With warmer months right around the corner, it's the time of the year when clients want to lighten up their hair color. From subtle "babylights" to pure platinum, and everything in between, it's the season for blondes. Ensure that your clients are well-equipped to fight the many environmental and mechanical aggressors that lead to damage, brassiness and color-fading with Redken's Blonde Boot Camp, featuring tips from two top Redken Arists, and be prepared for any questions your clients may have.
Q: What are your tips for getting more mileage out of highlights?
A: “The best way to get more mileage out of highlights is to blur the color in the area close to the scalp. Techniques like Redken Blur, which uses the Redken Blur Brush, give a softer and more natural-looking grow-out instead of a hard root line.” – Redken Artist Sean Godard
A: “I make sure to diffuse the highlight at Zone 1 during foil application by turning my brush vertically. Doing a deeper glaze at the entry point of the highlight diffuses any lines of demarcation to soften the grow out. Redken Exchange Classes, 'Color Certification' and 'Color and Know Why' helped me understand that ‘slice, skip, slice’ grows out more naturally than a micro-stich everywhere.” – Redken Artist Veronica Vasilevsky
Q: What is the ideal blonde maintenance plan I should recommend for in-between salon appointments?
A: “The ideal plan is to shampoo every 2 or 3 days using Redken Blonde Idol or Redken Extreme. To keep the color fresh in-between salon visits, recommend Blonde Idol Custom-Tone Conditioner to maintain the color weekly. Using treatments like Extreme CAT Strengthening Spray on a weekly basis helps prep the hair for the next service and strengthen it to avoid dryness and breakage.” – Redken Artist Sean Godard
Q: How do I know if I have the right shade of blonde for the client’s skin tone?
A: “Generally speaking, paler skin tones usually suit cooler shades of blonde and deeper/olive skin tones tend to suit warmer tones of blonde. Whenever I’m in doubt, my go-to resource is Redken’s Style Station app, which features a consultation section to help us achieve the right look for a client.” – Redken Artist Sean Godard
Q: The client’s hair is dark and they want highlights. How light can I go?
A: “Make sure that they understand that for darker hair, getting to the desired lightness can be a journey that may take up to three salon visits. It is better to lighten it gradually and use at-home treatments in-between salon visits to help maintain healthy hair.” – Redken Artist Sean Godard
A: “More importantly, the client must ask themselves how much time and money are they willing to invest in order to sustain the desired highlights and/or color, both in the salon and at home?” – Redken Artist Veronica Vasilevsky
Q: What are some tips I can recommend for maintaining my client’s new ombre look?
A: “Maintaining ombre is simple. Between major visits to touch up the ombre, I recommend to my clients that they come in for a Shades EQ service to correct/refresh the tone of the ombre and add amazing shine and condition to the hair.” – Redken Artist Sean Godard
A: “What's great about ombre is that less maintenance required. However, because trips to the salon are less frequent, it’s important to use a color-depositing treatment conditioner like Blonde Idol Custom-Tone Conditioner once a week. This will keep the ombre fresh and bright!” – Redken Artist Veronica Vasilevsky
Q: Help! My client’s hair is too brassy. How do I get a softer look?
A: “Brassy hair is simple to fix with a Shades EQ service. It will correct the tone of the blonde and add amazing shine and condition to the hair. Another quick fix is the Blonde Idol Custom-Tone Conditioner Violet for Cool Blondes. Suggest to your client to use it in place of conditioner every time they wash to control unwanted brassy tones.” – Redken Artist Sean Godard
Q: How can I go lighter without severely damaging the hair?
A: “The best way to go lighter is gradually with lots of strengthening treatments in-between each service. Using Redken Extreme CAT strengthening spray really helps rebuild the hair from within and helps prep the hair for the next lightening service. Protect blonde hair by using heat stylers like Pillow Proof Blow Dry Express Primer before blow drying and flat ironing/curling to help protect the hair and the color. Using a lower heat setting on the hot tools is another great tip for lighter and more fragile blondes.” – Redken Artist Sean Godard
Q: How often is too often to lighten the hair?
A: “I would recommend waiting at least two weeks between most lightening services with lots of treatments in-between so the hair can rebuild from any damage created in the lightening process.” – Redken Artist Sean Godard
Q: Any additional tips for blonde clients?
A: “Blondes are like a white T-shirt - they show stains more so than dark clothing. This is why it so easy for blondes to look dull. Get rid of the stains with a hair cleansing cream shampoo, like Redken Hair Cleansing Cream.” – Redken Artist Veronica Vasilevsky
Q: Please share a favorite “hot tip” you have for salon professionals who have blonde clients!
A: “Share the reality that not everything can happen in one session. Today’s looks take several applications to get the desired end results that our clients are seeing on the red carpet.” – Redken Artist Sean Godard
A: “The below are my favorite Redken formulas for toning cool blonde clients, or for clients that need depth due to over-processing.” – Redken Artist Veronica Vasilevsky
Tone Cool Blondes
½ oz. 09RB Blush Shades EQ Gloss
½ oz. 09N Café au Lait Shades EQ Gloss
½ oz. Crystal Clear Shades EQ Gloss
1 ½ oz. Shades EQ Processing Solution
Blondes Needing Depth Due to Over-Processing or Dull Appearance
½ oz. 09RB Blush Shades EQ Gloss
½ oz. 09AA Papaya Shades EQ Gloss
½ oz. Crystal Clear Shades EQ Gloss
1 ½ oz. Shades EQ Processing Solution
Hair Color How To: Babylights
Create beachy, light blonde "babylights" by hand-painting for customized baby-blonde color, perfect for dark to light blondes. Follow the formula below to recreate this gorgeous color for your clients!
Natural Level 6, Dark Blonde with existing Highlights
BASE BREAK FORMULA:
1 oz. Clear Blonde Idol Base Breaker
1 oz. 10 vol. Pro-oxide Cream Developer
BALAYAGE FORMULA 1:
1 scoop Flash Lift Maximum Power Lightening Powder
1 oz. 30 vol. Pro-oxide Cream Developer
BALAYAGE FORMULA 2:
1 oz. Natural Ash (.01) Blonde Idol High Lift Conditioning Cream
2 oz. 30 vol. Pro-oxide Cream Developer
GLAZE FORMULA:
1 oz. 09N Café Au Lait Shades EQ Gloss
1 oz. Crystal Clear Shades EQ Gloss
2 oz. Shades EQ Processing Solution
[Images courtesy of 24 Seven Inc.]
