Sometimes I never want to see it again. And most of you guys out there use it for everything. Every single thing. If your hair's orange and you want to be blonde, well that's okay. We have T-18. No, it doesn't work like that. Or my hair's bright yellow. Let me just put some T-18 on there. That'll fix everything. It won't. T-18 will not save your bleaching disasters. But T-18 does do some very useful things which I will get into today. If you're thinking about using T-18 or you've used it in the past with not great results, I'm here to finally explain what is T-18 and why do so many people use it and why do so many people love it and so many people also have just really bad experiences with it. I got you girl. So let's get into it. Scene one act one. What is T-18? T-18 is a toner that is mixed with 20 volume developer to provide you with that extra lift and long lasting toning benefits. You got it? And specifically T-18 is designed to give you that extra white, bright double process, pure cheat white hair that everybody wants. Well, everybody who's blonde wants that. So the reason why you mix T-18 with 20 volume is because 20 volume will actually lift your hair. You use 20 volume also when you do permanent hair color. So using it with a sort of permanent toner is going to actually lift your hair. That means it's gonna open up that cuticle, take out some of those color molecules out of your hair and then it's going to deposit tone on top of that. And that tone will be deposited inside of the hair shaft, not laying on top like a gloss or a glaze. It is actually being sealed inside of the hair strand. So the great part about that is that if your hair is not quite where it's supposed to be in order to use just a regular gloss with a much lower developer, you can use a 20 volume with T-18 and that will provide you with that little bit of lift to get your hair nice and white. It'll also deposit that perfect amount of purple pigment in order to get your hair nice and silvery and white and gorgeous. But I did go on the website and kind of look through their educational book and it said this. It says that your hair must be lifted to pale yellow in order to use T-18. So let me say that again. If you want to follow the directions correctly, it says to lift your hair to pale yellow before using this product. So Wella is literally telling you to not use this stuff on yellow hair, nevermind orange or like brown, which I've also seen people use it on. So don't do that. It's pro and con time. I know everything I just told you. It seems like, oh my God, I'm going to go buy this product immediately. Like, yes, yes, yes, this is what my blonde hair needed. No, okay. There are some downsides to using this product if you do not use it correctly and just general downsides of the product. Let's go over the pros first. T-18 will provide you with that extra lift to get your hair to that pure white stage. This is exactly what I said before. Because we're using 20 volume, we're actually going inside the hair strand and lifting the color molecules out. It's going to provide you with that extra amount of lift. Then say a gloss that is mixed with a developer less than 10 volume because that will hardly provide any kind of lift and it'll only have the color molecules attached to pretty much the surface of the hair strand, maybe slightly inside, but you will not get the same kind of effects as you will with Wella T-18 mixed with 20 volume that is going to blast the hair open, put those color molecules in and seal it back up. And to piggyback off the first point, the second pro has to do the same thing. So it's going to provide you with long lasting color benefits. And I said this before, but I'll say it again. Because it is lifting the hair strand, taking those color molecules out and then adding the new ones in and then sealing it back up, you're going to get longer lasting color benefits and this toner will last a lot longer than say a glazer gloss that sits on the top of your hair strand. It's easily accessible. You can find this stuff everywhere, especially Sally's. So, you know, I've definitely used it when I'm in a pinch and I'm like, oh my God, I don't know where I am. There's no professional stores around here. Let me just go and get some T-18, you know? It's a good to pinch. This product is also easy to use. I mean, pretty much all toners are easier to use, but like, still it's easier to use. You just mix it and you put it on your hair and you rinse it off, you know? And lastly, if this product is used correctly, you will have the most flawless, perfect, white blonde hair imaginable. And every blonde out there wants that. I know you do. Very, very rarely does somebody come into a salon asking for like, can I get like the golden blonde? Like no, it's always like, can I get my hair white? I want it white as f***. And we're onto the cons. Woo, we finally made it to the section where I tell you why this isn't great for everybody. The number one con is that this f*** burns. Like I had to stop using it purely because it hurts so bad. Like if you lighten your hair, it literally strips all of the oils, all of the natural good stuff off of your scalp. And then T-18 is combined with 20 volume and then put on your scalp. So putting peroxide on your already stripped scalp, it burns. And if anybody out there has ever used it, you will know just how bad it hurts and you will relate. So leaving that f*** on there for up to 30 minutes. No, I don't want that. Second con is that it's harsh on the hair and it can make your hair snap off. Because we're using 20 volume after already previously lightening the hair, you need to be really careful you don't over process the hair. That will result in your hair breaking and snapping and turning to mush. And it's not cute. Number three, I guess this isn't really a con but we're gonna put it on the list anyways. This can only be used on hair that is pale yellow. And honestly, every single toner is made for a certain level. That's not really like a con because it's not the product's fault, it's made like that. But it's a con for you. Cause I know so many of you are going to try and use this on your orange hair. It's not gonna work. It only works on pale yellow. This is what pale yellow looks like. Next, it has a really intense smell. So if you're sensitive to smell, don't use this. It literally burns your nostrils. It's not fun, but a lot of hair color is not fun. So what are you gonna do about it? Next, it can pick up gray on hair that is overlightened. So if you're putting this on top of your hair that is almost past the pale yellow stage and you leave it on too long, it can easily turn gray and you can end up with like really dingy dark hair. And when your goal is to have that really light blonde platinum hair, if you go anywhere past that platinum, you're going to get gray and your hair is going to appear a lot darker because more blue and purple based tones do not reflect light as well as golden tones. So if you don't have any gold in your hair, it's gonna look dingy and not shiny and not cute. And next, it can give you uneven results. If parts of your hair are blonde and parts are darker and you're all highlighted, it can make the browner, darker parts like a weird, like violet, brown, and then the lighter parts a super gray color. So you have to be careful when putting this on hair that is multi-dimensional. It's really not good to do unless your hair is completely platinum blonde all over, all lightened everywhere. Okay, we've made it. Things to remember when using T18. Do not use T18 if you have roots. This is to be used on a fresh bleaching. Because you're using 20 volume with your toner, it will lighten your natural hair color and it will turn orange. So don't do that. Next, leave this on your hair for enough time for it to actually work. I see people putting it on for one minute, freaking out, rinsing it off. Believe me, I've been there, I've done that. You need to leave this stuff on. It needs to turn like fully purple in order for it to actually work. So once you visually see it like really, really dark purple and it's been like, you know, 20, 30 minutes, you're good, you can rinse it off now. You've successfully toned your hair. Next, only use 20 volume with this product. Do not try and use 30 or 40 volume. It is not recommended. They do not tell you that on this box right here. They don't say it, I'm reading it. I see people all the time using this 30 volume and guys, I just wouldn't do it because it's not recommended. Next, and I repeat this again. I think I said this three times now. Only use this product if your hair is pale yellow. We got that one? Okay, good. Should we repeat it again? And if your hair is not pale yellow, you must lighten it again with bleach. Toner is not going to bring you from a dark orange to a pale yellow blonde or even a white blonde. It's not gonna do it. So I did a test today just to show you what happens when I use it on two different colors. One was a level 10, this one right here and the next is a level nine, this one right here. Now they recommend to use it only on a level 10. So I'm gonna show you what it looks like on a level nine. Just in case you wanna try and use it on the shade it's not recommended for, I'm gonna show you what happens. Okay, here we go. Mixing T18, one part T18 with two parts developer, 20 line developer and I'm using the color charm cream developer that it's supposed to be used with. So I recommend if you can use the exact developer that you're supposed to use with that product. So here are the starting levels. This one is nice and bright white, a little bit of yellow in there. This is pale yellow, okay you guys. And then we have a level nine that is actually not too warm of a level nine but it is definitely not a level 10 pale yellow. So you will see the difference here on a level 10 and a level nine. Okay, so here is me trying to apply this to the hair while recording. So I failed, here we go. This is me applying to the level 10 and this is me applying to level nine and we're moving on and here are the results. It definitely comes off a little bit more gray on camera but in real life it is pure white and really beautiful. And now the level nine. See how it didn't really make much of a difference? See, because you need to use it on a level 10. This is just not gonna work, it's not gonna cut. It did like a tiny, tiny bit of toning but definitely it does not look like the bright white hair everybody wants, it doesn't. So we have one last thing to do and that is to show you the wrong way of using it and the right way of using it. Through some DIYs I found on the YouTubes. Let's do a quick glance. Up first we have a video by Layla and this is called bleaching and toning my hair at home plus well a T18. Okay, so here we are. She is gonna try and tone this with T18 and guess what you guys? This shit ain't pale yellow, it's orange. So guess what? It's not gonna work. So we're applying it all over. Things are looking promising. It's getting nice and purple. It could work, it could maybe not work. It probably won't work. It's definitely not going to work. Ooh, what happened to all the orange? Is it just underneath that purple? 100%, it definitely is. Let's see the results. As you can see, it didn't work and why is that you guys? Because her hair wasn't lifted light enough before using T18. T18 works on a level 10 only. Thank you for that. Okay, now just for the fun of it, we're gonna watch one more bad one because it's just too good. This one is by Hay-Meth Beauty and this is toning my bleached hair with well a T18 toner. Oh my God, it works. Ooh, I don't know about that girl. I saw this and it doesn't work. So this is her hair to start. Yellow at the roots, orange and copper throughout the mids and ends and we're wetting it down and we're putting well up T18 on. Now clearly her hair is way too dark to be using this and it's just not going to do much of anything. Maybe turn a few streaks of her hair that are lightened pale yellow. Maybe they might turn gray. So here are the results. As you can see, her hair is not white. She does like it so I'm happy for her but it did not do what T18 is intended to do which is tone pale yellow hair. Now let's check out somebody with level 10 hair that used the product correctly. This video is by Sutton & Grove and this is called DIY Icy White Platin Blonde Hair Tutorial. So excited. So this is her starting point. As you can see, it is so blonde. It's what I love to see. It's lifted perfectly. Her roots are flawless. It looks amazing. And now she's putting that T18 on to just knock it out of the park. It's gonna turn nice and purple and she's gonna get it all over and it is going to come out great because she's using it as the product is intended to be used. This is the kind of color you need to start with. It's looking purple and I'm excited to see what goes on, what happens. I'm excited. Yes, absolutely. And here's the result. Perfectly even shimmering, beautiful white hair. She used the product correctly. Bravo. Well, now you know how to use it, how to not use it, when to use it, when to definitely not use it. And you're probably wondering, well, Brad, what if I don't have pale yellow hair? What do I do? And I don't wanna bleach it again. What do I do? Unfortunately, sometimes I can't explain everything in one video or in 20 videos even. It does take a lot of experience, a lot of color theory classes in order to fully understand how hair color works. So if you're having issues lightening your hair and you do not wanna make a mistake and you want it to look incredible, I recommend going to a blonding specialist. Somebody who really knows how to fix your hair and how to make it look perfect and the best it can possibly look. Sometimes I can't teach you everything, though I try. But if you're willing to sort of mess it up, maybe possibly look up some videos on YouTube. I'm sure there's information out there on how you can tone your exact colored hair the way it is right now or how you can just make it look better. Because I'm sure some of you watching do not have pale yellow hair and would like it to be bright white blonde and do not possibly want to bleach it again. So, good luck. Okay, I'm gonna share with you my final words. Do I use this product? No, not currently. I'm pretty good at getting people lifted to the perfect shade and then using, say, a 6% developer on top of that. And it turns out perfect. Their hair looks very shiny. It adds to the health of it by not using a permanent toner of sorts. I just prefer using something that is less harsh and isn't gonna get somebody feeling uncomfortable while getting their hair done. Though I have used it before and probably will use it in the future just in case those times where somebody has extremely black hair and you just can't get them lifted all the way up by just using a lightener. Sometimes I will go in with the 20 volume Amwella T18 and just kick that yellow right out of there without having to bleach it again. And lastly, I do like T18. I know I've gone back and forth about this product throughout the years, but I'm gonna say it now. I do not hate T18. I actually quite like it, but it's always almost used incorrectly and that is the thing that I hate. And I'm not being paid to say this. There's nobody standing over there forcing me to say this. So this product is not gonna save your bleach disasters. It's not gonna save your orange hair. It's not gonna make it pure white if you don't already have pale yellow hair. So save your money unless you're the right candidate for this product. And that's all. Thank you guys for watching. Good luck with your blonde ambitions. Don't forget to follow me everywhere else here on my social media handles. Also check out my hair care and my hair color line. Link down below. You can also check us out on Instagram listed right here. Thank you guys so much for watching. Don't forget to live your extra life and I'll see you next time. Bye guys.