Hair colour records and patch tests for a Canadian salon, on the client card
The formula that worked in March is in a notebook at somebody's station, and the patch test was done by a stylist who has since moved to Calgary. Slotora keeps both on the client's card: every bowl you mixed, line by line, and the day of each kind of test she has had — with a warning on the appointment, or a stop on the booking page, when a treatment needs a test she does not have.
Set it up in a 14-day trialWhat the label on a Canadian hair dye asks of you
Under section 22 of the federal Cosmetic Regulations, a hair dye containing paraphenylenediamine or a coal-tar derivative must carry a caution on its labels and come with instructions for a preliminary skin test: a small amount behind the ear or on the inner forearm, left to dry, washed off after 24 hours, and no colour if the skin reacts. The same instructions say the test should be made before each application.
The regulation adds a warning that matters to anyone who also tints: such a dye must never be used on eyelashes or eyebrows, because it can cause serious inflammation of the eye or blindness. Health Canada's own page on hair dyes repeats the point about testing before each use, because a sensitivity can appear after several uneventful colours.
None of that is Slotora's to decide or to change. What software can do is make sure nobody at the desk has to remember who was tested, when, and for what.
Setting up tests the way your products need them
Four settings, each made once.
01
Name your kinds of test
One salon tests for its permanent colour only; another keeps separate tests for tint, lamination and lash adhesive, because they are different products. Give each kind a name and, if it needs one, its own validity.
02
Choose how long a test counts
Anything from one month to twenty-four, six unless you change it. It is checked against the day of the appointment, so a test that runs out on Tuesday does not cover Friday.
03
Tick the services that need one
A full colour, a root touch-up, a brow tint. Nothing is ticked until you tick it. A service that is itself the test — a fifteen-minute patch test appointment — records her date automatically when it is marked done.
04
Decide what the booking page does
Off: only the salon is warned. Warn: the client is told a valid test is needed and can still book. Require: without a valid test she cannot book that service online and is offered the test appointment instead, at least 48 hours before, or whatever gap you set.
Where the warning shows
The salon always sees it. The client sees it only if you choose warn or require.
| Place | What happens |
|---|---|
| The appointment, as your team sees it | A red note: no test on file, or expired with the date it was done. The booking stands. |
| Booking her in at the desk | The same note while booking; you can still save, because the desk may know something the card does not. |
| The booking page, set to warn | She is told the treatment needs a valid test and can still book; the booking is marked as warned. |
| The booking page, set to require | She cannot book that service online without a valid test, and is offered the test appointment. |
What one colour record holds
One record per visit and treatment: up to twelve lines of product, shade, developer, ratio, minutes and grams, and up to 2,000 characters of notes. A root colour, a gloss and a toner are three lines, so next time the bowl starts from exactly the same formula. Lash and brow records use the words those trades use.
If you weigh your bowls, the grams add up on the record, and a hair or barber salon can switch on a colour charge that turns them into one priced line on the bill. Nobody has it until they choose it.
After 24 hours a record locks, unless you choose a different period. A later correction is added underneath with who made it, when and why, so the record of what was mixed on a given day stays what was mixed on that day. Owners, admins and managers open the client card; a stylist's own login does not.
What it will not do for you
Read these before you rely on it:
- Match the label's every-application rule
- The shortest validity Slotora offers is one month. If you follow the label's test before each application, test and record it every time; a test from three weeks ago will not trigger a warning.
- Judge a reaction
- Slotora records the date and your note. Whether a reaction means no colour is a professional decision, made in the chair.
- Stop a booking made at the desk
- At the desk it warns and never refuses. Only the online booking page can be set to require a test.
- Keep every old test
- The card keeps the latest date for each kind of test, not a history of every one.
Sources
The federal rule above is summarised from these Government of Canada pages, read on the day shown.
- Justice Laws — Cosmetic Regulations (C.R.C., c. 869), section 22 — https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/regulations/C.R.C.,_c._869/page-2.html · Read on Consolidated text, current to 19 October 2026.
- Health Canada — Hair dyes — https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/cosmetics/hair-dyes.html · Read on
Questions colourists ask
Can Slotora stop a client booking colour online without a patch test?
Yes, if you set that service to require a test. She is then offered the test appointment first. At the desk, a missing test is a warning and the booking can still be saved.
Can different treatments have different test periods?
Yes. Each kind of test you create can carry its own validity; any kind without one uses the salon's period, from one to twenty-four months.
Does Health Canada say how often to patch test?
The Cosmetic Regulations say the preliminary test for a dye with paraphenylenediamine or a coal-tar derivative should be made before each application, and Health Canada's page repeats it before each use.
Can my stylists see the colour formula?
The record is on the client card, which owners, admins and managers open. A stylist's own login does not open the client book.
Is the colour card only in the salon plan?
No. It is part of the client card for every Slotora business, whatever its size.
Write the next formula where it will be found
Create your kinds of test, tick the services that need one, and add the first colour record on a regular's card. No card is needed to start the trial.