NIKA Grace Color: how to choose the shade, the Activator and the right amount

cliCHair News: NIKA Grace Color guide, shades and Activators

NIKA Grace Color is the ammonia-free permanent colour cream by NIKA, dermatologically tested, with 50 shades in 100 ml tubes and a colour chart with real hair strands. This guide brings together, in one place, what a colourist needs to plan a Grace service: the shade, the Activator, the amount and the right product when colour alone is not enough.

1. Read the shade code

Every Grace shade has a number like 7.44. The digit before the point is the level, the digits after it are the reflect. The box also shows a letter code, for example 7CC.

Level	Name
1	Black
3	Dark brown
4	Medium brown
5	Light brown
6	Dark blonde
7	Medium blonde
8	Light blonde
9	Very light blonde
10	Platinum blonde
11 / 100	Ultra light blonde (extra lifts)

Reflect	Letter	Effect
.0	N	natural
.1	A	ash, cool
.2	V	violet
.3	G	gold
.4	C	copper
.5	M	mahogany
.6	R	red
.7	B	brown
.8	BG	beige
.9	P	pearl

A double digit means an intense reflect: 7.44 is an intense copper medium blonde, 8.11 an intense ash light blonde. A 0 before the reflect, as in 7.03, means a natural base with a soft reflect.

On the Grace Colors Chart the 50 shades of the 100 ml range are grouped by family, on real hair strands: look at them in daylight with the client and compare them with her natural base and lengths. The 60 ml format has been replaced by the shades and the format of the 100 ml range.

2. Choose the Activator volume

Grace shades are mixed 1:1.5 with NIKA Activators. The volume decides the result, as in the NIKA colour service manual:

Activator	Time	Result
5 or 10 vol	20 min	tone on tone
10 vol	30 min	deposits colour
20 vol	35 min	lifts 1 tone
30 vol	40 min	lifts 2 tones
40 vol	45 min	lifts 3 tones

On white hair and on red, copper and mahogany reflects, add 5 minutes. Apply on dry, unwashed hair, always with gloves.

3. How much to mix

100 ml tube: 50 ml of colour + 75 ml of Activator per service: one tube is enough for two services.
60 ml tube: 60 ml of colour + 90 ml of Activator: one tube is one application.
Extra lifts and toners: 1:2, for example 50 ml + 100 ml.

4. Natural hair and regrowth

Natural hair, first application: lengths and ends for 15 minutes, then roots, lengths and ends for 30 minutes.
Coloured hair, regrowth: roots for 30 minutes; at the end, dampen, emulsify and bring the colour onto lengths and ends for another 5 to 10 minutes.
Rinse until the water runs clear and finish with a care for colour-treated hair.

5. When colour is not enough: Blondeness, extra lifts, toners

Grace Color 100 Extra Lift, Grace Color 11.19 Ice and Grace Color 11.20 Quarzo Rosa: super lighteners that lift natural hair by up to 4 tones and colour it in one step, 1:2 with 40 vol for 55 minutes. They do not lift artificial colour.
NIKA Blondeness: the bleaching powder for coloured hair or for more lift, Up to 7 or Up to 9, 1:2 with Activators (35 g + 70 ml). Check every 5 minutes and never go over 45 minutes. To colour on the same day: rinse, towel-dry, then colour.
Grace Color Silver and Grace Color Pearl Rose: toners that only add a reflect and neutralise yellow on light hair, 1:2 with 5 or 10 vol on washed, towel-dried hair, checked by eye. They do not lighten and do not cover white hair.

6. Expert colourist tips

Many white hairs on a shade with a reflect: the natural shade follows the percentage of white hair. With 50% white hair, mix half of the natural X.0 and half of the shade, always 1:1.5.
Regrowth: many colourists leave the roots 30 minutes, then the lengths 15 to 20 minutes.
Reds and coppers: often 5 to 10 minutes more than the normal time.
Colour on lightened hair: 10 vol, or 5 vol on very porous hair.
Darkening by 2 tones or more, especially on lightened hair: pre-pigment with a slightly lighter shade than the target, 5 or 10 vol, 20 minutes, then colour.
Never mix warm tones (copper, gold, red) with ash shades in the same formula: they cancel each other out.